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Boston does have snow and is cold, but most of the time the snow in the city at least starts to melt before the next big storm. Also, like a previous poster said a lot of time, rent or condo fees in the city will cover snow removal so that you don't have to worry about going out and shoveling the sidewalk. As for the buses from NY, there are many options none are very expensive and I've never had a problem with any of them.
Gainesville being in the middle of the state of FL gets very hot and humid in the summer. Its not called the swamp for nothing. Keep in mind that it is about an hour and half drive to the beach and closer to 2.5 hours to the nicer beaches, if that is at all important. That is usually my biggest complaint when I go back to Gainesville is that it takes so long to get to a beach and there is no sea breeze to make the summers less humid. Also, depending on when you go down there, be aware of the love bugs.
While the FL climate appeals to us, we are very interested in the urban lifestyle that we could have in Boston. The company he is interviewing with is in Watertown. If we lived in the city, would a reverse commute from the city to Watertown be feasible in 20-25 minutes or less? We would live to give up a car and become a one car family - him using the car to commute and me using public transportation or walking for shopping and errands.
20 minutes to Watertown if you can get onto Rt90 is not a problem. However, a prime parking spot in the city is about $80-100K. You can get resident parking permit but you'll have to drive around quite a bit to find a spot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by runswithdog
Right now, with the real estate situation, the cost of living in FL is considerably lower than Syr or Bos. Cost of living calculators give us a range of 50-75k needed above our Syracuse income to have the same standard of living in Boston while we could actually take an income cut to move to FL (not that we are planning on it ). Does the Bos figure sound about right? I know that real estate Right now we pay about 8% in NYS income tax (after deductions) and our property taxes (county and school) are about $7200 a year.
My understanding is SYR average home price is only $100-140K. Although the price of housing dropped 25%, many places in Boston are still $250-300+K starting for a 600ft condo/multi-family. MA income tax is 5.3% and Boston tax rate is about 1.1%. Then add in Condo or maintenance fee $400-800/mo. $50-75K additional income sounds right.
One of my greatest joys in BOS was running with my dog. BOS has great trails along the Charles, along the waterfront and through the city which is wonderful for running with the doggies. OTOH, finding a place you can rent that accepts pets (particularly larger than 25 lb) can be a b**** [female dog].
If he gets and accepts an offer, we plan on renting for the first year and then buying, if the job works out and we are happy in the area. I know the dogs are going to be a problem renting. The weight limit always gets me We have two 75+ lbers, however, they are retired racing greyhounds. They are both older, one 11 yrs old and the other, my running partner is 9 yrs old. We had a 25 lb terrier before and while I adored that boy like no other, he took up more space, physically, mentally and emotionally than the two greyhounds combined! These guys are the canine incarnates of Gandhi and Mother Theresa! Hopefully we can throw enough $$ at some landlord to give them a chance.
New question - when people speak of areas, they can either be a part of Bos or a completely different town? Such as, Cambridge or Watertown are separate cities but are Allston or Beacon Hill neighborhoods or separate entities? On maps, they seem to be labeled the same, same font and size so it isn't easily decerned.
The Fung Wah and the Lucky Star buslines are perfectly fine. I was a fixture on the LuckyStar for years. I rode it about twice a month between 2003-2005. Back then, there were some iffy characters on board mixed with a few young people. I never witnessed any trouble.
I haven't rode it in the past few years, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly college kids who take the Chinatown buses.
Weather: midway between Syr. and NYC. What was it you said is the typical snowfall in Syr., 120-130 in.? In Boston, the all-time record is around 100. Average snowfall ranges from the low to high 40's, depending on what part of the metro area you're in. Right in the city and vicinity will tend to be toward the low end of this range, because of its proximity to the coast, an area which usually gets the lower snowfall totals. Snowfall can vary a lot from year to year, but in a typical winter there will be mostly unbroken snow cover that starts anywhere from mid Dec. to early Jan. and ends in early to mid March, with most likely a brief mild spell or two that will melt a good portion of the snow and leave some bare ground until the next storm.
