Affordability and convenience bring many first-time house buyers to Pawtucket's Darlington neighborhood, and many people find themselves staying for the long term, for exactly the same reasons.

In addition, "it's a nice, all-American type of neighborhood," said Tonya Waldron, who grew up in Darlington and bought her first house there this year with her husband, Gary Waldron.

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Waldron, who was born at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, said that after she and her husband began house hunting, they "decided to stay here because things are just very familiar." Also, "for the same house in Pawtucket versus Cumberland, there is an $80,000-to-$100,000 difference." The couple also looked in Rumford, in East Providence, but found its housing prices a bit high.

Waldron said Darlington has trees and greenery, yet she is close to all the shopping on Newport Avenue. Waldron also likes the discount movie prices at the nearby Patriot Cinema, just over the Rumford line.

"The big appeal is that the prices are very affordable," said Ed Starchurski, owner of the Century 21 Starchurski Agency, which has an office on Newport Avenue. "For people -- especially coming out of metro Boston -- to get anything with a decent yard, a garage, for anywhere near what the Darlington area can give you, is very difficult."

The median housing price in Pawtucket last year was $231,875, below the statewide median of $282,900. Houses on the market in Pawtucket recently ranged in asking price from $143,000 for a two-bedroom, one-bath house, to $650,000 for a four-bedroom, 1930 Colonial.

"It's an older, established neighborhood with moderately priced homes," said Starchurski. He said Darlington has a "wide cross-section" of styles, but the housing is predominantly single-family, with a lot of "smaller multifamily" -- two- and three-family houses -- in the mix. Multifamily house prices in Darlington range from the low 200s to near $400,000, he said.

"Multifamily has an appeal for a lot of first-time buyers," Starchurski said. "The rent helps you get into the house and gives you a nice place to live. That's how a lot of people get into the market."

Although the affordability attracts many first-time buyers and young families, Starchurski said the neighborhood is "stable," with many people who have been living in the same houses "for 50 years or more."

Larry Tetreault, who taught English at Shea High School for 20 years before retiring in December 2001, lives on Second Street in Darlington with his wife, who is still teaching. Tetreault is a volunteer with the Juvenile Hearing Board, an alternative to Family Court for offenders younger than 18.

The Tetreaults are Pawtucket natives, and they grew up in Pleasant View, he said. He remembers they moved into their Darlington house soon after the Blizzard of '78.

"It's a good location," Tetreault said. "It's near the [Slater] park; it's close to both [Routes] 95 and 195. It was and still is a nice area to live. It's quiet. It's in the city, yet you're a mile away from the Seekonk line. It's convenient," he said.

"There are a lot of schools for people to choose from, not only public schools, but a lot of parochial schools," he said. There is also an MBTA station in nearby Attleboro, two miles away, so it's convenient to "hop on a train to Boston."

Darlington "is holding its own," he said. "People take care of their property. . . . For the most part, the houses are well-kept and the people take pride in their property."

Tetreault said his son is grown and living on his own, but he has noticed "a lot of little kids around. It's a cycle . . . a new generation."

cdunn@projo.com / (401) 277-7913

POPULATION: (Pawtucket, 2000): 72,958

MEDIAN SALES PRICE (Pawtucket, 2005): $231,875

PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Francis J. Varieur Elementary School

Samuel Slater Junior High School

William E. Tolman Senior High School

Charles E. Shea Senior High School

INTERESTING FACT: Samuel Slater, the British-born founder of the American cotton-textile industry, constructed and operated machines for spinning cotton yarn in 1793 at what is now the Slater Mill Historic Site in Pawtucket.