Moving to Boston
 

Hi, my family are considering moving to Boston in Dec 12-Jan 2013. It's just my husband, me and our 5 yr old daughter.

My company will expat us but I've never done this before so don't know what to expect. We're looking at a 2 year contract at least to start with.

I'm particularly interested in where to live? Back Bay & Cambridge being places they have recommended and where to send our daughter to school. Does anyone on the forum have a recommendation?

My husband also works for himself in the UK and I have no idea if he'll be able to do that on a Trailing Visa...anyone ?

Thanks
Emma :)

Re: Moving to Boston
 

Do a search. I recall a few threads on this very subject (Boston locations) in the past. My family and I live about 90 minutes west and although we know Boston fairly well as visitors I couldn't give a valid recommendation for your purposes.

Regarding 'trailing visa' - if you will have an L-1 then he gets an L-2, which gives him the right to work once he applies for (and receives) an EAD upon arrival (can take up to 90 days).

Good luck with the move! We did ours 7 years ago and haven't regretted it.

Re: Moving to Boston
 

Welcome to BE and good luck!

Have a look down though, there has been at least 2 threads on this in the last couple days as well as a couple more about the burbs over the last couple of weeks.

If you get a L1 transfer, the spouse gets L2, as mentioned above, the EAD then allows the spouse to work, but it needs to be renewed as it is usually valid for between 1 or 2 years at a time.

As for schools, they will depend on exactly which street you live in...as for where to go, would probably depend exactly on what your budget can afford, what you're looking for in a place and what you can put up with in a commute.

Plenty of suggestions and info in those previous, recent threads.

Re: Moving to Boston
 

Well, everyone has helped me a LOT, so time to return the favour.

We are due to fly out in the next 10-14 days on an L1 Visa. Myself, my wife and our two kids 11 and 9.

We are moving to Needham (we were looking at Sudbury but decided on a smaller house AND a smaller commute to my office in Newton)

Look through the various threads and find a massive amount of information.

Schools are actually easier than you might think because there is a wealth of data available about the best school districts and even about individual schools.

Try education.com

We started with the area, then the best nearby school districts, then we looked at potential rentals where those schools were. IN that order.

Re: Moving to Boston
 

Good choice, be almost able to bike it :)

Still, if you end up out in the Sudbury area with the kids, give us a shout :)

Re: Moving to Boston
 

Niking it? Not a bad idea. I'm going to be 300 yds from the Charles River - I might even Kayak! :)

Will definately shout out if I'm in Sudbury. It was lovely out there, but the smaller commute won out in the end... Mind you, 2000 sqft less for more money made it a very difficult decision!

Re: Moving to Boston
 

Yes, it's a big of a bugger those rents. Have mates of the missus out your way who chose the place when they moved as it was near a childcare place that their employer pays for, so saving a couple grand a month. Only to find out there was a 2 year waiting list to get the kid into the place, after they moved :lol:

Re: Moving to Boston
 

I work in the next town over, in Waltham. Welcome :)

Re: Moving to Boston
 

been in Brookline nearly 20 years, (was more affordable then), and schools are very good, also in most of western 'burbs, but do check the various rankings. Back Bay and Cambridge are very pricey and questionable schools (Back Bay is Boston). If you are looking at private schools, then there are more options closer to the city, from JP and Roslindale/West Roxbury to Milton and Arlington. Depends what you want in terms of commute, urban living, housing costs, community, as well as schools.
some rankings here:
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/best-s...ton/index.html

There is a British school near here in Sth. Brookline, near the JP line, no idea what goes on there.

Re: Moving to Boston
 

If you are already a 'city' person Cambridge is great -we lived there (childfree) for our first year. Great restaurants & decent pubs. The Western suburbs - Wayland, Sudbury, Hopkington are great for schools (with parallel high property taxes to pay for them) and are basically huge safe child nurseries where everything is geared towards families and the desires of children. Pubs are pretty much non-existent, some decent restaurants.

This I know as we have lived childfree in Wayland for 10 years and are now breaking free back to the UK and within commuting distance of London, culture and adult LIFE!

Boston itself is lovely but expensive Schools in Cambridge/Boston are not as good as in the 'burbs.

If you want a pile of US electrical items (TV, Kitchen items...) that you want cheap or for a swap for UK items- we are moving back to the UK on Aug 13th and could arrange an exchange!!!

Re: Moving to Boston
 

School District rankings in MA:
http://www.schooldigger.com/go/MA/districtrank.aspx

Re: Moving to Boston
 

Thanks everyone for the info... and the offer of swapping goods :D

Unfortunately we won't be making the move until the New Year so maybe not just yet...

I'll take a look at the other threads and some of the links you've added... schools is what I'm most concerned about... we are city people... we've lived in Blackheath (nr Greenwich) for the last few years so don't want to move too far into the 'burbs' ... having said that I've been a little freaked out by the rental costs in Back Bay... and I thought London was expensive :eek:

The L1 and L2 seem pretty straight forward. My husband is self employed and I think that he'll be able to continue with that under an L2...it seems like he has more flexibility than me on the work front!

Thanks
Emma