Neighborhoods, inner suburbs, etc.: Allston and Beacon Hill are part of the city of Boston. Allston is more like a broad section of the city, with several distinct neighborhoods included (although it is one of the smaller sections of Boston), while Beacon Hill is more of a small, distinct neighborhood. Though the question of living in the city versus inner-ring suburbs matters in terms of government and schools, in terms of the character of your neighborhood, you can think of many inner suburbs (like Watertown) as similar to outlying areas of the city, because they have a fairly urban character, and look and feel like city areas with a residential and local commercial mix. One key question would be what your preferences would be in terms of schools and local government, and whether the city proper of Boston or a smaller nearby community would work better in that regard.
Another question would be whether you would prefer areas more in the central city (think something roughly like Manhattan on a smaller scale, if you're familiar with NYC, which it sounds as if you may be), or more of an outlying residential area that still feels like being in the outer parts of the city (Queens, or maybe like Staten Island in some areas). The outlying kinds of neighborhoods can be found in much of the city of Boston, and are mostly what you find in the smaller cities nearby, though some of these inner suburbs have pockets with a more central-city character. Cambridge has been mentioned in several posts here, and it may be a good choice for you if you end up in the Boston area, depending on your specific preferences. Cambridge is located between Watertown and downtown Boston, making both areas readily accessible (though I agree with the earlier suggestion to take mapping website time estimates with a grain of salt due to city traffic). Much of Cambridge has a fairly densely populated city-residential character of close-together single-family houses, condos, and shopping/commercial areas scattered all around, and also has some of those pockets that hint at a central-city feel, along with direct subway access to downtown Boston.
So, a little more info. Kind of an interesting situation you're in with the choice between two such different areas. Best of luck with your husband's job interviews, and with your decision.
Mass has one of the highest eletricty(sp) rates in the country, it's considerably higher than Flordia. So you have to take that into account and the fact that A/C is an option, you can cool your house much more efficently and nearly as effecivly with ceiling fans. Also if you move to miami or to a coastal city, the weather is perfectly enjoyable with the exception of a few outlier months in the summer. Otherwise it's 70s all year around, with little humidity and best of all no mosquities.(for coastal cities)
If you detest snow, cold miserable weather, then you're simply moving to an area with less of it. Also boston sucks, it's scummy, boring and supressed. If you love culture and a big city amtosphere(sp) then move to NYC or even Miami.
New question - when people speak of areas, they can either be a part of Bos or a completely different town? Such as, Cambridge or Watertown are separate cities but are Allston or Beacon Hill neighborhoods or separate entities? On maps, they seem to be labeled the same, same font and size so it isn't easily decerned.
http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/420a7cc469b90446a0b9c9ee09ace3285g.jpg (broken link) Regarding the comment that Boston is boring, I ask does this look boring to you?
I had the same options but much broader, Northeast or Florida. I picked the northeast, more specifically Boston (30 min drive). Granted, Florida has great weather but consider these 5 factors; crime, education, pay, property tax and home owners insurance. I feel all 5 factors side with Boston.
Crime: the thug life is pretty strong everywhere but I feel there are many more undesirables in sunny Florida. Check the stats, I bet Gainesville crime stats are lower but Florida (as a whole) is much higher.
Pay: I qualify for 5 separate careers and at the time I actively pursued all 5 options. I determined all 5 career fields paid less in Florida. I feel we earn more pay in the northeast while Florida's cost of living is lower but so is the pay. I know, I am probably wrong because there is a strong argument for Florida's cost of living but there are alot of hidden costs. Like for example...
Property tax and HOME OWNERS INSURANCE. Both are pretty high but home owners insurance is crazy high. I lived in the south for many many years and suffered through many many hurricanes. At the same time, I lived through years of extreme cold weather, blizzards and ice storms. I feel, you can have those hurricanes. Granted, ice storms suck but hurricanes can set a whole city back a decade! Then afterwards your insurance rises. I don't care where you live in Florida they all feel pain at one time or another.
Education? Schools in the northeast consistently rate better than Florida's school system. The only way your children will recieve a good education is by paying for it (private schools). Southern public schools are abysmal.
