For everyone looking to move to Boston - read this before you do. (Lynn: best cities, crime rate)

[BunnyD]

If you care about a city with a lot of history, a mecca for culture and a city with the most talented sport teams then Boston is the right place for you. If you care about your children education or even your own Boston has the best schools on earth we all know this. If you think living is cheap in Boston, think again. Boston is probably top 5 city in the US for being most expensive, fellow Bostonians will back me up on this one.

I have to mention this and it's very important to me. Boston probably has the worst climate. Winters are cold, extremely cold. One winter we might get some snow and have dry cold winter, next winter we could be berried in snow, you never know. You will need heat for a lot of months and be prepared to have your wallet a lot lighter if you're planning on using oil.

Summers are relatively short and very humid. Mosquitoes EVERYWHERE!

THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE ASTHMA OR OTHER BREATHING PROBLEMS.

One thing that makes Boston one of the best cities in USA is the local transportation. From buses, to trains known as MBTA., from taxi cabs - so many different options. Driving is somewhat easy, it gets tricky when you're in the city but after some time you'll get the hang of it. Boston has a lot of cultural places to visit - that's why there's so many tourists. But in all honesty the night life is pretty much dead. If you think you will party hard after 2am forget about it. Sure there are clubs, bars and other places but this is not Amsterdam or Vegas or NYC.

Boston also has a lot og street gang problems. Towns like Dorchester, Chelsea, Lynn, Revere have tons of street gangs that violate and terrorize the place - esp. Dorchester. Dorchester a town that belongs to Boston is reffered as one of the most dangerous places to live in Massachusetts, maybe even US. Every day a person dies, or even multuple people. Crime rate is really picking up.

So it's like this:

PROS:

- Good place to have children in school or even yourself! Best schools in the country thats for sure.

- If you like sports then this is the place to be. RED SOX, PATRIOTS, BRUINS, CELTICS - enough said.

- A lot of historical places to visit and Boston is a true birth of US of A.

- Excellent transportation

CONS:

- Horrible weather
- Crime rate increases every year
- Street gangs
- Night life


I hope this helps

[eevee]

not sure if making such broad generalizations helps out anyone. most of what you said are just your personal opinions, but that's cool.

I sincerely doubt Boston has the worst winters ever. I've never been to Minnesota or Michigan, but I'd assume their winters are much colder! even Chicago winters feel a bit colder, though there's less snow. Summers are humid, but the falls are gorgeous! best months to live in Boston are September and October. and again, even though I've never lived in the South, I'd like to assume their humidity is even worse.

Dorchester BY FAR is NOT one of the most dangerous places in MA, or even the country. come out to Chicago and let me give you a tour of some of the dangerous neighborhoods out here (West Garfield Park would make Dorchester look like Newton!). people are so quick to scare newcomers away from Boston's largest, most diverse neighborhood

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by BunnyD

CONS:

- Horrible weather
- Crime rate increases every year
- Street gangs
- Night life

The weather and the nightlife points are completely a matter of opinion and the other two can be said about any major metropolitan city. I would also say "crime rate increases every year" is not very accurate.

[BubbyBu]

I dunno where to begin with this thread

[miu]

About the asthma, I would think that living in any major city would be bad for asthma sufferers. It's not a Boston thing. In fact, one of the wrong areas for asthma sufferers would be in NYC, especially the Bronx. I've read about a lot of non asthmatic adults developing asthma after they moved there.

But in terms of your post overall, you don't seem like you should ever live in a major city or urban hub. The urban life just isn't for you.

[ChunkyMonkey]

To be fair, crime and street gangs are a problem when comparing Boston to a place like Billings, Montana. However, if someone wants to live in a big city, Boston is actually one of the safest in the country and its street gang problems are not especially unique among large American cities. So, your post is quite misleading.

[boston mark]

Originally Posted by BunnyD

Every day a person dies, or even multuple people.

How's your math? There have been 46 homocides in the city so far this year, and this is October 8th.

[HowGoesIt]

Nightlife is pretty good and crime really isn't a problem. I lived in Boston for years and now I live outside of Miami.

Crime is MUCH worse in Miami than it is Miami, there is no comparision. I've driven around Dorchester and night and never really feared for my life. I drove around 'Little Haiti' in Miami yesterday afternoon and I thought I was going to get car jacked for sure.

Nightlife is pretty good in Boston. There are a lot of bars (probably more bars in Boston than in any other city) and some good clubs.

I have to agree with you on the weather. The winters vary each year, I remember the 2004-2005 winter where we got over 100 inches of snow. But I don't think the past few winters have been too bad. Honestly though, sometimes I feel that living in the city in Boston in the summer is hotter than living by the beach on Miami Beach this past summer. Could just be me though.

[HowGoesIt]

MUCH worse in Miami than Boston**

[miu]

Originally Posted by boston mark

How's your math? There have been 46 homocides in the city so far this year, and this is October 8th.

All cities have homicides, major cities just have more of them. And what parts of Boston were these homicides in? Boston is a very safe city as long as you stay out of the ghetto neighborhoods and ghetto gatherings like that guy that got shot after being on that chartered dance cruise in Boston Harbor. No way would you catch me going to a dance event like that. And it's not because it's a black oriented event. Those boats are very crowded, you're trapped on them for the duration of the cruise, and the music is way too loud on them. I've heard those dance event cruises pulling up to the docks and the bass is shaking the buildings around the boat. And the women disembarking are dressed like prostitutes at a Mardi Gras festival in their micro sequinned mini skirts and high heels. And there usually are a few police cruisers around. Too bad there wasn't a statey parked at Anthonys Pier 4 that night when the guy got shot to death. But I think that cops are patrolling on their own and not asked by the cruise people to be there.

Outrageous In Red @ Provincetown II in Boston