Any former CA natives moved to New England and loved/hated it? (Boston: chapel, how much)

[HappyHeart]

nr216, great description! Wow, it's how I see it when asked why I want to move to NE. As a So. Cal native I was blessed to marry a MA native who came to San Diego for some fun after college. What a lucky break for me! We've been married 14 years. Our wedding took place in the prettiest little chapel in MA and I've been in love with NE every since. I find the people to be more reserved but have more depth. We found the real estate industry to be more professional and the coffee shop owners to be sincerely friendly. The snow will be a refreshing break from the constant heat. Our 12 yr old can't wait to move and our 25 and 21 yr olds are coming too! Will there be a down side? Of course! It's life full of people, some you like and some you don't. Season's. Some beautiful some tiring. But where else can you have a fabulous dinner in a 5 star restaraunt and head home to your 5 acres and horses, all within an hour?

[Teerich]

Originally Posted by dougnaie

We are considering relocating from CA to New England. I wondered if there are any former CA natives who have made this move? Are you glad you moved? Would you do it again? What was the biggest transition? What don't you like? Any insight would be most appreciated!

I am a native Californian and moved last June from So Cal (Palmdale) to MA. I absolutely love it here. I do not regret moving here. I would do it again and would bring everyone here if I could. Is this because I disliked living in California? Absolutely not. Just wish everyone was here to experience the beauty and history of this part of the country.

I'm not quite sure what the biggest transition has been. I live in Quincy now and the weather hasn't been all that bad. Granted, everyone has said that the weather this last year has been extremely mild compared to previous ones. But even the cold hasn't been that bad. Of course I came from the high desert and it gets down to single digits at night up there in the winter and we get triple digits in the summer, so the temperatures haven't been too much of an issue. I compare the humidity to when I cruised in Mexico and so far Cabo San Lucas has worse humidity than NE. I did work in Westwood (that's the Westwood in Los Angeles, not the Westwood here in MA) and we got pretty humid sometimes. Can't tell you about the snow since we have only had about an inch on two separate occasions since I moved here and it melted within two or three days. As for driving in it, well, the local police told me just to drive slowly and take my time. Nuff said.

What don't I like? Sorry folks, but Massachusetts drivers are the absolute worst. I drove cross country to get here and I have never experienced ruder, less attentive drivers in the country. They hate letting people merge onto the highway (that's freeway to us Californians) and tailgate like mad. And there's no reason to! The traffic here is NOTHING compared to Los Angeles or San Francisco Bay Area (both of which I have driven extensively). This is the one thing that gets me the most angry about living here. I'm not sure if it is because MA is a "no-fault" insurance state or what. Personally, I think it should be a fault state. Might force some of you to learn how to drive like civilized human beings. To the rest of you who do drive like normal people and not Indy 500 racers, thank you! I had enough stress driving in L.A. I don't care to repeat it here. Is this enough to make me leave? Absolutely not. I just stay out of the fast lane and shake my head at the crazy fools behind the wheels.

I love it here and I am here to stay. It is just too beautiful and there is so much to experience! In the seven months that I have lived here we have done the following:

1. Brimfield Antique Show (if you have never been, it is the largest antique show in the country and there is NOTHING like it anywhere) It is at its largest in May, hottest in July and smallest in September, from what I was told. We have also been to numerous other antique fairs here in MA as well and the antiques selections are far superior to anything you will find in CA.

2. Old Sturbridge Village A wonderful living history museum that allows you to interact with the costumed interpreters. Great for kids of all ages. We went in the fall when the leaves were turning color as well as on a cold winter night in December for an evening event that was a joy. We love it so much we bought a membership.

3. Newport, RI We love going to the mansions and also strolling the streets along the harbor. Love eating at the Red Parrot. We took the ferry once from Providence and that was a blast. In December they have some of the mansions decorated for Christmas. We agreed that the best one decorated was the Breakers.

4. Brandon & Woodstock, Vermont We drove the 4 hours to Brandon after seeing a brief advertisement about a citywide yardsale in the Globe and drove through Woodstock on our way there. Both towns were vibrant and full of shops and restaurants. We came back to Woodstock the following weekend and also had a spur of the moment opportunity when we discovered they were doing a performance of "A Midsummer's Night Eve" on the lawn by the river behind the historical society that night. It was a truly wonderful event and evening picnicking under the stars and watching a delightful performance of one of Shakespeare's plays. I think it only cost us $6, too! Definitely not something you would be able to do in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles!

I have to continue this in the next posting because the board just told me this post is too long! So, to be continued....

Theresa

[Teerich]

5. Plimoth Plantation We spent Thanksgiving Day in the pouring rain at Plimoth Plantation and it was one of the best Thanksgiving days (and dinner!) I have ever enjoyed. Even with the rain the place was packed, the food was excellent (surprisingly unsalty for the multitudinous amounts of people they were feeding) and the history was tangible. A "must do" experience.

These are just a few of the things we have done during the seven months we have lived here. At the moment we are taking a breather (although we did go to another antique show last weekend). We are looking forward to exploring NH and ME later this year.

Oh, there is one thing I do miss from California and that is great food. Unless you have lived in California I really don't think you will understand. The food there is SO much better than here. After much searching we found excellent Mexican (Acapulco's is the most like what we have in So Cal and Nor Cal) and Chinese (Mandarin King in Quincy is about the best Mandarin Chinese I have EVER had on the planet--most Chinese in MA seems to be Szechuan which is my least favorite type of Chinese). Italian is much easier to find, although I am starting to get desparate about finding great Greek food. Haven't found it yet, but still searching. And Moroccan.

