ian-mstm

It's Boston's main transportation system - their equivalent of the tube... but on steroids!

Ian

Bob

MBTA - The Underground, the rest is rolled into the commuter rail, ferry, tram and bus service.

One advantage to living within Boston area, the zone one pass is what, $60 a month? versus about $300 for zone 6 for the commuter rail out in Natick. The pass gets you the bus, T, the works, so if you're a daily user it ain't bad value.

The Redline is great. The greenline is shit, until you get to Park Street, it's the one where all the crashes happen and all the massive winter delays occur. The Orange line is great too. The Blue line hits the financial district out to the Silverline, which goes to Logan. Not great getting the T into the airport, but you certainly don't want to leave your car at the airport, cheaper to get a limo in, as parking can be $50 a day for long term parking.

The thing with JP, it's split up into essentially 4 quarters, the shit, poor bit, which is a bit minging, amusingly right where the massive Angel animal hospital is, then you've got the expensive quarter, the gay quarter and the Portuguese quarter. The latter two are much more fun from experience. Parking is a right canute though, especially during winter, where it's zoned parking, meaning if you don't have off street parking, you've got to move the car around all the time as you can't park on certain streets during certain days for snow removal and that kind of malarkey, but then that's the case for a lot of Boston.

Anywhere along the Jamaicaway road and Arborway, will be great for links to getting around, but monster commute zone. Anywhere around JP Pond is amazing, same with anywhere pretty much between Columbus Ave and Boylston St (Rt9 - which will be a morning car park).

There's also Doyle's Cafe, which is a superb Irish pub, one of the best places for a drink, it's out of the way, but has loads of history. It's where all the Kennedy's used to drink as well as other political big wigs, so there is a lot of really cool memorabilia there to look at. Not to far from Sam Adams the brewery, which is so-so for beer unless you get the seasonals, but they do rather fun brewery tours especially during holiday periods.

Oliver1979

The gay quarter would be ideal for my Mrs, she seems to love everything gay... odd one she is.

Think the expensive or portuguese areas for me though, although loads of time to look at other areas.

Bob

You'll find there's a massive Brazilian community all over the place too, which is pretty fun.

If you're on Facebook, there's a Boston Brits group and a Metrowest group. Both have monthly eat/drink events, as well as at various holiday times. The Boston one is a little more active for footie/netball/cricket sports as well as mothers getting together for coffee or what have you.

Either way, lot of stuff to go, lots of people to help make it easier to settle in if you need. The consulate also puts up good parties now and again and they usually have a good selection of Brit beers and snacks

HumphreyC

In that case she needs to visit Provincetown and Northampton....

Bob

Northampton, you'd just get lost in a sea of flip flops and hippies though

Oliver1979

Hmmmm... not a fan of flip flops and smelly hippies lol

I think i need to hold off the looking at areas to move to and concentrate on finances before i move and getting the visa/company support etc.

Still being in Project Management/Analysis i have already started a project plan and financials... my Mrs thinks i am sad but without me she wouldn't think about anything we need to look at.

She just wants the move tomorrow and thats it... silly girl!

Jerseygirl

FWIW I think you are grossly underestimating how much it costs to set up living and continue to live here. Has your wife ever lived in the area before? It's good to look on the positive side but do not underestimate how difficult life here can be...and do not underestimate how good life is in the UK.

Oliver1979

By the sounds of what people have said so far, yes i have underestimated the costs involved in moving to Boston but certainly not the living costs going forward.

If, as per advice i have seen, Boston is similar to London in terms of living costs i will be far better off... I lived and worked in London for many years - on a terrible salary. Forgetting that, looking at food, bills, car, house/apartment etc etc i could easily afford to live in the US!

I certainly don't think everything will be wonderful, easy going, better than what i have now... but i see it all as a challenge.

Also, I love England - not one of the people who rubbish it, my possible move to Boston isn't about any negatives in England or any positives offered by Boston that England doesn't have - its a change.

At the moment i have very little to gauge positives against negatives - hence me looking into it more.

matbow

Hi there.

This is my second post on the forum, but after reading your posts and the following replies about how expensive it is to rent in Boston I decided to de-lurk to pass on a a couple of recommendations.

www.oakgrovevillage.com

It's located in Melrose which is a small City about 5 miles north of Boston, but it is on the T (subway) so you can be in Boston in 20 mins. 2 bedroom apartments run at about $2400 a month inclusive of underground parking and gym and pool. Whilst this might not be possible for a renter with no credit history or renters references, as standard they only need a $500 deposit - no first, last and security up front. There are seem to be a lot of expats in this community, so it might be worth dropping them an email to see what they would need...

If you wanted to live a little closer to Boston, then I can recommend:

http://www.arborpoint.com/Medford-MA...ation-Landing/

And if you wanted to be in Boston, then the following can't beaten for a central location, although you will be looking at $3200+ for a 2 bedroom place and if you want a car you can expect to pay $400 a month for parking. I can't comment on the upfront costs now, but when I lived there a couple of years ago it was first and last, no security.

http://www.devonshireboston.com/index.html

I hope this doesn't come across as a sales pitch (I'm in no way connected to them!), I just wanted to let you know that renting in the Boston area doesn't always mean a large upfront expense and if you go direct to a complex, rather that using an agent you can avoid having to pay broker fees as well.

Hope this helps!

Matt

Oliver1979

Thanks matbow - those devonshire apartments are lovely, bit outside of my top level price but i think i could push the boat out!!

Anyway, after Jerseygirls post about us possible underestimating the living costs in Boston and doing a bit more digging, i thought it may be useful to show some of my workings out and see if i am even close to what people who actually know the cost of living in Boston.

So the below is what i believe our combined salaries will be and the outgoings (the salaries have the taxes and health insurance deducated already - used an online US calculator for the taxes). The below is not 100% accurate but its what i believe to be reasonable amounts:

Salaries $5,300.00
Rent $3,000.00
Gas $50.00
Electric $50.00
Water? $40.00
Mobile Phone $100.00
Cable TV $100.00
Car Payment $400.00
Fuel $200.00
Monthly Train $100.00
Food $600.00
Total $4,640.00
Left $660.00

Not sure if you pay water rates in the US and no idea how much cable tv can cost but i think the above is ok to start with... am sure i have missed things off but please let me know what you think?

Jerseygirl

Is $5,300 before or after tax and healthcare insurance deductions? You also need to factor in deductibles, co-pays, meds etc. These can really add up especially if you have major health problems.

Car insurance?

I wish my gas and leccie came to $100 per month.

Oliver1979

The $5,300 is after tax and healthcare (advised by employer it would be approx $200 contribution per month by me). The salaries i used are not what i am earning now but are what i would expect us to earn per year (approx $80k for me and $35k for her). I believe the average salary is more like $40k per year for people?

Yes i did think about deductibles but no idea how this works, i suffer from asthma and my Mrs suffers from epilepsy and needs constant medication. Other than that we are pretty fit and healthy (beer belly is ever expanding though)..

So what should i be looking at for Gas & Electric? I use about £70 per month on it at the moment (combined) - bit more in winter.

Car Insurance, ah yes - DUH!! So that would be about $200 on top of the lease car price?

Nutmegger

Me too! What about heating oil? Can run $500 a month in the winter. Will snow plowing and landscaping be covered in your rent? Garbage pickup? Renters insurance?

Oliver1979

Heating oil?? Is that standard in the US? Thats something very rural/out of the way places use over in the UK.

Ill be looking for an apartment so i doubt i will have to bother with the rest.

Renters insurance not included for now but am aware id need it, i pay £25pm now in the UK.