Tucson to Chelmsford (Boston, Lowell, Billerica: trip , job, housing)

[Concreto]

I might be moving from Tucson, Arizona to Chelmsford, Massachusetts. I am a Federal Employee and generally a Federal Employee’s pay will reflect the cost of living of the area.

What would you say the expense to ghetto (poverty and crime) ratio is?

Expense : Ghetto (High Expense : Low Ghetto? Low Expense : High Ghetto?)

Does everyone say “Pahk duh kah”, “I sahr something suspicious”?

The Boston area seems like a place where everyone is yelling at each other and calling others jerks and idiots all the time. True?

Anyone play Hockey in the wintertime?

What about the surrounding areas?

Hard to move there in the wintertime? I’m a Tucson Native (Non-Hispanic White)

Any other general facts would be helpful.

Thanks

[CaseyB]

Chelmsford is a good sized suburban town - not a ghetto at all. Next door Lowell has some seedy areas, though.

The accent? You'll hear varying degrees of it the further you are from Boston, but I imagine you'd hear it a lot in Chelmsford.

Lowell has a professional hockey team ( I think American League) and yes, hockey is fairly popular.


Chelmsford is close enough to New Hampshire so that you can take advantage of the tax free shopping there. You could even live in NH and commute, lots of people do.

[Valerie C]

Hey concreto, welcome to the Mass board. You'll be in for a bit of culture shock for sure.

Chelmsford isn't a ghetto, it's a pretty nice town where you can probably find fairly decent prices for homes (purchase or rent) Property values in Boston suburbs are down from where they were a few years ago, but still higher than much of the country. It's all relative...

First of all, prepare to feel claustrophobic for your first few months. When I moved back to New England, my first thought was how closed in everything was (so many trees! no horizon! not enough sky!) but I became re-acclimated to it.

Next, I had to get used to all of the houses that were built pre-1900 throughout much of the area. Again, you get used to it...

NOBODY says "Pahk duh kah" unless you ask us to I was asked to say it MANY times when living in Missouri...

Lots of people play hockey in winter, and there's a semi-pro league in Lowell. Also many mens/kids leagues in the various ice rinks, for all ages. Ice times can be ridiculously early or late, but everybody's got to fit in somewhere... Of course there's always street hockey (does anyone play street hockey anymore??)

First couple of snowstorms the roads don't get treated as well or as quickly as they could, but once the crews are on it, it's cleared fairly quickly, and is pretty well maintained. Not many instances where somebody can't make it to work the next day from a snowstorm (unless an all-out blizzard)

I spend a bit of time in Boston, and have never heard people yelling... maybe I'm going to the wrong places? I'm sure if you're in the right neighborhood you can hear anything! I think people tend to watch Denis Leary in action and imagine that he's the face and voice of Boston

Looking forward to seeing some responses to your questions!

[meltinjohn]

Altho I wish you well, stay away from Chelmsford. People are snobs there.
I recommend Billerica man go there.

[goyguy]

None of my friends in Chelmsford are that way. They're "just folks" who work for a living and are walking more now that gas has gone over $4 a gallon (LOL.) I can't speak for everybody in the town or every part of it, but I have precincts on both the north and south sides accounted for.

I didn't know what to think when an interracial couple I've known for years announced that they were finally moving in together - in that town. My reaction was, "WTF, that's where half the haters from Lowell ran away to when 'too many' Hispanics and Cambodians started displacing the French Canadians and Greeks and Irish. What were they thinking?!" Turns out they bought on a street which calls forth memories of the '60s more than just by the age and style of the houses. Kids roam freely through my friends' back yard to bounce on the trampoline, when they're not running around or riding their bikes on the street with the offspring of one of the couple. The female "half" is continuously dispensing "spare" flowers and vegetables from their gardens, along with give-and-take of advice and gossip, to the households all around. The guy next door and the male "half" can while away hours talking about fishing and home-improvement projects. It's all-American suburban life, with a Black person being treated no differently than had their surname been Boudreau or McCarthy.

Snobbery lives to the south in Carlisle and Concord, and to the east in Bedford and Lexington. And there are exceptions to the rule in those towns, too, no doubt about it.

[smarty]

Snobbery lives to the south in Carlisle and Concord, and to the east in Bedford and Lexington. And there are exceptions to the rule in those towns, too, no doubt about it.

I bet you... if you ask residence in Bedford, they'll say Lexington is snobby... if you ask residence in Lexington, they'll say Weston is snobby...

Basically, the town makes less $$$$... will say those towns making more $$$$ snobby.


Back to the original question...
Hard to move there in the wintertime?
It depends... it should not be a problem... unless if you're moving during snow storm...

All except one person I know from AZ left within 2 years. 2 major complaint...1. high cost of housing/cost of living.... 2. Can't deal with winter (takes 15 minutes to dress kids for a trip to supermarket; sunset at 3:30pm during the winter; nothing to do after work since lack of sunlight. ) I guess.. key is do not let the temperature or lack of sunlight stop you... finding things to do during winter is key.

[indigorose]

Concreto, yes the winters up north can be hard but at least you will get more out of the seasons that here in arizona. here we only have hot and windy. Up north there is the fresh clean smell and feel of rebirth of spring, the idealic days to play a game of baseball with friends or have a picnic in the summer, the crisp air and beautiful colors of fall, and the quiet beauty of winter. I forgot about all these wonderful things when i focused only on the bitter cold that can and will occur deep in the winter season. That is why I moved to AZ. I wanted away from the snow but didn't realize what i was giving up. And if your job will cover the change in the COL and you live comfortably in Tucson, then you should have no worries about that i guess. Good Luck to you.