Considering moving to Boston from Silicon Valley

[MovingForward]

Originally Posted by CrystalClearWave

Yeah, that's why my husband (although is not against moving to Boston) says if we have to leave behind the great weather and established life in the Bay Area to suffer cold winter and start a new life, it makes most sense to move back to Toronto where family is.

Lately hubby was actively looking for jobs in Toronto area through his old connections, and he just landed a job offer with salary pretty close to his current Silicon Valley salary (which is above average in the valley). So it looks like we are moving back to Canada. I think I will miss US for lots of great things like less sales and income taxes, wider selections of goods with cheaper prices, convenient online shopping (most those online stores don't deliver to Canada and even when some do, it incurs a big shipping charge not to mention the hassle of going through custom and additional duty), etc. Oh well, at least I get to raise my two young kids close to family and my kids will get to interact with grandparents, aunts and uncles on regular basis as they grow up. Maybe at a later stage in life, I'll return to the US and retire somewhere warm.

Boston is one of the greatest cities in the world, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's thinking of moving here. However, given the fact that the only thing that seems valuable to you about the U.S. is what things do or don't cost, you will probably be happier in Canada. You haven't mentioned one thing positive about the U.S. except for what it offers you materially and in terms of climate. I'm always amazed at people who move to this country for financial reasons and never really commit themselves to learning about the culture, much less valuing it. It's always about the money: even for people who don't really have to worry about money. I think that's just rude.

[missionhill]

Missing--
All in all, a balanced report. Can't expect someone from the Bay Area to fall in love with Mass, although some do. I just want to comment on the "six long months of awful winter every year" thing. For people who feel miserable in the winter missing warm weather, one option is to just decide to enjoy the winter time--go out and walk in the woods on the many sunny winter days, go skating on the ponds (not just the rinks), get out and play in the snow, go sledding or tobogganing, try some x-country skiing or snowshoeing. I guess it's easier if you grew up in a wintry place because for kids, snow and ice are magical, transformative phenomena. As adults we lose touch with the wonders of the winter season but now and then we can remember how exciting it can be when the snow starts swirling down.

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by missingthesunshine

If you aren't a Red Sox or Patriots fan, watch out, you will now have enemies. Don't advertise it if you aren't. Also, if you are a Republican, keep quiet, because people will also automatically think less of you if you dare to be a Republican in this very liberal blue state.

Here in the Phoenix area, the local professional baseball and football teams are the Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals, respectively, but their home games at Chase Field and University of Phoenix Stadium attract many fans of the visiting teams. Are there many fans of visiting teams at Red Sox games at Fenway Park, and at Patriot games at Gillette Stadium?

If a resident of Arizona who is a Diamondbacks and Cardinals fan moves to the Boston area, would it be socially acceptable for that person to maintain their allegiance to the Diamondbacks and Cardinals, or should that person become a Red Sox and Patriots fan in order to avoid making enemies?

Politics in Arizona lean slightly toward the Republican party but there are regions of the state (i.e. Tucson, Flagstaff, south Phoenix) that definitely are more Democratic, and the governor of Arizona is a Democrat. Thus, both major parties are competitive in the state.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by Highpointer

Here in the Phoenix area, the local professional baseball and football teams are the Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals, respectively, but their home games at Chase Field and University of Phoenix Stadium attract many fans of the visiting teams. Are there many fans of visiting teams at Red Sox games at Fenway Park, and at Patriot games at Gillette Stadium?

If a resident of Arizona who is a Diamondbacks and Cardinals fan moves to the Boston area, would it be socially acceptable for that person to maintain their allegiance to the Diamondbacks and Cardinals, or should that person become a Red Sox and Patriots fan in order to avoid making enemies?

Politics in Arizona lean slightly toward the Republican party but there are regions of the state (i.e. Tucson, Flagstaff, south Phoenix) that definitely are more Democratic, and the governor of Arizona is a Democrat. Thus, both major parties are competitive in the state.

The fan bases for the Patriots and Red Sox are large enough that all games are sold out and generally filled with home fans, so while there are visiting fans on occasion, there really aren't a lot of spots for them and they can never make up a large portion of the stadium. For more recent or less popular teams, like in Arizona, that is not the case. There are many people all of the country who grew up in Boston and moved elsewhere, so there are a lot of Red Sox fans in other parts of the country and they can take over games at visiting stadiums, especially in places like Arizona that have had a large influx of new residents.

