DexterBerkeley

LOL, I covered the 20 miles from Boston downtown to my office in Framingham in a record 25 minutes this morning. Hopefully the ride home will take less than the normal 45-60 minutes.

Bob

If you take Rt9, don't. Take Rt 20 or Rt 30 into Brookline and cut over.

Rt9 floods like a bastard in the downhill dips along Natick, Wellesley and out towards Chestnut Hill/Needham area.

kins

I moved to Maine, so I don't know if my experiences will help. My kids were 6, 4 and 2 when we moved. The schools they go to are excellent.

Personally speaking, I am very happy we moved from the UK. It's a very personal thing though - some people love it, some hate it.

I like having a proper winter then a proper summer. I love the scenery and I think living in New England you have access to many lovely places. I like to hike, swim and ski, so New England is perfect.

You don't need a 4x4, just get good snow tyres and front-wheel drive. I drive a normal 2 wheel drive here in Maine and survive 6-9 feet of snow each year.

I wouldn't say you'd face much racism in Mass - maybe a little more in Maine which is very white.

When you look at living costs, you'll probably pay less income tax, more property tax (equivalent of council tax), more on things like food, less on clothes and petrol. It's very important to find out if your company will fund most of your health insurance. Our family policy costs $17,000 a year, but my employer funds 70% of that. Also make sure your company will pay a good amount towards your moving costs (we got $15k and it really helped).

Hope that helps...