As I've mentioned in one or two other posts, I'm moving up to MA sometime...  as soon as I can get a house.  We're looking north of Boston.

We actually found a house recently that my wife and I both really like.  However, she is concerned over the cost of snow removal.  The driveway to the house is approximately 500 feet long.  It's a straight line and the house is off to the side at the top of the driveway, so a plow could just plow straight up the driveway and doesn't have to worry about blocking the house or garage in.

So, my question is does anyone know a ballpark figure for what something like that would cost?  Per plow and per season?  Wife thinks that it'll be several thousand dollars per season and won't commit to the house because of this.  I disagree and think it'll be less.

Several thousand is crazy talk. For that much you could buy a 4 wheeler with a plow. Or a small tractor with a front loader and blade on the back, and a mower deck

You would only have to pay the plow per storm $50-100 seems about the going rate depending on how much work the drive is. If it is straight down and straight out any good plow guy would have your drive done in 15 min. So most guys are going to take $100 for a 15 min job

I grew up mainly on the MA/NH border and now live in VT.

TLDR: I have a similar driveway. I bit the bullet and bought a truck mainly for plowing and am very happy with that decision. I would not want to have to rely on someone else to move snow for me.

Long answer:

Depending on how you view "my time is money", let me break down the approximate man-hours needed to move snow. Presumably you are moving snow with the storm, every 4 or 5 inches. Which means about three driveway clearing sessions during your average 12 inch snowstorm.

I have a nice Toro snowblower as a backup, but at this time in my life, with limited free time and work always more and more demanding, I bought a truck to dedicate to yard tasks and running around town. It is one of the best investments I've made as part of home ownership.

One year (before I bought the plow truck), my 4-wheeler blew its clutch in a bad storm, and the snowblower just happened to be locked in a neighbor's garage (who borrowed it and then went on vacation), so we had to shovel by hand. Only one storm, but it allows me to give you an educated answer:

Hand shoveling: 3-4 hours
26", two-stage snowblower: 1.5 hours
4 foot plow on 4WD ATV: 45min.
7.5 foot Fisher plow on 4WD truck: 20 minutes

For what it's worth, when all is said and done, the gas-hogging plow truck uses about as much fuel as the snowblower for moving the same amount of snow. The ATV uses far less. So an ATV with plow could be said to be the best compromise/most efficient solution for people with driveways like ours. However with my job requirements, a plow truck and the time saved with it is worth its weight in gold.