Fall River

Tucked between the Taunton River and the Freetown-Fall River State Forest, Assonet Bay combines waterside amenities and rural recreation. As part of southeastern Massachusetts’s Bridgewater Triangle, the forest has had its fill of strange happenings and supposed paranormal activities. However, its rolling 5,000 acres covered in pine trees attracts more nature lovers than conspiracy theorists. “The river and the forest make it a scenic and secluded area,” says Janice Wright, a Realtor with RE/MAX Platinum Real Estate who has sold several homes in the area. “But you also have easy access to Route 24, so Boston and Providence aren’t far.” Most residential properties are in the Assonet Bay Shores subdivision in the northernmost region. Developed in the 1960s, the community’s paved inland roads are lined with two-to-three-bedroom ranch styles, Cape Cod cottages and split levels. Contemporary-style properties and New Traditional estates circa the early 2000s sit on quarter-acre lots closer to the water. These homes have two-car garages and private boat slips. Everyone in the community can swim or launch a kayak at the private beach off Cliff Drive. A house in the area typically costs between $350,000 and $1.5 million, a range similar to a Fall River home’s average $400,000 selling price. “It’s a fast-selling area, and there’s low inventory. People buy these houses and keep them in the family for years,” says Wright. From UFOs to Wampanoag Native American ghosts, many alleged supernatural sightings have occurred at Freetown-Fall River State Forest since its 1923 founding. Today, hikers, bikers, horseback riders and cross-country skiers can explore over 50 miles of trailway. Most of these nature paths pass the trout-stocked Rattlesnake Brook, granite outcroppings and woodland creatures, like white-tailed deer or red foxes. The 3-mile Ledge Loop Trail is one of the most popular routes, featuring panoramic views of an old quarry at the top of the 80-foot-high Freetown Ledge. While no public beaches are in the immediate Assonet Bay area, plenty of waterside recreation is just a quick drive away. Golfers can play the 18-hole course at the Fall River Country Club, 3 miles south. The Fall River Heritage State Park, less than 8 miles away, offers boardwalk strolls, an antique carousel, and a public sailboat harbor. History buffs will enjoy Battleship Cove adjacent to the park, as it's filled with the world's largest collection of US naval ships. Despite its name, Sandy Beach on Atlantic Boulevard is a rocky shoreline just 10 miles from the community popular for sunbathing and swimming. Children in Assonet Bay can attend kindergarten through third grade at Freetown Elementary before going to George R. Austin Intermediate until fifth grade. Both schools boast an overall B grade on Niche. For sixth grade through freshman year, they may go to B-graded Freetown-Lakeville Middle, which offers a robust STEM program with engineering, genetics and earth science classes. Lastly, students can go to Apponequet Regional High School. Lending to its B-plus grade, the school offers over 20 Advanced Placement courses, including studio art, chemistry and modern European history. As Assonet Bay retains a predominantly natural setting, residents have to drive for restaurants and retailers. Luckily, Shaw’s grocery store and a CVS Pharmacy are only 3 miles south in the RK Plaza off North Main Street. The shopping center also has a few eateries, including Sr Maria, a takeout spot serving Haitian cuisine, like fried red snapper and jute leaves stuffed with blue crab. From St. Anne’s Hospital to a Walmart Supercenter, plenty of conveniences are less than 9 miles away in Fall River’s core. Locals love the St. James Irish Pub, a homey hub with 14 beers on tap and chicken wings smothered in sauces like mango habanero and bourbon molasses. Massachusetts Route 24 spans Assonet Bay’s eastern region, making the neighborhood near several city centers. A 23-mile drive west on the highway and a trip across Veterans Memorial Bridge leads to Providence. A 46-mile trip north ends in Boston. Bus riders will also find several Southeastern Regional Transit Authority stops sprinkled along North Main Street. “There’s an MBTA station opening in the neighborhood sometime in 2024, and that will make getting to Boston even easier,” says Wright.

