A Tale of Two Towns | Charlton, Rutland leverage low costs to attract commuters
Photo/Matt Pilon
RECIPE FOR GROWTH: Alan I. Gordon, Charlton's town planner, says the town has become a bedroom community for MetroWest and Eastern Massachusetts.
Photo/Matt Pilon
GROWTH SPURT: Part of the reason Charlton's population increased by 15 percent between 2000 and 2010 was due to the completion of the Overlook community off Route 20.
If you worked in Natick, but could live 50 to 60 minutes away for a lot less money and a more rural setting, would you deal with the commute?
In Charlton and Rutland, two rural communities west and north of Worcester, people seem to be answering in the affirmative.
And the result has been population growth in both towns that easily outpaced the Worcester County average of 8.3 percent population over the past decade, according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Charlton added 1,718 residents to its population in the past decade, a 15.2-percent increase. That was the biggest percent increase of any of its neighbors with the exception of Sturbridge, a more suburban town with a larger commercial base.
And Rutland added 1,620 residents, a 25.5-percent increase in that same period. Rutland’s growth outpaced all of its neighboring communities.
There are similarities between the two towns that tell the story of growth, said Vera Kolias, a principal planner with the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission.
Relatively low real estate costs, proximity to highway and road networks, an abundance of developable land and reputable school systems are among the relevant factors, Kolias said.
The CMRPC projects that Charlton will gain another 2,000 residents this decade while Rutland will gain about 600.
In both towns, the majority of residents are commuting to neighboring communities and beyond to work, officials said.
“As much as for Central Mass., we’ve become a bedroom community of MetroWest and Eastern Mass.,” said Alan I. Gordon, Charlton’s town planner. “People are willing to commute more and more.”
Joseph Becker, a Rutland selectman, said that the same effect is happening in his town.
“I think Rutland is become more and more of a bedroom community,” Becker said. “As you continue to get closer and closer to the 495 beltway, the pricing just gets exorbitant in comparison.”
Real Estate Costs
Tantamount among considerations a person or family undertakes when looking to relocate is the cost of housing, Kolias said.
In Charlton, the average single-family home sale price was $248,500 in 2009, according to data from The Warren Group, a Boston-based real estate tracker. In Rutland, the average price was $287,500.
Compare that to the statewide average price, a whopping $378,000, and it becomes clearer what is creating an influx of residents in the two towns.
Land availability is also an important factor, Kolias said. Charlton has 42 square miles of land and Rutland has 35 square miles, putting each on the upper end of larger land areas in the state.
That land has led to a handful of subdivision projects in each community over the past decade. Some feature more than 100 homes. Indeed, residential construction has accounted for the majority of new growth taxes in both towns, according to officials. Both towns outpaced the state average for number of building permits issued for single family home construction, according to the CMRPC.
In Rutland, Central Tree Estates, Brunelle East and West and Bear Hill are just some of the new developments since 2000.
“The town is really made up of a lot of good-sized subdivisions,” Becker said. “We have also added a couple over-55-type condo developments.”
A similar pattern emerged in Charlton, with subdivisions dotting the portions of town south of Route 20, which is the main commercial corridor, Gordon said.
The single largest residential development Charlton built in the past decade is the Overlook community, an expansive 450-acre estate built under the state’s “smart growth” zoning law.
The development has 219 residences for those ages 62 and up that also offers short-term rehabilitative and long-term nursing care alongside 50,000 square feet of common areas.
Not Just Residential
Since 2000, Charlton has made gains in its commercial base, which now accounts for 2.5 percent more of its annual tax levy than it did in 2004, a total of 13.5 percent.
Rezoning efforts have sought to spur the growth along Route 20 and to a lesser extent, Route 169.
Gordon said that rezoning along Route 20, which offers between 700 and 900 acres of developable land, has helped and will continue to help this decade.
The town hit a population threshold at some point over the last 10 years that met the location formulas of companies like CVS, which built a large pharmacy on the corner of Route 20 and North Main Street several years ago.
Across the street, up on a hill, Harrington Memorial Hospital recently built a 20,000-square-foot medical office building.
On Route 20, several new gas stations, banks and fast food restaurants have followed suit and businesses like medical manufacturer Karl Storz Endovision Inc. have expanded.
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