What is it like to live in Plainville?

“I really like that it’s not a big, anonymous town,’’ said resident Sarah Cox. “We’ll see the same people over and over.’’

Hitting the links at Wentworth Hills Golf Club. community photos by Jonathan Wiggs/ Globe staff

February 14, 2017

2 minutes to read

One of Sarah Cox’s favorite pastimes growing up was walking to the center of town to get penny candy at Falk’s Market. Now a mother of three, Cox and her husband take their children to An Unlikely Story Bookstore & Cafe, which stands where Falk’s once stood. After trying city life, Cox decided the best place to raise her family was in the town she once called home.

Cox, a waitress, real estate agent, and physical therapist, grew up in Plainville. After attending college in Hartford, she lived in Boston and Attleboro.

“We only wanted to do one more move,’’ she said. “We wanted to find a house that we could stay in, and we loved the idea of being in Plainville.’’

Cox moved her family back to her hometown in January. Because of Plainville’s limited housing stock, this was no easy feat. It’s a small town (roughly 11 square miles) that Cox says draws in people and keeps them there. Her mother has lived there since the ’70s, and her sister does, too. Cox has also run into former classmates who have children in school with her son.

“I really like that it’s not a big, anonymous town,’’ she said. “We’ll see the same people over and over.’’

Plainville’s location is a plus, said Cox, who likes that she can go for a run past horse stables, but can still drive to Target in five minutes or easily grab the train to take the kids to Boston on a Saturday.

“You have the ease of these amenities really close, but at the same time, you still kind of have that quiet, more rural kind of feel,’’ Cox said. “It’s a nice balance.’’

BY THE NUMBERS

1905

The year that Plainville was incorporated, making it one of the youngest towns in the state

1835

The year that Falk’s Market was built downtown. Jeff Kinney, author of the children’s series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,’’ bought the building with plans to restore it. When it couldn’t be saved, he knocked it down and built a bookstore. An Unlikely Story Bookstore & Cafe opened in May.

1,200+

Number of slots at Plainridge Park Casino. It opened in June, making it the first casino in Massachusetts.

PROS & CONS

Pro

Green space

The town owns more than 266 acres of conservation land. A nonprofit conservation group, the Natural Resources Trust of Plainville, owns an additional 71.5 acres.

Con

Housing stock

Looking to move here? Get in line. Available single-family homes in Plainville are hard to find. As of press time, there were 32 homes on the market in Plainville but more than twice that in nearby Norfolk. From January to August this year, there were 58 sales in Plainville, compared with 99 in Norfolk.