In any city, there’s a place where people want to live most. In Fall River, that’s North End, says Realtor Diane Belanger with Keller Williams South Watuppa, who not surprisingly lives there herself. “North End is one of the safest areas in Fall River — family-oriented, quiet. I think nothing about leaving my doors open, walking in the neighborhood or having packages delivered to my doorstep.” The homes here run the gambit from single-family Capes with high-pitched roofs to ranch-style homes with attached garages and colonials with Nantucket-style, wood-shingled siding, most priced between $350,000 and $550,000. Townhouses and condos also list in North End for around $300,000, featuring balconies or back patios, single-car garages and hardwood floors. “Routes 24 and 79 are very close,” says Belanger. “So North End attracts a fair amount of professionals commuting to Providence or Boston. Business owners, landscapers and other blue-collar company owners live in the neighborhood, too. Several manufacturing and warehouse centers are nearby.” North End students attend Frank M. Silvia Elementary, which received a B-minus from Niche. This PK-5 school holds “Celebration of Success” events that bring families and teachers together to engage students with their social and emotional development. Morton Middle, a C school, has a 13:1 student-teacher ratio and often previews programs offered at B. M. C. Durfee High, a B-rated school, to help students make better choices once they advance. Tattapanum Trail, a 1.3-mile hiking path that starts on Wilson Road in North End and forms a big loop, is a short walk from many homes. Travel on Wilson Road farther across Watuppa Pond, and the neighborhood gives way to miles and miles of woods. Freetown-Fall River State Forest, a 5,000-acre pine and oak forest, features 25 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and off-road dirt biking. Also, within this area, locals can hunt and fish in several spots, including Watuppa Pond, famous for bass fishing, Doctor’s Mill Pond, the site of an old acid mill, and Copicut Reservoir, the source of the Copicut River. Along the Taunton River, Fall River Country Club with its classic New England golf course features water views on 17 of its 18 holes. Members can also enjoy live music and other events at its full-service clubhouse. For everyday needs, North Enders can stop at Shaw's, a supermarket in the RK Plaza shopping mall, the closest to the neighborhood. And for breakfast or lunch, “Gina’s packs them in,” Belanger says. This family-owned restaurant on Wilson Road is a neighborhood landmark, where the food is served fast, and the service is friendly. Restaurant choices multiply the closer you get to the riverfront, which residents can access by taking an SRTA bus. In a former brick factory facing the river, Duke’s Bakery uses old-fashioned techniques to produce its quality products — and everything is gluten-free. If its sign doesn’t pull you inside, the aroma of freshly baked bread will. High ceilings, soft lighting and huge media screens greet you at Barrett’s Waterfront, where customers can grab a juicy burger, enjoy some mouth-watering fish and chips or satisfy their tastebuds with sushi or a poké bowl. Barrett’s offers live music on the weekends, giving customers twice the entertainment for their money. After dinner, river-walkers might stroll over to the Narrows Center for the Arts, a venue that features live performances, visual art galleries and artist studios. “The city is turning the riverfront into a massive green space,” Belanger says. “The Route 79 roadway downtown has already been removed, and the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority has plans to offer train service from Boston to Fall River as soon as 2024, which will probably affect rents and home prices here if we get a big influx of commuters.” North End might be removed from the activity and hubbub of this quintessential New England river town, but its quiet streets and ready access to trails and woods make it one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Fall River.

This is a neighborhood undergoing transformation. The Taunton River borders the neighborhood to the west. For more than a century, Western Fall River was known for the textile mills and warehouses that stood along the banks of the Taunton. “While a handful of mills still operate today, most of them have been torn down or are being repurposed as senior living centers or luxury apartments,” says Donna Whritenour, a Realtor with Lamacchia Realty and a lifelong resident of Fall River. “People are coming back. Business-friendly millennials are buying here,” says Whritenour. The neighborhood’s waterfront is still industrial, but it’s apparent that change is coming. “It is beautifully refreshing to see what is happening there — and it’s only beginning to blossom,” says Whritenour. While most of the area’s housing consists of apartment buildings and condominiums, there are pockets of single-family homes. “The buildings along the waterfront today are either multi-family structures, repurposed mills or small stores,” explains Whritenour. Many of the multi-family units have little to no yards, but if you head east, closer to the Highlands area of Fall River, there are single-family homes — Victorians, federal-style, ranches and split-levels. These houses tend to have large lots and manicured lawns. The streets are laid out in grid fashion with wide sidewalks and mature shade trees. Home prices in Western Fall River vary from about $175,000 for a 3-bedroom condo to $650,000 for a stately 5-bedroom Victorian with detached garage, hardwood floors and water views. Schools in the area are served by Fall River Public Schools. James Tansey Elementary School has a student body of 281, with a student-teacher ratio of 18-to-1. It has a B-minus rating from Niche. Morton Middle School has a 13-to-1 student-teacher ratio and 694 students. Niche gives the school a C rating. B.M.C. Durfee High School has more than 2,300 students, yet it boasts an enviable student-teacher ratio of 13-to-1. It has a solid B-rating from Niche. Its World Languages department offers students the opportunity to earn a Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy in Arabic, French, Portuguese or Spanish. The neighborhood is home to two well-known parks. In 1904, landscape architect Frederick Olmsted, one of the Central Park architects, designed Western Fall River’s North Park. Olmsted believed that people from all walks of life should have access to beautiful scenery, winding walkways and flowing, open public spaces. North Park has all of that and more. Over the years, it has been home to soapbox derby races and Little League tournaments. It has 2 baseball fields as well as tennis courts, a skateboard park and a playground. In the winter, the park boasts an ice-skating rink and sledding hills that kids say are the best in all of Fall River. On the waterfront, the 2-acre Bicentennial Park features a World War II memorial. The park also has a playground, tennis courts and a boat ramp. There is a 1-mile walking trail visitors can take that leads to Battleship Cove, home to the U.S.S. Massachusetts and other WWII naval vessels. The nearby Freedom Boat Club is a membership-based boating club. For a nominal fee, members can use the club’s boats without worrying about maintenance and storage fees and hassles. When you need to pick up essentials, there are several convenience stores in the area. Riverside Farms offers the essentials such as milk and butter. For larger shopping trips, SouthCoast Marketplace is a 6-mile drive, but here shoppers will find a theater, a casino and an assortment of stores that include PetSmart, T.J. Maxx and Five Below. Market Basket Supermarket offers reasonably priced groceries. If you’re hungry, the Tipsy Toboggan is a six-minute walk from the shoreline. The restaurant offers rustic pub fare. Enjoy views of the river as you sip one of their home-brewed ales in the outdoor beer garden. In the winter, order a hearty stew while warming up at the large brick fireplace. In the mood for something a little fancier? Whritenour says The Cove restaurant on the waterfront serves memorable food and unforgettable views.

