USAalltheway

Hi everyone

Having a bit of last minute nerves...or 3 month nerves - well nerves anyway!

My husband (UKC) and I (USC) are planning on moving to Boston in the Spring. I'm originally from MA but have been living in Glasgow for nearly 8 years and we have been talking about moving back for years. Now the time has come - we are taking the plunge, have sold our flat in Glasgow, I've resigned from my job, hubs will hopefully have his visa in Feb - and now I'm feeling a bit nervous about it all!

I am moving back first in April to find a job and set up 'life' as it were while my husband continues to work here in the UK for a while (so we aren't both unemployed and homeless I suppose). I'm going to be staying with my mom on the Cape and my sister's dorm floor in the city while I try and find a job...I work in marketing...and then once that's settled an apartment.

I went to college in Boston so the areas I know best are Newton, Brookline, Allston and Brighton (I'll let you all guess where I went ). But 8 years is a lifetime and so much has changed since then, most importantly ME - I was a student then and now a 'mid-career' professional. Who has no idea what the salaries are for people at my level/profession, how healthcare or taxes work, has ever negotiated a lease on my own, what neighborhoods are the best to live in...the list goes on and on!

So suppose just a thread for anyone who is planning on moving to Boston anytime soon to share stories. And for anyone else who has done it in the past to share their experience!

What was the biggest challenge you faced? How did you deal with it? What good things made it all worth it?

philbrown901

Yes, moving to Greater Boston area in April so my wife can take on a new global role with her company who are based in Wellesley/Weston. Move only got confirmed on Christmas Eve so lots to get organised. Flying over in Feb to have a recce and start house hunting (rental), we will have a relocation advisor to help with most of it so happy to chip in on this thread with info and comments.

I will post a more of a personal introduction in the new members forum later.

fashionista

We're moving to Boston in Spring (assuming our visas are granted). In terms of areas to live in, I asked this question a couple of months ago and got lots of suggestions.

I've been doing a bit of research to try and find apartments in those areas but have found it a bit difficult being so far away. I keep finding what look like really nice, and reasonably priced apartments, but when I find reviews of the building, people say they're over-run with students who are constantly having 3am parties and throwing up in the hallways! So I think I'm going to have to wait until I get there to find somewhere properly.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with the job hunting as I also work in marketing / communications, but will have to wait for my EAD before I can get a job.

Good luck!!

Bob

Welcome to BE and good luck!

Might want to have a search out for a handful of threads on Boston, were quite a few over the summer.

Where to live, well that depends on where you work and what you fancy for a commute and what you fancy paying for.

I've a mate paying $420 a month, all in, in Brookline, but he's sharing with 6 people...Brookline isn't cheap, neither is Newton...anywhere decent for a small 1/2 bed flat in a nice/trendy area and you're looking easily at $1500-3500 a month in rent.

As for a lease, there isn't anything to it, down town, usually looking for first, last, plus anything from 1-3 months worth of rent as a deposit upfront. If you use a realtor, expect to pay anything from 1-3 months rent as a finders fee, but there are plenty of places on craigslist etc. Your issue might be not having credit history if you've been away as long as you have, so you might have to put down more for deposits etc.

Parking is a premium, off street parking is worth a lot...it also helps reduce car insurance but if you've got to pay to park in a multi story, it's usually between $20-40 a day but you can get decent discounts paying monthly upfront or more, or if you get your car out of the garage early, such as before 7am etc.

Biggest hassle will be the mandatory need to have health insurance, so get a job and get insurance, if you don't you'll get stiffed come tax time in fines.

Tax in MA ain't cheap...but the sales tax ain't bad, it's only 6.25%

Bob

My old neighbourhood...very expensive, but they have awesome schools and town centre is very cute.

It's where most of the Celtics and Red Sox players live.

Rt 9 is a car park in the morning, massive bottleneck, Rt 20 and Rt 30 aren't much better, so if you can avoid, you'd be doing well.

Framingham is a shit hole, but there's some really nice places in the north of the town for decent money.

Newton and Needham are nice areas and if Boston is important, Riverside, the greenline on the T ends in Newton, but it's the shit line that takes 40 mins to get to south station....though any where east of Wellesley will save about a half hour off the commute into Boston by car.

USAalltheway

Hi Fashionista (and everyone!)

It sounds like you and I are pretty much on the same level - my husband and I are late 20s and no kids. Obviously I don't know where I'll be working yet, but I want to live somewhere relatively central but more residential - Jamaica Plain and Brookline/Longwood are neighborhoods I know and like.

We aren't quite at living in the 'burbs stage yet - I grew up in the 'burbs so don't know if I will ever really be ready for it. How did people who are living out of town find they adjusted/met new friends? Harder than living more centrally?

