Boston DUers - what are the pros and cons of living in your area?

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

I could post this in the Massachusetts forum, but wanted to take a crack at the Lounge first because more people might see it. I also need to know what fitness facilities are available. Thanks!

[YankeyMCC]

1. The Mass State forum isn't very active so posting here probably will get

you more activity anyway.

Pros and cons. Well I Love Boston so here's a biased on the pro side answer.

Boston itself has all the amenities, cultural and infrastructure as you'll find in any big modern city.

Yet it has a small town feel. You can walk around it in just a couple of hours - the whole thing I mean - you can get from one neighborhood to another usually within fifteen minutes.

Food, food and more food of all styles and price ranges.

Parks. And the surrounding towns/cities for the most part have good open space policies so they too have lots of parks.

A tolerably good Public transport system - plenty of room for improvement though particularly the commuter rail system - maybe that's a con only because it isn't managed well.

So you have all this city benefits but it's not far from beaches on the Cape of the Woods of the western part of the state or the forests and mountains of NH.

We have a streak of Libertarianism but for the most part it's a very progressive place.

Did I mention food? ;) Frapes, Grinders, Italian sausages, Friendly's and Brigham's sundays...

Yes the people on the street can seem cold and aloof at first but we tend to be a sincere and loyal friend once you get to know us.

The cons generally have to do with the cost of living.

Housing is very expensive, not the most expensive in the nation but coming from Irving, TX as your profile indicates you're definately going to have sticker shock.

But don't let anyone fool you about taxes, yeah they can be high, at least property taxes can be high but for the amount and quality of services you get the tax burden is on the low end of the scale.

If you don't like the cold Winters will be tough. Even if you like the cold Winter when it's a snowy one, is a major pain in the Ass in Boston and the immediate suburbs. You'd think we'd have it figured out by now but the design of the city and the amount of people and cars just makes it a problem that's very difficult to deal with efficiently.

We've kicked out the Rethuglican goon of a Gov and we have a good man in there now and positive things seem to be happening at the state gov level. The City is getting friendlier to bikes and more 'green' initiatives.

Lots of good things still happening in this old commonwealth and I think overall a good place to be.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

6. Thanks for your input

I have heard about the housing there - we're looking at either Boston or northern California, and either place would be a lot more $$$, that's true.

[SoxFan]

2. My take

Technically, Manchester is part of the Boston Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area, so I guess I can take a shot.

The Pros:

*The month of October. Fall in New England is remarkable. Spring is also nice, if a bit damp.

*Cultural amenities. You've got several world-class art museums (MFA, ICA, Gardner, Currier), symphonies, and live music venues with everything from folk to punk.

*Good radio. Yes, there are a couple of RW talk stations, but you also have several NPR stations, a bunch of college radio stations, a locally-focused sports station, and an assortment of rock and pop stations. The only real weak spot is country.

*Transportation. Good public transportation in Boston itself. The T has a good subway, trolley, trackless trolley, and bus system. It gets considerably dicier in the peripheral cities like Lowell, Nashua, Manchester, and Worcester.

*Good restaurants. In Boston itself, you have all sorts of quality places, some high end, some very affordable. The smaller cities in the area also have a fair number of good places, often with a local ethnic (Greek, Portuguese, Italian, Lebanese) spin.

*The Sox are better than the Rangers, the Celtics are better than the Mavs, and the Pats are (probably) better than the Cowboys.

The Cons:

*Traffic. The city of Boston was built on a cramped isthmus, and the street patterns reflect that situation. You also have a lot of horrible bottlenecks on the outlying highways.

*Dysfunctional state government. The Massachusetts legislature is a perpetual fustercluck of corruption, good-old-boy backscratching, and bizzare antics. New Hampshire's legislature is a 400 member monstrosity populated with a lot of befuddled retirees. Mass pays its legislators $60,000; NH pays them $100. Neither system seems to work.

*Weather. If you are used to Texas winters, you are going to have to go through a period of adjustment. My wife had always lived in Arkansas and Louisiana before she moved up here. Needless to say, the first 14" snowstorm was a learning experience.

