Retired in Gloucester MA

In early 2015, caught in a business contraction at age 65 and with some health issues, I retired with no regrets.  My lovely wife and I had anticipated that move for some time and were ready. We had looked for a house on Cape Cod for a couple of summers. But with grandkids in Atlanta and Seattle, it didn’t take much thought to realize maybe we didn’t want to be so far from our third kid who was newly married and living just west of Boston.

We looked at Cape Ann, attracted by the:

•  Geography: the ocean, a small city in Gloucester, and to our surprise a very diverse place with urban, suburban and very rural areas; the variety of neighborhoods, villages and environs is astounding

·        Demography: a place with livings earned from natural resources who were there for the work, replete with those of Italian heritage, ok, mostly Sicilians, but with a comfortable approach to life for me; and with an area of 26 square miles, it has the lowest population density in eastern Massachusetts;

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•       Culture: a very high percentage of population with a Catholic background (carefully chosen words because they attend church at a very low rate these days); culture is largely still, a product of religion
•       Economy: property taxes are half of what we were paying where we brought up our kids and goods and services are correspondingly (although not proportionately,  priced
•       Culinary conditions: caught-daily seafood is the obvious feature, but additionally most of those Italians know how to eat – the restaurants and even the grocery stores reflect demand by customers with discriminating pallets
•       Spirituality: coming from one of the most highly developed (Vatican II as a measure) and welcoming parishes in the Boston Archdiocese, Sacred Heart in Lexington MA, nowhere does one randomly find a comparable substitute; nevertheless, the adherence of the population to the faith, if not the Church, here is both committed and full; one finds their own way in every Catholic parish and you get out what you put in
•       Microclimate: 14 miles out to sea with a limited land area compared say to Cape Cod, the marine environment controls weather here to a great extent; this also limits airborne allergens, a truth to which my wife, a long term allergy sufferer, will attest.  Further, it’s often 5 to 10 degrees warmer in winter and 5 to 10 degrees cooler in summer than inland areas.  with limited snowfall for many non-coastal storms
•       Geology (a personal and professional specialty): there is limited variety (basically just granite, diabase dikes, a few faults and glacial features) for this element on Cape Ann, but it forms an interesting, if limited, story. The underlying bedrock provides a strong foundation for the shorelines compared to the loose erodible sands of Cape Cod. Facing east, the shoreline is generally protected from hurricanes moving up from the south and there is actually more threat from nor’easters than from hurricanes or tropical storms – the cold ocean water diminishes those big mean storms this far north and the water is colder – try bathing here vs. Hyannis!

·        Friendliness and welcoming of the people: while it may stem from the renowned tourist industry and the unique culture, that legendary New England standoffishness has only shallow roots here

The limited economic base (mainly tourist trade and seafood harvesting) limits development and privation is not absent. That is one necessary while unfortunate tradeoff of life here. Locals seem too often misplace blame for lack of opportunity here on the place rather than the lack of initiative to improve it.  I do see that changing.  Since taking up residence here we have seen the Beauport (Luxury) Hotel and the GMGI - Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute rise in the harbor area. The latter is in one of President Trump’s Opportunity Zones. These are certainly a tribute to the wisdom and work of the current city leadership.

Related stories on many topics have developed in our lives since we took up residence here, far exceeding our expectations when we moved into this unique city. I hope to carry them all to this blog.