Let me say one last thing in closing. I have found the people here in MA to be among the friendliest I have come across. I haven't found any coldness or reserve or any of that. The Vermonters were nice and we originally were going to move to RI before we came here because the people were so friendly. We ended up in MA because Boston pays comparable to Los Angeles in salaries. RI was a lot less. The housing prices are great and the sizes and different types of architecture are wonderful.

I think as long as you are up for the adventure and look at it as a learning experience you will have no problem "adjusting" to life in New England. I have found it to be much less stressful than L.A. and there is so much more to do here! I hope this is helpful to you.

Theresa

[smarty]

Oh, there is one thing I do miss from California and that is great food. Unless you have lived in California I really don't think you will understand. The food there is SO much better than here. After much searching we found excellent Mexican (Acapulco's is the most like what we have in So Cal and Nor Cal) and Chinese (Mandarin King in Quincy is about the best Mandarin Chinese I have EVER had on the planet--most Chinese in MA seems to be Szechuan which is my least favorite type of Chinese). Italian is much easier to find, although I am starting to get desparate about finding great Greek food. Haven't found it yet, but still searching. And Moroccan.

The food in Southern Cal is cheaper too.

If you want Cantonese Style Chinese Food, Try Chinatown.

Moroccan... umm... I would look into Watertown as there is a high number of Armenians there.

Greek... That is a tough one... let us know when you find a good one... (I just know a few Greek pizza stores).

[katzenfreund]

There is Zorba's on route 20 near Charlton, they have greek food. But that would be quite a trip for you!

[Teerich]

Originally Posted by smarty

The food in Southern Cal is cheaper too.

If you want Cantonese Style Chinese Food, Try Chinatown.

Moroccan... umm... I would look into Watertown as there is a high number of Armenians there.

Greek... That is a tough one... let us know when you find a good one... (I just know a few Greek pizza stores).

We've been thinking we need to check out Chinatown anyway, so looking forward to it.

Nothing like a good Moroccan restaurant with belly dancing, lemon chicken and the best mint tea poured from 3 feet above the table!

I'll let you know about the Greek. I am also looking for a Greek Orthodox Church. They usually have great annual Greek Festivals to attend. We used to go to one in the Oakland hills in mid May that simply was to die for. Loukmades (think donut holes) for breakfast, keftedes (meatballs) and spanikopita (spinach in filo dough) with Greek salad for lunch and Melomakarones (dipped honey and walnut cookies) and Greek coffee for dessert. mmmmmm! They also had great jewelry shopping too. I sure do miss that from California.

T

[Teerich]

Originally Posted by katzenfreund

There is Zorba's on route 20 near Charlton, they have greek food. But that would be quite a trip for you!

Not on one of our many Sturbridge or Brimfield visits! Thanks for the suggestion. We will have to try it out.

T

[smarty]

Just did a google search...

Tangierino ($$$) Charlestown 02129
Moroccan

If you try it, please feed back... Website looks good...

[cassaka2]

I grew up in SoCal and lived in Mass for 2 years...near Lexington and Concord. I loved parts of it:

1. The History---incomparable. I loved all of it.
2. Architecture-different than the LA scene----Boston is Amazing. All of the homes are cute too. Not like California's stucco homes.
3. Fall is pretty
4. Traffic....although people will warn you about this crazy, awful traffic....don't worry. California is far far far worse.
5. The Fireworks in Boston on the 4th of July....awesome...totally worth the time and effort
6. Close to many other states...much to do. We lived within 2 hours of Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Conneticutt, and Vermont.
7. Loyalty.....people LOVE their sports teams. CA people are too diverse and like teams from all over....and no loyalty (you should see all the Bears fans all of a sudden!). But not in Boston! We were there during the World Series...where they "reversed the curse"....awesome. They deserved it. Being a sports fan in Mass is definitely a plus.
8. The Boston Marathon.....amazing. I ran, and it was the most fun race I have ever done! If you don't run, go watch it. It is a community event with people lining the streets the entire 26.2 miles...handing out their own drinks and snacks and candies.
9. The T. great transportation. We took it all the time.
10. Love the little towns with all the main streets, and cute churches, and ice cream stores....with awesome ice cream. Very cool. They nestle Costco in a corner off the freeway and keep their main streets quaint and quiet.



Okay, here is what I didn't like:
1. Snow snow snow. and all at once, too. They don't just get a few inches at a time, and let it build up. They get 2 FEET at a time. The shoveling gets old....at least buy a snowblower. Getting snow as late as April and May (even after having a few 65 degree days!) is a bit depressing. Us Californians prefer to visit the snow, not live in it.
2. Mosquitos...to go with the humid summers.
3. Everything is more formal. In CA we don't reallly care about the whole "wearing white after labor day" thing. But there, you would notice. People dress more formally. I am a flip-flop girl, and was known to even wear them with snow on the ground.
4. There seems to be a serious shortage of restaurants in the greater Boston Area. Everywhere we went on a Friday or Saturday night was at least an hour and a half wait. They just need more restaurants!
5. Very few mexican restaurants....and some really awful ones! Although we found the Diamond in the Rough....Mexico Lindo in Melrose, Mass.
6. The drivers. Unaffectionately known as "m*******s". They think the shoulder is another lane, and will turn one lane ramp into a 2 lane ramp....for no reason! But on a good note, they have strict road-rage laws there.
7. It's COOOOOOLLLLLDDDDD. I remember telling my friend one day in January that I couldn't wait for it to get back up to the 20's (!!!!). It had been in the low teens for over a week.....and that is just hurt's all over cold.

Honestly, I wouldn't like to live in Mass permanently, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there and would not trade it for the world. I can't wait till I can visit Boston someday!!!

Good Luck!!!

[kimjen]

Hello,

What part of New England are you thinking of moving?