Before you side with glamorious Florida really investigate your options, like those areas I highlighted. To me there were glaring. We have been living in the Boston area for a year now and do not regret the decision. Florida is great for vacations, not living.
Mass has one of the highest eletricty(sp) rates in the country, it's considerably higher than Flordia. So you have to take that into account and the fact that A/C is an option, you can cool your house much more efficently and nearly as effecivly with ceiling fans. Also if you move to miami or to a coastal city, the weather is perfectly enjoyable with the exception of a few outlier months in the summer. Otherwise it's 70s all year around, with little humidity and best of all no mosquities.(for coastal cities)
If you detest snow, cold miserable weather, then you're simply moving to an area with less of it. Also boston sucks, it's scummy, boring and supressed. If you love culture and a big city amtosphere(sp) then move to NYC or even Miami.
- ppll have there own opinions and it mostly comes from ppl who've had bad experiences.
culture in miami? u must be kidding. obviously u do not know boston! miami consist of puerto ricans and cubans as the majority. boston has the north end, and chinatown with alot of musuems and things to do. not to mention the surrounding neighborhoods with multi ethnic backrounds. take out the beach in miami and what else is there to do go to the everglades? i dont know, maybe your definition of culture is different from mine.
let me tell u, i grew up in boston and after 22 yrs i moved to orlando, fl area and been missing home since. everyone will have there own opinions but to me the only good things i can say about florida is the weather. but florida does offer alot of outdoor activites yr round. florida is too flat with no scenery. i enjoy the mountains. from new hampshire to the cape. i dunno to each is own. to me i think its a nice place to visit but not to live.
but where is your family and friends? if theyre in ny then i would suggest boston since it is a reasonable drive.
also the job market is not that great here and let say u get laid off within the yr what will u do in florida. alteast in boston you can go back to ny.....
Loads of information and a lot to process! My husband got his FL offer - it's a very good one. Signing bonus, moving costs, temporary living costs, etc. We are now waiting for the BOS offer to compare.
When we went for the interview earlier this week, we stayed in Cambridge, right off of JF Kennedy St. It took us about 5 minutes to drive to the bldg from the hotel, even at 8 am, so that was a pleasant surprise. I spent the day walking around Cambridge and really enjoyed the area. Definitely not too urban and what we would be looking for. Housing seems to be expensive there - it is one of the higher priced areas as opposed to other neighborhoods closer to downtown? I told my husband that a move to Boston would mean we would need a real good, trustworthy real estate person - there are just too many variables and I don't think I can fully educate myself enough in a limited time frame. If the main differences between the city and the outside towns are the schools and government, then, in our situation, there isn't much to recommend one over the other. Our children are grown and out of the house so the schools don't matter outside of how they impact general area life. I spent 10 yrs of my childhood in south FL and I agree about the the schools there in general.
This decision has been much harder than I expected as there are positives to both areas. We would save considerably with no FL state tax and my research shows that MA and FL property tax would both be less than what we are paying now. As far as things to do and culture, I honestly believe that every place, from Boston to the little town in Florida, has unique things to offer - you just have to be openminded and willing to put in a little effort. Some have more than others but I think it is up to the individual to make the most of the location - it's easy to sit around and gripe that there is nothing to do, that a certain place is a cultural wasteland. If he decides to go with Gainesville, it might not be a place where we want to live forever, but I believe we can enjoy the pluses it has to offer and learn some new things while we are there, right? You only live once, you have to make the most of cards you are dealt :-)
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). Does the Bos figure sound about right? I know that real estate Right now we pay about 8% in NYS income tax (after deductions) and our property taxes (county and school) are about $7200 a year.
Yeah, the dog/renting issue and neighborhood ??
We have two 75+ lbers, however, they are retired racing greyhounds. They are both older, one 11 yrs old and the other, my running partner is 9 yrs old. We had a 25 lb terrier before and while I adored that boy like no other, he took up more space, physically, mentally and emotionally than the two greyhounds combined! 
These guys are the canine incarnates of Gandhi and Mother Theresa! Hopefully we can throw enough $$ at some landlord to give them a chance.
