Key Takeaways

• • • Location: About 8 miles / 15–20 minutes from downtown Boston via four MBTA Red Line stops (North Quincy, Wollaston, Quincy Center, Quincy Adams), plus Route 3 and I-93 access.
  • • Housing: Early-1900s Colonials, gambrel roofs, and two-families in older neighborhoods like Houghs Neck, Germantown, and Quincy Point, alongside coastal single-families in Wollaston, Squantum, and Merrymount, and new condo development in a fast-redeveloping Quincy Center. Median sale prices run in the mid-$600Ks, with homes typically moving in under two months.
  • Community: Eleven distinct neighborhoods, a National Historic Landmark in United First Parish Church (burial site of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams), Wollaston Beach, Marina Bay, and a downtown in the middle of a major multi-year redevelopment.

Living in Quincy

Quincy has a distinct “city of neighborhoods” feel — eleven of them, in fact, each with its own identity, from the peninsula charm of Houghs Neck and Squantum to the walkable village center of Wollaston to the ongoing transformation of Quincy Center itself. Known as the “City of Presidents” as the birthplace of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Quincy blends deep colonial history with a genuinely diverse, fast-growing population of just over 100,000.

Housing stock varies block by block. Older neighborhoods like Houghs Neck, Germantown, and Quincy Point are full of early-1900s Colonials, gambrel roofs, and two-family homes with real character. Coastal neighborhoods such as Wollaston, Squantum, Merrymount, and Adams Shore lean toward single-families with water proximity, while Quincy Center and Marina Bay have added a wave of newer condos and apartments as part of the city’s downtown redevelopment.

Quincy sits roughly 8 miles from downtown Boston, with four Red Line stops of its own — North Quincy, Wollaston, Quincy Center, and Quincy Adams — putting South Station about 15 to 20 minutes away by train. Route 3 and I-93 give drivers quick access north and south, and the city’s harborfront gives it a coastal feel that’s rare this close to Boston.

Daily life centers on a handful of anchors: Wollaston Beach, one of the longest beaches on Boston Harbor; Marina Bay’s restaurants and marina; the Adams National Historical Park and United First Parish Church, where John Adams and John Quincy Adams are both entombed; and a newly reinvigorated Quincy Center, where Hancock-Adams Common has become the city’s civic gathering space. Add in Quincy Public Schools’ 12 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and 2 high schools, and it’s easy to see why the city continues to draw both longtime South Shore families and newer buyers priced out of Boston proper.