I'm not a Red Sox or Patriots fan and I do fine around here. If you're a Yankees fan and are loud about it, you will definitely find yourself facing abuse. Aside from that, though, you should be fine. Since the diamondbacks are an NL team that only rarely even plays the red sox, you should be in even better shape. The only way I could ever really see a problem is if the sox and the diamondbacks met in the World Series. Even then, my friend from Colorado didn't get anything more than a friendly ribbing when she wore a Rockies hat around during last year's series. Of course, I live out in the suburbs, so YMMV.

[masalamomma]

I have moved all over this country during the past 15 years due to my husband's work - he was an independent consultant in the tech field. He just took a job with a company based out of NYC, with its development office in Boston. He starts next month, but has been told they are already considering moving the development office to the Bay area due to lack of talent on the east coast.

Since he will be running the development office, it is his intention to try to convince them to move the development to Austin, TX instead. After having lived all over this country, I firmly believe there is no better place to raise a family than in Texas. The weather is mild - yes, MILD in Austin. The homes are gorgeous, the best in the country, and dirt cheap in comparison. The whole place is family-friendly and geared towards kids. It is a true family experience and stress free life with kids in Texas.

If you move to Texas, you can easily have the home of your dreams for $300k. In AUstin, the best family place to live is Steiner Ranch. You can save and invest your $500k you were going to use to buy a million dollar home, and then retire early to Canada if you want. The money you will save by living in Texas will help you retire at a young age as well.

As for this whole cultural experience thing? How much do you want with kids in tow? The Opera, the ballet? With the nice weather in Texas you will find tons to do with your kids year long.

Think about it. I am hoping and praying my husband can convince them about Austin.

[missingthesunshine]

Perhaps my use of the word "enemies" was too strong in regards to sports team loyalties. It is true that as long as you are not a Yankees fan you will have an easier time of it (being an "other" sports team fan). I just feel that if you really want to feel included/linked to the community as a whole, you have to have an interest in the sox or the patriots. These teams are always a hot subject, no matter the time of year, and if you aren't up to snuff it won't be as easy to be included in every day conversations at work or school. My husband and I have gotten along okay by faking or pretending to have an interest, just for the sake of being nice. I could personally care less about these two teams, but have never been a big sports fan either.

However, I do get rather irritated that the local news channels deem the Red Sox pre-season team training in Florida as worthy of media attention, which it is not. I'd rather know what's going on in the real world, what important global events are taking place, rather than seeing a daily five minute spot on who did what in pre-season training. I have dealt with that by simpling switching to CNN for news, and no longer watch the local news channels. But if that gives you some idea as to how much emphasis is given to these teams, that they usually do a daily report on the sox (they even do lead up stories before pre-season training begins, which say things like the Sox are going to florida next MONTH for spring training, blah blah blah)...it is because the locals do care enough to actually want to see that on the news.

But anyway, if you haven't yet seen it, I highly suggest watching the movie Fever Pitch with drew barrymore in it...it's a romantic comedy that takes place in 2004, the year the sox won the series. I had seen the movie before we moved here, and thought they were exaggerating regarding the crazy team spirit. Now that I've lived here, I know the movie was based more on fact than fiction. So watch that movie to give you a more realistic idea of life in beantown.

[looking2008]

Originally Posted by CrystalClearWave

With our combined salary of $250k and a decent downpayment of $500k+, we could afford a somewhat big house (2000 sqft) in a good school district in Cupertino, but the house was 40+ years old and I really don't like houses that old (less than 20 years maybe ok, but 40 years...). Besides, that house would still cost us around $1.2 million and we would still carry almost $700k loan. So with so much financial pressure and poor living standard, I really don't see the point of living in the Bay Area any more.

Hi, CrystalClearWave! Could you please explain a few things for me because I can not understand how it is possible with your combined salary and a huge downpayment think about 700k houses even though you could afford a much bigger loan? With your salary, you would be able to pay off $700k loan in about 4-5 years. The average loan is 30years loan. Also, 1mln loan you could deduct from your taxes which makes it very unreasonable not to have at least 1 mln in loan. However, with your salary and a downpayment you would be able to afford a house in the best community of SF. Please explain.

[nomore07]

Originally Posted by neoux

I'll suggest Austin, TX (where I live). There is a lot of high tech jobs here, the biggest companies are IBM and Dell, and the housing is very affordable. We bought our 12-year old 2,354 sq.ft. house a year ago for only $147K. And it is in a good part of town.
The summer heat can be hard to deal with though, but you get used to it. Besides, you'll be in an air-conditioned building or in your car most of the time anyways. Spring and fall weather is really nice most of the time.

Oh no, that's just hype. Networking and datacom are NOT in high demand in Austin. Dell is sliding downhill and the IBM site is mostly H-1. The tech sector here is not well diversified, do not compare it to either bay areas.