Bob

you've gotta do the whole test, it's not hard, but it's a major hassle as the DMV's are useless around here and they are all on the same clock.

And the public transport is good in Boston, but it sucks in the burbs...but on the plus side, at least you can talk to places in Boston for drinks, can't do that in the burbs...and the drinks aren't half expensive.

As for a great place to live, I don't think so, but a great place to be near by...especially within a few stops of haymarket

Bob

Cycling...as transport, I wouldn't, it's a deadly sport...but if he's into XC, there's plenty of good trails around, and if he's into DH or Hill Climbing, there's even a few mountains

oh, and H4, you can't do anything whilst in the US, not even telecommute...you could do volunteer work in a position that would not normally be paid, or study though.

nun

Jamaica Plain is a good place, but I'd say its definitely urban rather than suburban. It has lots of great Victorian and Queen Anne houses and has undergone some gentrification, but there'sstill an edge to the place. I'd conside Coolidge Corner in Brookline, that's a great neighbourhood, on the Green line T, good cinema, close to downtown, lots of shops.

I wouldn't consider Beacon Hill, it expensive, very hilly, a nightmare to park and the flats are tiny. It tends to be the place young professionals who work down town get their first flat, same goes for Charlestown, unless you go passed the Bunker Hill Monument where its probably the roughest place in Boston. South End is good, but again expensive and yuppie.If you're husband is going to be working in Cambridge I'd concentrate on that side of the river.

As far as cycling goes Boston has bike lanes and there are a lot of people who commute on bikes, there are alot who use single speed or fixed gear bikes.
Boston has some great bike shops

www.wheelworks.com

and in West Newton there is Harris which is quite famous

www.sheldonbrown.com/harris

Boston motorists are agressive so it can be an adventure riding a bike in traffic, but you get use to it. The people who say its deadly to cycle in Boston aren't the folks who cycle in Boston. If you are sensible its no worse that any other city. There are lots of cycling clubs, here are a couple of them

http://ragemtb.com/about/about.htm
http://www.crw.org/

To orient yourself check out the website of the Boston Globe newspaper

www.boston.com

and listen to the local Public Radio Station

www.wbur.org

FYI if you arrive in spring/summer go and see a Red Sox baseball game at fenway park. Even if you hate sports its good just to experience one as it shows you an important side of Boston and its just a very beautiful sight when you walk up the ramp and see the green field in the sunlight or floodlights.

MrScotland

I've lived in Watertown for a few years and previously lived in downtown Boston. Watertown is a great compromise between living in the city and the outlying burbs. It has a good bus service into Harvard square, a few restaurants and bars of it's own and the rents are much more reasonable than Cambridge where property quality is generally poor and prices much higher. Watertown also has a few good parks and is situated on the Charles river with a cycle/walking trail leading into Boston. It really depends on what kind of lifestyle you enjoy. If you go out drinking and partying a lot, I would move to Boston or Cambridge with a wide choice of areas, but it is very urban and not very dog friendly unless you're close to the Charles river. Somerville is kind of borderline in my humble opinion, some nice property but also some quite bad areas crime wise.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the negative reviews of Greater Boston. I've travelled all over the states and Boston is by the far the closest to a European style culture I've found. There is loads to do around the city, great restaurants and bars etc. You can ski in the Winter and do the beaches in summer. A short drive will take you to the countryside and there are plenty of quaint seaside towns North and South of Boston.

nun

I agree with everything you've said. I'd concentrate on East Watertown close to Cambridge and ignore the Waltham side as that is very suburban. Lookfor something close to either the 71 or 73 bus lines. They'll get you into Harvard Square in a few mins and from there you can connect to the T.

check out

www.mbta.com

for bus routes and the T

MrScotland

Oh yes and there is some work available in Watertown. If you move there you can babysit my two kids, cash in hand.

popcorn

You're On!!

Thanks everyone!

Bob

That's true....but it's waaay to expensive...It was best seeing them in Expo Stadium up in Montreal as the tickets were dirt cheap, but that's a no goer....Toronto would still be cheaper, even with travel

nun

The whole thing is to see them at Fenway. FYI rent the US version of "Fever Pitch"
the one with Drew Barrymore, the original version is better, but as that is about Arsenal rather than the Red Sox it's not really applicable.

Movies set in Boston

Fever Pitch
Thomas Crown Affair (Steve McQueen Fay Dunaway)
The Departed (Boston's not all gangsters)
Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting gives you a flavour of the "town vs gown" thing that happens with Harvard. Theres's one great scene where Matt Damon and Minnie Driver are eating in a cafe called "The Tasty" that use to be in Harvard Square, its now an ATM, but I've got some great pictures of me and some mates sitting in the same seats taken from the same angle behind the counter.....we all misss the Red Alert Menu and The Husky Husky (double cheesburger). The only place that's avoided becoming a clothes store or a yuppie bar is Charlie's Kitchen. Its a bit goth and tattoo heavy, a real dive actually, but its still the friendliest bar in town. Ask for Jen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston%2C_Massachusetts

Why not read some stuff by Henry James, Henry Thoreau, Emerson or the other Trancendentalists, Louisa may Alcott (Little Women is set in Concord MA) and of course Emily Dickenson. These guys are still relevant to Boston's general liberalness and love of individuality while emphasising social responsibility.
FYI MA has the oldest written constitution in the world, even older the the US and guarantees public education.Education is really big in MA,lots of great colleges,MIT, Wellesley, Smith,Mount Holyoke, BU, BC, Tufts and of course Harvard, founded in 1636 and is now the second most wealthy charitable institution in the world with an endowment of $30 billion, the wealthiest is the Catholic Church, oops Harvard may now be 3rd since the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation got all that loot form Warren Buffet.

Bob

we've got the movie...bla...departed is another new one in Boston that made the news recently

As for schools, yeah, loads, I've listed them before....Wellesley is a birds school though....also some half decent art schools, who'd have thunk'ed it eh

nun

I think the people who go to Wellesley would describe it as a Women's College.

PS its easy to get lost on that campus late at night, its like an enormous botanical garden, and there isn't any public transportation after midnight......used to be a good excuse to stay the night , probably still is.

Bob

after midnight? there ain't any public transport there at all The natick bus is a bit of a joke too...

Mona Lisa Smile, don't know if you've seen that, but it's based on that scool

nun

I avoided it as it had Julia Roberts in it and I hate her, she should have stayed in Mystic making pizzas. Anyway the movie is set in the 50's and Wellesley is a very different place now. I was back there last summer with an old friend who graduated from there in 1991 and they have some amazing new buildings, the new student center is one of those structures without any right angles, very Frank Geary

Bob

True, she's annoying, but it's not a bad movie once you get past her...and yeah, the place is pretty cool... the main building made one of those 100 most impressive buildings list last year.

And it's the burbs where we live, well up the road in the next town over.

Hiro11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._set_in_Boston

IMO, Snitch and The Paper Chase are the two definitive Boston movies. They give you both sides of the city...