Have you moved cross country to Boston? Tell me more!

[MagicTouch]

FashionD-

I moved due to a great job opportunity, I moved about 25 miles out of Boston. I'm in the burbs, I live in Bedford. My apt, which allows certain dogs, is almost 2K for a large 2bd/2bth. I wanted to be somewhere away from the city that gave me the peace and quiet and if I wanted to go to the city it's not that far away. I love it here, the small city feel, the peace and quiet all of it. Heck I even like the weather, it's ever changing.

Best wishes to you on you relocation...

[FashionD]

Thanks so much for the info! I can't believe that $1800 stretches about as far it does here in San Diego.

I think we're planning on looking for places to live in Jamaica Plain, Bedford, Brookline, and West Roxbury. If it's really nice and doesn't have a yard (but within walking distance of a park/dog park), I think we'll have to give in. We're definitely not set on living directly in the city...

[caligirl1082]

I just moved here from the SF area about 3 months ago. It was one of the most stressful things that I have done in my life – but now that I’m here and pretty much settled in I don’t regret it.
My bf had a job lined up, and a month before he was to start we flew out here and found an apartment. Craigslist is your best bet, and stay away from brokers – they want to charge you money to help you find a place, and will tell you that you can’t do it on your own, etc. but, don’t listen to them. There are 3 categories you can click on once you’re in the apartment tab on Craigslist – look at the listings by owners only. Plan on spending an entire day or two looking for places – this is utterly exhausting. When you rent your car make sure it comes with a GPS if you don’t have one already, though, owning one will be the best purchase you could make if you do end up moving here. Virtually none of the streets are labeled and it’s frustrating when you have no clue where you are.
Start looking and applying for jobs now – I had my resume out for awhile and didn’t really start to get contacted until I put my new MA address on the resume.
Believe it or not it’s actually cheaper to hire a company to load your boxes, drive the truck, and then unload them then it is to rent a UHaul and do it all yourself. It cost a little over $3k for our 2 bedroom house. UHaul would have been about $4k to start, and then you’d have to add gas, hotel, and food. It takes a good 2-3 weeks to have your stuff driven across the country – we had one week without furniture in CA, and one week without furniture here – it sucked!!! Buy an air mattress. Another reason you’ll want to hire a company to move your stuff is because virtually all of the houses around Boston are multi-family (up to 3 stories) and the stairs are narrow/steep and you’d end up killing yourself trying to move everything in. It also costs about $1200 to ship each car, and again that takes about 2 weeks to make it from CA. Make sure you call around to different moving companies (stay with the big/known ones), get quotes, ask for car shipping referrals, and make sure you get a locked-in contract – do not select the option where they weigh your stuff. Oh, leave all big items in CA – we had to take our couch apart to get it into the 3rd floor, and our King size mattress barely made it in.
I was planning on not having to use my car here, but then I ended up getting a job that isn’t T accessible, so maybe wait to sell your car until after you get here, or keep open the idea of maybe having to buy a new one. I think you’re ok with parking if you’re outside of Boston – Brookline, Allston, Medford, Somerville, maybe Cambridge. Medford/Somerville are great areas – slightly cheaper rents, but still around shops/bars/restaurants. We moved to Medford and I absolutely love it. If you do choose Medford/Somerville the best areas to live are around Davis or Porter Square. There are parts of Medford & Somerville that are pretty ghetto – you’ll be able to tell quickly. We’re in Medford and a 15 minute walk to Davis Square, and once we’re on the T there it’s about 10 minutes into the city. Medford is literally a 5 minute drive into Boston – but don’t drive, parking sucks, and people don’t know how to drive (true everywhere!!) Some cities do require parking permits, oh, and make sure you get a place that has a driveway – trying to find a spot on the street can be a nightmare!! And, remember, if you are in a triple-decker you may have to coordinate parking with around 5 other people (we’re talking a straight driveway where you all have to park behind each other/move out if the first person in needs to leave).
The first thing you should do when you start riding the T is to buy a Charlie Card – it cuts down on the fare price.

If I think of anything else I’ll post again

Oh yeah – you can’t move here for the weather or friendly people – not going to find it!!

[FashionD]

Haha. I hear a lot about the unfriendliness of the east coasters (specifically Bostonites). Luckily I'm not very outgoing and overly friendly. I absolutely dread having to say hi to everyone when I'm walking my dog here in San Diego. Hehe. I feel obligated...so I won't feel like that in Boston, eh? LOL.

So you like Medford? What is there to do?

I've gotten quotes for UHauls, and yes, you're right, including gas, costs were into $4k...and that doesn't include anyone loading or unloading for us. Blah. I was thinking of Pods (except not the brand name pods, but some knock off company for cheaper)...so I'm going to look into those.

So were you homesick when you moved? Did it pass quickly, if you did?

[caligirl1082]

I’m a pretty friendly person – when I was a kid I was totally embarrassed by my mom, dad and grandma talking to random people – now I find myself doing it, so it’s a bit hard here for me!! Since you’re not outgoing or overly friendly, you should be ok

I do really like Medford. I’m really close, about a 15 minute walk to Davis Square and 20 minute walk to Porter Square and each of those have a good amount of shopping, eating, and drinking, plus they both have T stops. I do wish I lived within 5 minutes of either square, just to make getting to the T easier. the rents there are a bit more though. We’re paying $1500 for a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, probably 1000 sq ft, shared yard, basement with our own washer/dryer, and shared driveway, and I’m sure we would be paying a bit more if we were in Somerville. Everyone here complains about the high cost of rent, but, we were paying the same amount 60 or so miles north of SF, and now we’re only 5 miles from Boston – so in my eyes the rent here is good.

I still get homesick every once in awhile, especially when I want to go out and do something (without the boy) and then realize I don’t have any girlfriends to call up!! It is hard being away from friends and family, but I am really glad I moved and am experiencing something totally different. One of the best things you can do is sign up on meetup.com – there are a ton of groups (a lot of socially-awkward folks, but the girls groups are great!). So, the homesickness still comes in waves, but I’ve only been here for 3 months so I’m sure it will get a lot better after a few more months!