NORWELL /Ridge Hill Road
A child-safe, dog-friendly sanctuary
Area: 21.33 square mile
POPULATION
2000: 9,765
2006: 10,275
Density: 490 res./square mile
Median age: 43
Median household income: $100,398
FINANCES
Tax rate: $10.69
Town budget: $37 million
Avg. water bill: $348/year
HOUSING
Median home price (# sales)
2007: $590,000 (104)
2008: $677,500 (23 through March)
Median condo price
2007: $425,000 (15)
2008: $0
SCHOOLS
Number of students: 2,272
Number of teachers: 144
H.S. grads to 4-yr. college: 90%
H.S. grads to 2-yr. college: 6%
Median SAT score (2006): 1672By MAUREEN McCARTHY, For The Patriot Ledger
The centrally located Ridge Hill Road neighborhood is home to more than four dozen capes, colonials, ranches and split-level homes. It’s an area full of mature plantings and manicured lawns.
Located off Oak Street, the one-entrance, dead-end that includes Millwood Circle and Cape Cod Laneis nestled between Route 53 and High Street.
“It is a great neighborhood because it is quiet, yet close to everything,” said Margaret Dawson, owner of Vantage Point Realty Advisors in Norwell. “When you drive down the street, it is a very pretty and welcoming area.”
The Ridge Hill neighborhood is attractive to young families, Dawson said, because it is not a cut-through and is within walking distance of Cole Elementary School on High Street and the playground.
“It’s a great neighborhood to be a kid,” Dawson said of the place she called home for 12-years. “Kids play in the street or play ball in their yards. It is a very child-friendly neighborhood.”
Marge Dorney, 61, recently retired principal of Vinal Elementary School in Norwell, and her family moved into their colonial on Ridge Hill 21 years ago. She said privacy, pride of ownership and convenience are some of the benefits of living in this sought-after neighborhood.
“What is so nice is that once you get in here, it is very wooded,” Dorney said. “Yards are well-maintained and we all take pride of ownership.”
The area is a great place for residents of all ages, Dorney said. “It’s a nice variety of generations. We have original owners, veteran retirees (and) several new neighbors starting a family.”
Love of man’s best friend is another characteristic of the area, said Dorney, who owns a boxer. “We are a wonderful dog neighborhood. I have gotten to know so many neighbors because of our dog-walking. We have a group that meets at 8 p.m. for the last walk of the night. We are like the mailmen: rain, sleet, snow … we are out there.”
Ridgehill Road is within walking distance of Route 53 and all its amenities and just a few miles from Route 3 and Hingham’s commuter rail station. “It is a very commuter-friendly area,” Dawson said.
Shopping is plentiful in Hingham’s Queen Anne’s Corner on Washinghton Street-Route 53. A grocery store, restaurants, gas stations, banking, a pharmacy and a medical office are within one mile.
“We are just two miles to Hanover Mall and the Derby Street Shops,” Dorney said. “It is very conveniently located.”
Prices of home sold in recent years have ranged from $500,000 to $600,000. Most properties have 1,800 to 2,800 square feet of living space.
In January, a four-bedroom cape sold for $505,000.