Historic roots are evident in this residential corner just north of Fall River, Massachusetts. Highlands-Fall River is a neighborhood that boasts all the conveniences of city living, including walkability to amenities, without the hubbub of the city. Sidewalks along the neighborhood’s narrow roads hug trimmed hedges and manicured lawns with picket fences, giving way to the slew of older homes clustered neatly on smaller lots. Classic architecture gives Highlands-Fall River a quaint and traditional feel. “Victorian-style homes are typical here, many with their original details,” says local Realtor Lindsey Bshara-Leviss, who has over 28 years of real estate experience in the area. Dutch colonial revival styles have distinct gambrel roofs and smaller Cape Cods don dormer windows and charming details. Even multi-family houses and new builds with Queen Anne influences feature classic exteriors that blend with the established symmetrical styles. A two-block portion of the neighborhood received recognition as the Highlands Local Historic District to preserve and promote its historic architectural properties. The median price for real estate in Highlands-Fall River hovers around $420,000; find a $325,000 883-square-foot cottage, a 1907 historic Dutch colonial nestled on a quarter-acre of gardens for $500,000 or newer construction with a pool in the Highland Farms subdivision for $735,000. “Highlands-Fall River is still one of the last affordable areas south of Boston, especially for properties above the hills with water views and historic value,” Bshara-Leviss says. Fall River Public Schools serves students here. Kids may start their education at Spencer Borden Elementary School, which has a B-minus overall rating on Niche. Sixth through eighth graders attend C-rated Morton Middle School and continue to BMC Durfee High School. With a B overall grade, Durfee High ranked thirteenth in best public high schools in Bristol County by Niche. Students here can apply to the school’s thriving career and tech education program that includes culinary arts, engineering and construction. The school also offers dual enrollment and early college programs in conjunction with Bristol Community College, which has a Fall River campus. North Park is one of the main recreational hotspots in Highlands-Fall River and features a playground and ice rink. Skateboarders hone their skills at the skatepark, and games are often afoot at the park’s basketball courts. At the Driscoll Arena, folks of all ages can participate in skating lessons, figure skating, hockey leagues and open skate times. Residents also visit the Taunton River for events and recreational opportunities like boating and fishing. Boat races in the summer, a holiday celebration in the winter, and the Portuguese Feast in South Park, which Bshara-Leviss says pulls people from all over the state, are all events that bring people together along the waterfront and within the community. Attractions, restaurants and an array of local boutiques and shops can be found in the downtown area of Fall River, where most of the city’s action happens. “Dining options are expanding, particularly along the water,” Bshara-Leviss says. “You’ll find a variety of ethnic choices, from Portuguese to Italian, new restaurants on the waterfront and more to come.” A local favorite is The Cove Restaurant and Marina, which serves Portuguese specialties and seafood dishes in an elegant setting overlooking the Taunton River. Historic attractions downtown celebrate the city’s roots. “There’s quite a bit of history here,” Bshara-Leviss says, adding that it’s one of the aspects that draw residents and visitors alike. “The Battleship Cove and Museum is especially a big draw as a tourist destination.” Home to a preserved World War II battleship that houses a naval museum, the Cove is a historical landmark displaying the world’s most extensive collection of US naval ships. “Highlands-Fall River has easy access to highways and proximity to beaches,” Bshara-Leviss says, adding that the train stations and development of the south coast rail is a major plus for the area. Fall River Expressway and Western Fall River Expressway run north and south, while Interstate 195 cuts across the city to connect residents to Providence, Rhode Island, in less than 30 minutes by car.