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Chefs: Save on Rent, Move to Lowell!

Lowell: A new culinary mecca?
Lowell: A new culinary mecca? Photo: istockphoto

Yes, some might know our gritty neighbor to the north as a decaying, depressing urban wasteland, setting of HBO’s disturbing High on Crack Street and stomping grounds of a young Jack Kerouac and feisty boxer Irish Micky Ward. But as we’ve reported in the past, Lowell has a lot going for it, food-wise. And now the city is trying to entice chefs and other culinary professionals to move in, per BostonChefs.com.

Downtown’s sleek Appleton Mills, the first affordable new rental housing in Massachusetts built especially for artists, considers those toiling in the kitchen as qualified to reside in the space. The abodes, nestled in a restored textile mill, are quite spiffy, if we do say so ourselves. Oh, and the rent? Um … about what you’d pay per square foot in Fort Point. Studios start at $421. No, this is not 1982; you read that correctly. Income requirements do apply, however.

The neighborhood is home to a kaleidoscope of Lao and Cambodian eateries, soothing-swank French bistro La Boniche, and one of the finest, most divinely greasy breakfast shanties in all the land (in our humble opinion): The Owl Diner.

A lottery is scheduled for January 2011; file your application by December 31 for consideration.

Lowell Is Calling All Culinary Artists [BostonChefs]

Earlier: Is Lowell the Next Big Restaurant Town?

Chefs: Save on Rent, Move to Lowell!