*Jeremy Jacobs still owns the Bruins

*Nobody seems to care about college football.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

7. Thanks a lot

I'm not a native Texan and I detest the teams here. I'm from Kansas and am used to the winters - we also lived in Pittsburgh for a few years and experienced their winters. I have heard that Boston gets buttloads of snow, so it would remind me of Kansas when I was a child!

[SoxFan]

18. Boston snow

Boston itself doesn't actually get as much snow as most of the region. Boston is right on the ocean, which moderates the snowfall amounts. Snowfall amounts are also a lot lower along the South Shore (Quincy, Plymouth), the Cape, and in the Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area.

Once you get into the Merrimack Valley (Lowell, Haverhill, Andover, Nashua, Manchester) and out to western Middlesex and Worcester Counties, it gets heavy.

[Forkboy]

3. Pros - It's wikked fun.

Cons - Learning that "wikked" is a good thing.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

8. Thank you

My niece, who is a rather sophisticated, cosmopolitan girl who lives in San Francisco, LOVES Boston, so there must be something to it! I've been to Boston a few times and liked it. We'll see what happens.

[Forkboy]

13. Seriously, I think you'll like it.

I make no guarantees (SF's weather has to be better), but it really is a cool city and area to be in. Very liberal overall, all the culture you could want, etc.

I will say the one drawback is that people here tend to be blunt to a fault, if that bothers you. Not many tend to mince their words around here.

And we drive FAST! :)

[NewJeffCT]

4. I like Boston

However, it's not a cheap place to live. On the plus side, most any town east of Worcester has excellent public schools (there are exceptions, but not too many...)

Some of the best colleges and best hospitals in the nation are there as well.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

5. Mr. DTBK is looking into maybe getting a position at a Harvard hospital

He's a psychiatrist and would love to work there. We'll see. It may or may not happen. We're both anxious to get out of this dump.

[NewJeffCT]

15. Qualification

I live in Connecticut, but have looked into living in the Boston area in the past. The traffic often sucks, but it's not as bad since the Big Dig opened up a few years back.

I'm also a Yankees fan, so speaking highly of Boston is not always easy.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

9. The Whole Food Grocery Stores

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

10. Thanks

That reminded me to check for a Trader Joe's, and they have them in Boston!!!!! That is MAYJUH! We don't have them in Texas, and I'd do all my shopping there if I could.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

11. here's a link...there is one @ 181 Cambridge St

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. My dear DTBK!

I'm not from Boston, but my daughter used to live nearby, and we visited pretty often...

One plus: Legal Seafood! Great seafood, and their clam chowder is heavenly!

One minus: Driving is a blood sport in Boston...:scared:

If I lived there, I would never drive in town...

Just sayin'...

:hi:

[YankeyMCC]

14. My Dear CaliforniaPeggy

One does not drive in Boston...You Aim! ;)

[YankeyMCC]

16. Just heard this story that ads another Pro

Apparently Mass is in good position for continued growth in the science related fields.

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/newsroom/newsroom.taf?cat=press&function=detail&level1=new&ID=142

[Gormy Cuss]

17. If you can't move here, move there.

Pros:
Boston and the older adjacent cities (e.g. Cambridge, Brookline) are walkable. The MBTA system is a pretty comprehensive subway/bus/commuter rail system and it covers a wide area. There are also other carriers too for express bus service to downtown Boston.

It's within driving distance to NYC and all of New England. There's also Amtrak service between Boston and NYC or Boston and southern Maine.

The arts community is thriving and extensive, from museums to music to dance.

The Harvard Medical community is great. In fact, the medical community in Boston is large, diverse, and talented.

Food choices are great -- in addition to restaurants and grocery stores there are also seasonal farmer's markets and farm stands, plus a few CSAs.

Boston is on the ocean and while it has some miserable winter and summer days, it's a fairly moderate climate for a former Kansas girl.

Politics are decidedly tilted to the Democratic side, but the most exciting element is that people actually talk about and debate the issues.

History: it's loaded with it.

In general, people who love Boston love SF and vice versa. The cities are very different but share a dynamic that makes them feel similar.



Cons:

Housing is expensive and average unit size is smaller than in newly built up areas of the country. It's a land use thing.

Driving is aggressive.