Anyone planning to live in Cambridge? The only areas I vaguely know are Central Square, Inman Sq and Harvard, but I know some areas of Cambridge are completely inaccessible without a car. We aren't even considering a car - from living in the city 4 years I know it's not necessary and a Zipcar once in a while will be fine. Plus, I never quite figured out where you were supposed to park during snow storm parking bans...

Who had a job lined up before they went and who didn't find a job until they got there? My preference would be to get one lined up in advance but I don't know if employers are down with the whole Skype video interview thing or want to see you there in the flesh!

Sorry for the millions of questions guys!

hobbes79

Moved out this way in Jan 2008. Originally rented in Billerica, which is a bit crap to be honest, but near where I was working. Rent for a 2.5 bedroom (one bedroom was tiny, so I'm barely counting that!) was $900/month inclusive of all utility bills.

Later that year bought a place up in Andover, MA. Was a pretty good time to buy, and it still is in my opinion. Many talk about upside down mortgages from buying in the early 2000s, and though significant profit is still a pipe dream, house prices seem quite stable for the time being.

Bit of a challenge getting established initially. Your husband (and maybe yourself to some extent) will struggle a bit with all the social security numbers, getting licenses, etc. It'll pass soon enough, but can be frustrating.

Beyond that, no particular challenges to moving here than to moving anywhere else new. Winters are harsh, but they're so on the ball here with plowing the snow it's not really that big a deal after you've gotten used to it. Summers are generally wonderful.

Salaries are on the upper end here, but so is the cost of living, so it balances out rather rapidly!

One nice thing being here is that trips back to the UK are very easy. The flight is a pretty swift 6 hours or so. Handy for visiting.

Best of luck!

philbrown901

Thanks for this info Bob. My wife's office will be in Weston, just off Rt20, by the time we move over so we're not looking to live too close to the city, just a train ride in when needed, plan is to find somewhere within 10 miles of Weston aiming for her journey to work to be least possible PITA. We've lived in the home counties for 10 years so prefer towns to cities. I'm a Physics teacher with 12 yrs experience so realistically hoping to get a job for Sept term once I get METL done and other things sorted, might have to find something else for a couple of months in the interim, good childcare for our 2 yo daughter is a priority for us, prices for some places around the area seem to be $70/75 per day ($1500 per month).

I'm a very into my fishing, mostly fly-fishing, so where would I post questions about this with the BE forums? Thanks.

Bob

Cambridge is awesome, but parking is just rubbish, pretty much everywhere....also generally really expensive.

The burbs aren't that bad though, just depends on where you live, some areas are more busy such as Newton and Needham, and also Watertown, I think that's a bit souless, but it's got Alewife, the end of the Redline on the T and a good bus network and pretty affordable.

Bob

Can't help with the fishing, but that area is on the Charles River, get a permit and fish would be my guess.

Weston, don't know if that's on the commuter rail, it probably is, but the commuter rail is a bit shit, it's just that, so outside morning/evening commuter times there's hardly any trains and it's about $12 one way and parking outside of Riverside is a bit of a joke to find, and it'll take about 50 mins to South station from about there...better off driving, Rt9 straight into Boston, which is just of Rt20....it's not even 10 miles, so out side of commuter times, you're down town in 15 mins, Rt20/I-95 all converge around Rt9 which at that point is Boylston St. Commuter time though you're looking at 45 mins in the car.

School, MA has pretty high standards on PRAXIS is you're looking for high school etc, so could be tricky...that and not many schools are hiring, all broke, except Wellesley, but Wellesley/Weston is up there as some of the most expensive towns in the US to be a home owner. On the other hand though, plenty of teachers work as private tutors for pretty good money, and with your experience you should be okay there, just get decent liability insurance. You always see business cards in the mall/library notice boards etc.

Childcare, that area, the going rate is $1500 a month for 3 half days and that's if you can get in....it's the most expensive in the country, but also generally some of the best. Even high school kids will charge you $15-20 a hour for babysitting, so you'll get used to timing dates with a friend and going dibs on a baby sitter, or babysit for friends.

aileverte

hello everyone!

I'm also moving back to the Boston area in Spring (got a house in New Hampshire, so not really Boston...). But I wonder if you have already chosen a removals company? I've been reading a lot of mixed reviews, and am becoming more and more paranoid. All I have to ship is 1.5 cubic meters of books + some clothes and miscellanea. Judging from websites such as www.referenceline.com, the only satisfied customers are those who either move locally, or those who have enough stuff to fill up a container.

If anyone can recommend a decent service, I would be very grateful. (I am currently located in Oxford).

Bob

If it's not that much stuff, Ozzidoc posted a good thread on sending small stuff using parcel type delivery companies.

aileverte

Thanks, Bob, would you mind pointing me to that thread?

[It's probably about 200 kg of books + clothes, though... So rather more than I could afford to drop in airmail... but definitely not enough to fill up a container...]

tonrob

It's possible to search by username so you could find it that way.

Jerseygirl

Here you go.