where's a good place for a college grad to relocate in Mass? (Boston: relocating)

[trevormead]

I've spent my life in Colorado, and feel it's time to head east. Boston seems like a great area from all I've heard, but I'm a little worried about the cost of living.

I'm looking for a place that's cheap to live in and nice in a college-townesque sort of way, but close enough to a major city to have stuff to do on a Friday night (preferably less than an hour each way). It'd be great to find a one bedroom or studio apartment for $7-800/mo, with available jobs that pay $30k+.

Any suggestions would be fantastic. Thank you so much!

[NY'er lost in MA]

I would recommend staying in Colorado. Seriously. It's fantastic out there.

Boston is a big college town- in fact, the largest in the country. So does that mean you still want to hang out at college parties or are you looking for a career and good location to get started?

Boston is also VERY expensive. For a college grad, it is a tough city unless you have a specialized field or advanced degree.

Are you from the east? What other areas are you considering?

Also keep in mind that Boston shuts down at 1:30-2am- COMPLETELY. Living in a suburb, even earlier. Being from NY I was used to restaurants being open until midnight and bars until 4am. You won't find a thriving nightlife outside of Boston trying to get by as a new grad.

When I graduated from college here in Boston, the last thing I wanted to do was stay. I mean, you'd be staying with all the people in college. Sort of backwards in my opinion.

If I could do it all over again, I would try Northern Cali, or Reno/Vegas, or Chicago.

Good luck and give us some more details on your thoughts about career and your other options...

[trevormead]

Oh, no, I'm not interested in college parties, or even college kids--they're what are driving me out of Fort Collins! I was thinking something college-townesque only so I could find a large group of twenty-somethings to spend time with. It's rare to have people stay in this city after they graduate, so the demographic is pretty squarely divided between kids 18-21 and established families. I'm right in between, so a career and a good place to get started are exactly what I'm in the market for.

I'm not specialized, and most of my experience is in sales/wholesale. Teaching has always sounded interesting, I thought I'd try and work the public school systems if there weren't any decent sales jobs available.

But really, you'd recommend against the Boston area? What's the draw for Northern Cali? Or what about the Northwest in general? Options are endless, there's nothing holding me down here save familiarity and a semi-interesting job.

[NY'er lost in MA]

Originally Posted by trevormead

Oh, no, I'm not interested in college parties, or even college kids--they're what are driving me out of Fort Collins! I was thinking something college-townesque only so I could find a large group of twenty-somethings to spend time with. It's rare to have people stay in this city after they graduate, so the demographic is pretty squarely divided between kids 18-21 and established families. I'm right in between, so a career and a good place to get started are exactly what I'm in the market for.

I'm not specialized, and most of my experience is in sales/wholesale. Teaching has always sounded interesting, I thought I'd try and work the public school systems if there weren't any decent sales jobs available.

But really, you'd recommend against the Boston area? What's the draw for Northern Cali? Or what about the Northwest in general? Options are endless, there's nothing holding me down here save familiarity and a semi-interesting job.

Based on what you are saying, I would NOT recommend Boston. You need a good place to get a start that is affordable and has opportunities for public interests. Boston is expensive and a big college town that is a hub for medicine, technology industries, and that's about it.

Check out Portland, OR, Northern Cali for it's lifestyle and good weather, Chicago is a thriving city with alot of opportunity and plenty to do without the edge of NYC, and Vegas/Reno for the development possibilities = career options. You'll also find more normal housing costs in those areas compared to here. You will find plenty of twenty-somethings in those areas.

I used to manage alot of twenty-somethings at a previous job. Most stick around Boston for 6-8 months after graduating before realizing it is too expensive and then want to explore more interesting places that are conducive to starting a career. It was actually a joke amongst management that when we hired someone under 28, they were labeled 'short-term'. And to be honest, alot of successful thirty/fourty somethings would leave and are leaving if they don't have A++ jobs at stable companies. The draw to leave MA for greener and more affordable pastures is a common trend. If you are a doctor or college level educator, I can see this being 'the place to be'.

Other than that- keep searching young man and good luck!

[LeavingMA]

I would second the opinions mentioned so far. A lot of the nightlife and Boston revolves around the college scene, and that means dealing with some annoying, immature college students. People are generally nice but can be tough to break into at first. Most girls (i assume your a guy) have minimal to no sense of humor when you talk to them. Boston isn't really affordable, you can make the same amount of $ somewhere else with a lot lower cost of living.

If your interested in a decent young professional scene on the east coast i would recommend Washington D.C. (great young professional scene but expensive and brutal traffic), and more affordable are Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta (i just visited there and loved it). I've hard Chicago is nice, I've been trying to get there. I've also heard pretty good things about Nashville, another place I'm trying to visit. Austin, TX is a great place. There are lots of other places for a young professional.

Boston is a good place to visit, but tough to live. Many young professionals and people in general are leaving the state. Part of the problem is cost of living and many jobs are leaving also.

