Love It or Hate It???? (Boston, Quincy: lawyers, homes, schools)

[FrozenAngel]

Originally Posted by puffle

Went to Salary.com and put in an income of $100k and compared Los Angeles, D.C. and Boston and Boston was the overall winner in affordability at about 17% lower to live than the other two with overall salary higher than the other two. More expensive to live in California, then D.C. but better opportunity to make more in Boston, cost of living less.

Yes but I'll take CA route 1 over our (MA) route 1 and how much extra are you willing to pay for CA weather?

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by FrozenAngel

I remember reading here in either NC or SC that their money problems was due to the huge amount of State employees out numbering the votes. Do you know which state that may have been and could that be true?

Not sure about that, I haven't read anything specifically. But I do know that the state of NC has grown government at a faster rate than many of their residents would have liked.

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by FrozenAngel

Amen but I'd rather be robbed where it is warm then to be left out in the cold.

Fair enough! I'm DEFINITELY not moving to Boston because I miss the cold weather!

[Grass Is Greener]

I tolerated MA (Boston) for many years but grew tired of the many things I didn't like (weather, road conditions, permanent road construction, way overpriced housing, unfriendly and frequently arrogant attitude of people, etc) and I left. My life has changed in ALL aspects for the better (much better I should say) and I am HAPPY. I miss some of my friends and I miss the good New England food but that's about it. I wish I had left sooner.

[puffle]

Originally Posted by FrozenAngel

Yes but I'll take CA route 1 over our (MA) route 1 and how much extra are you willing to pay for CA weather?

After living in Ca. for over 46 years,I am not willing to sell my first born for "good weather". Not everyone has the same definition for what good weather is. My electric bill for July was $600 in Ca. What was yours?

[FrozenAngel]

Originally Posted by Grass Is Greener

I tolerated MA (Boston) for many years but grew tired of the many things I didn't like (weather, road conditions, permanent road construction, way overpriced housing, unfriendly and frequently arrogant attitude of people, etc) and I left. My life has changed in ALL aspects for the better (much better I should say) and I am HAPPY. I miss some of my friends and I miss the good New England food but that's about it. I wish I had left sooner.

I feel my personality getting more negative and unfriendly by the day. I hope my house sells before I become intolerable. I would bet I'll wish I had left sooner too.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by mattncind

I personally do not know much about VA. NC on the other hand is a state that I did extensive research about because my company here in Orlando offered me a transfer to Raleigh when they started downsizing. At first I was seriously considering this transfer because everyone was raving about NC and people were moving there in droves. Once I actually did my research though it exposed that NC mismanages funds not only as bad but worse than many states in the country and I accepted the severance and started looking in Boston and am heading there end of this month.

Starting with the state tax burden. NC tax burden is the worst in the entire Southeast and according to the Tax Foundation it actually has a higher overall tax burden than MA. NC has a higher sales tax rate in most counties (up to 7.5%) than MA, a higher fuel tax (31 cents a gallon) and state income tax rate (6.0%-8.0%). NC's average property tax rate last year went up 3 times the national average increase as well.

With all that being said, NC had a projected $500m shortfall for 2007 while the state increased spending by almost 10% the past year!.

Yes housing is cheaper in NC and MA needs to seriously do something about affordability of housing, but compared to some of the other places I have lived (NY and Toronto) Boston is substantially more affordable. Add to that the fact that the offer in NC salary wise is drastically lower than what we will be making in Boston.

With that being said I personally know people who have moved to NC and absolutely love it and are doing quite well, so I am by no means saying it is a horrible place to live....but I also know people that have done extremely well for themselves in MA as well and would never leave after moving there from other places.

Every family though has a place that is perfect for them out there that is why it is wonderful to have options, but NC being a well managed and fiscally conservative state is definitely false and the facts show it.

When adding federal taxes NC has a lower overall tax burden than MA.

The Tax Foundation - State and Local Tax Burdens Compared to Other U.S. States, 1970-2007

I do agree NC does have one of highest tax burden of the southern states and isn't a whole lot better in overall taxes than MA. NC just collects it in different ways. Housing and insurance rates are significantly cheaper though. I also found that just doing normal everyday things like going to sports games, getting a beer, etc. are cheaper in NC though.

I had read somewhere though that NC's sales tax was supposed to drop to around 4%. Not sure if this is going to happen or when, but it was being talked about.

[FrozenAngel]

Originally Posted by Grass Is Greener

I tolerated MA (Boston) for many years but grew tired of the many things I didn't like (weather, road conditions, permanent road construction, way overpriced housing, unfriendly and frequently arrogant attitude of people, etc) and I left. My life has changed in ALL aspects for the better (much better I should say) and I am HAPPY. I miss some of my friends and I miss the good New England food but that's about it. I wish I had left sooner.

Grass is Greener? May I ask where you live now?

[findingmesomeday]

I think GrassisGreener posts on the NC forum.

[GreenMachine]

Grass is Greener:

I've always found something to love about every place I've lived. My experience has been that it's never all good or all bad. Often when a person dislikes a place so much, it's something else they are trying to get away from. Do you think this is true for you?

greenie