HANOVER /Hillside Drive
Quiet neighborhood a treat for kids, parents

By ANDREW LIGHTMAN
The Patriot Ledger Area: 14.63 square miles

POPULATION
2000: 13,164
2007: 13,628

Density: 942 res./square mile
Median age: 39
Median household income: $85,192

FINANCES
Tax rate (2007): $10.63 residential/ $11.01 commercial
Town budget: $38 million
Avg. water bill: $400-500 yearly

HOUSING
Median home price (# sales)
2007: $465,000 (125)
2008: $385,000 (23 through March)
Median condo price
2007: $545,000 (9)
2008: $0

SCHOOLS
Number of students: 2,793
Number of teachers: 219
H.S. grads to 4-yr. college: 81%
H.S. grads to 2-yr. college: 13%
Median SAT score (2006): 1,532

From her home of 35 years, Barbara Floyd has watched her street grow up. Floyd moved her family from a busy Hanover street to Hillside Drive, seeking a safe place for her two kids to play.

“Now I have safety for my grandchildren,” she said.

The quiet subdivision, comprised of Hillside Drive and Hillside Circle, is now roughly 40 years old.

The Cape Cod-style and colonial homes sit behind big front yards with towering trees at their backs, while hockey nets and basketball hoops dot the roadway.

“It’s the kind of street where people will stop for the hockey games,” said Karen Barkowsky, who moved to Hillside Drive in 1972 and raised her five children.

Starting at Circuit Street near Route 139, Hillside Drive splits at its far end, and forms Hillside Circle, a large loop of about 30 homes.

Floyd said cars never cut through since the road is a dead-end. “I’ve had the same neighbors for over 30 years, which is great,” Floyd said. “I love it here, I really do.”

Elaine Shea, a real estate agent with Crescent Realty Group, said the subdivision boomed with kids in the 1970s and 1980s and is starting to do so again.

The last sale on the street was in April 2006, a raised ranch with a garage that sold for $395,000. Values have likely dropped since then, following the rest of the housing market, Shea said.

The area is a short drive to supermarkets in Hanover, Hanson, Abington and Norwell, while Boston is about 26 miles away.

Children in the neighborhood attend the Center School, near town hall, and Hanover’s high school and middle school are a short drive away.

The neighborhood is within walking distance of town hall, the John Curtis Free Library, and Briggs Stables, where free horse shows are offered most Wednesday nights during the summer.

Susan Sage and her husband moved to Hillside Drive seven years ago. They were attracted to their house with its big backyard that borders conservation land. The quiet neighborhood didn’t hurt either, Sage said.

For Barkowsky, who moved to Hanover from the city, the quiet subdivision offered none of the noise and traffic she was used to. “So this was a cultural shock for us,” Barkowsky said. “It was a huge change. The people are so nice.”

Their generosity is also known for miles.

People on Hillside Drive and Hillside Circle know to stock up on Halloween candy, Barkowsky said, because parents from all over town drop their kids off on one end to let them walk the circle, without fear.

Gary Farrow’s family moved to Hillside Drive when he was 7. He bought his parents house 20 years ago.

“I’ve been on this house since day one,” he said. “It’s a nice road to live on.