[trevormead]

Hmm. Well, better to hear this now than after a lease has been signed

DC was an influencing factor in wanting to move east. I loved the energy there, it seemed like everyone had something significant to do. But I have family near Atlanta, and I've heard wonderful things about Portland. The Washington/Oregon area produces some exceptional wine, too!

Thanks for all the advice! I'd love to hear more opinions, if more are to be heard. This forum is pretty exciting, I can't imagine what relocating on a lark would be like without this sort of input. Thanks again!

[NY'er lost in MA]

Sounds like you have some better options- go with them. If the Northwest intrigues you- go. But be wary of Seattle as it has a high cost of living as well.

I've heard from a friend that Ashland, OR is a fun place.

Random, but places I have been that impressed me: San Diego, Minneaplois, Madison, WI, Flagstaff, AZ...

[LeavingMA]

San Diego is a great place, especially if you enjoy nice weather the whole year, but it is very expensive there also. I haven't been to any cities in the pacific northwest so i have nothing to offer there. You certaintly have a lot of options.

I've been doing the same research as you. As a single male in my 20's, i'm trying to get out of MA and looking at going south, maybe NC or GA. I thought about Nashville, but i like being somewhat near the coast.

If your going to try to move somewhere, now is the time. If it doesn't work out, you can always try someplace else. I've found now more families are spread out in the U.S., and with flying you can be anywhere when you need to be.

[seanomac76]

I grew up in Boston, went to college in Boston, and still live in Boston (well a suburb now) so I'll try to give you the pro-Boston point of view. However, I did seriously consider moving to San Diego after a few visits. The weather is great and the people are very friendly.

As for where to live, there are several options. It may be tough to find a 1 bedroom or even a studio in the 700-800 range in Boston proper. Brighton is a fun area with lots of bars and restaurants and it's filled with people in their early 20s. It's also a short bus or train ride into other parts of the city. Same could be said about Somerville. I had several friends who rented in the Davis Sq and Porter Sq neighborhoods who loved it. Cambridge should also be considered.

If you can't seem to find affordable housing or want to be in a slightly quieter suburb, but have a close proximity to the city, consider Newton or Waltham. I'm renting in Waltham now for short money and we have lots of great food and bar options. It's also about a 10-15 min drive to the city and a commuter train and several buses also run through. If you take a job outside of Boston, Waltham is very convenient to the Mass Pike and 128/95, so it makes traveling to work nice as well. Same goes for Newton, except the nightlife in the actual city is kinda dull. It's a fairly affluent suburb, so consider that if you like a quieter, safer neighborhood. About 10 mins outside the city by car. Also has the commuter rail and several green line T stops to the city. A fair amount of young professionals renting here. I was one of them in my mid 20's. Never had a problem getting into downtown Boston and there are several places to drink/dine close by, but expect them to be closed no later than 1am.

I'd check craigslist for apt listings to get an idea of prices. Also, lots of people post rooms for rent in larger apartments or even single family homes. It may be a good way to meet people your age right off the bat. Maybe a trip here for a vacation would help you decide before you take the plunge.

[missionhill]

I want to point out that the only responses trevormead has gotten so far are from people whose forum names imply discontent with Massachuestts-- "...lost in Mass" and "leaving Mass" aren't really votes of confidence. Boston is a wonderful city for anyone to consider living in. It is expensive but lots of people figure out ways to make it work. I'm surprised you didn't get any responses from some of our local enthusiasts but if you have time, read through some of the threads here, like "Do you miss Massachuestts?" for an idea of what people love about the city and the region. The very expensiveness tells you that, like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and D.C., this is a place people want to be. Here's an example from the Rhode Island forum--in May a young woman named Megad00dle wrote to say that she'd visited Providence thinking of taking a job there. She went up to Boston on the same trip and immediately liked Boston so much more. She wondered if she'd be making a mistake to move to Providence--and Providence, by the way, is an up-and-coming city that lots of people say good things about. One of Megad00dle's responses was the following, from "my2kidsmom":

I agree, if you commute from Boston to Providence, the train is the way to go, but it will still take you at least an hour each way. I have lived in both Boston and Provodence. Boston from when I was aged 19-27 and Providence age 27-34. Boston is a million times more fun, has so much more to do, is filled with so many more people your age. Every night is a party in Boston, especially in the nicer weather! Plus, there are so many more options for where to work and live in Beantown. Providence IMO, is totally overrated, has NOTHING going on, the wages stink, and it is very hard to meet people. Can you get a job and live in Boston? I really think any 22 year old would prefer Boston over Providence any day!! I never got used to how lame Providence was, and I always missed living in Boston. Good luck!

Now, that's advice for a 22 year-old but it's coming from someone in her thirties who sounds like she'd still be in Boston if she could. Years ago I was driving a cab in Boston and some Californian got in who talked about how he'd been walking all over Boston and it had so much character in every nook and cranny that it reminded him of San Francisco in a way that no American city ever had. Now I don't know if S. F. is everyone's gold standard for what a city should be, and you'll always find people who'll put it down, but it's a great, unique, wonderful place--and so is Boston.