Irish Couple moving to Boston (Cambridge, Quincy: apartment, rentals, insurance)

[Dublin_Ciaran]

Myself and my girlfriend are currently exploring the option of moving to Boston from Dublin, Ireland and need a lot of help around looking for jobs and accommodation. We both have well paid jobs in Dublin, but with a savage budget looming, unemployment rising and general doom and gloom of a deteriorating country we have decided to bite the bullet and get off this sinking ship. Most of our friends have relocated to to either OZ or the UK, but Boston appeals to us because of the established Irish community, good quality of life and decent employment prospects.

My girlfriend has banking experience, I feel she would have no problem finding work, whereas I have a largely social work background as an adult guidance counsellor, working with people from disadvantaged areas. I have looked but I cant see what kind of salaries I would hope to achieve, this is problematic as the move all depends on salaries, so my first question is where would I get information on this? I have emailed recruitment companies, but to of no avail.

My second question is where to live. I am aware that rentals will be high enough, but where are decent semi affordable locations that are safe, well located and will have a good buzz.

Any help would be much appreciated, this is a blind move in certain respects, but an exciting prospect all the same!

[Dj1990]

Umm Boston's Irish community is getting smaller by each hour.
You're going to see a lot of Mexicans and Brazilians.
You will hear Spanish everywhere, you can't even take the subway now without hearing Spanish next to English.
The economy sucks here too.

[Tombstoner]

While I don't share in the spirit of Dj1990's post, as a newcomer myself I think there are some nuggets of truth in idea that Boston does not seem particularly "Irish" and that the economy is not great. I'm sure there are tons of Irish-Americans and recent immigrants here, but apart from the occasional pub and parade, I wouldn't say there's a broader Irish culture that permeates the city--it doesn't (and maybe that's not what you mean/want anyway). And the same bad jobs market that is everywhere else in the US is also here (no worse, but no better).

Social work positions are especially difficult these days, according to a friend in the field. You should know that Boston is one of the most expensive cities in the US (up there with NYC and San Francisco) and there is a lot of young talent around, so it may not be wise to assume that your girlfriend will have no problems finding something in the banking industry. My own sense is that salaries are not commensurate with the cost of living. That being said, if you're looking to come to the US and can live frugally while looking for jobs, Boston has a lot to offer (at a price). With so many students here it's also very easy to find shared apartment/household situations (something I haven't seen elsewhere in the US).

Oh, and yes, it's just as terrible as it sounds to hear languages other than English on the T. Boa sorte/good luck.

[kmann-sherborn]

The job market here is nowhere as bad as it is in Ireland. However, cost of living is quite high so you'd certainly want to nail down promising job prospects with salaries that can support this.

[Dublin_Ciara]

Thanks for all the advice so far guys - I am the girlfriend in question. We are not looking at Boston for it's Irish links, rather for its culture and job prospects. Also, there are flights from Dublin to Boston direct should anyone wish to visit us.
While the rent is high and cost of living etc, it is nothing in comparison to what we have to contend with in Ireland. Although I would love to have some examples if you wouldn't mind? Like the average cost of a meal out, a drink in a bar or bottle of wine from a store, groceries, visit to a doctor, bus/train tickets? Any info like that would be great - these are the things we will be spending money on from day to day so it will be helpful to give us some kind of idea of what to expect.
Based on us being able to achieve decent salaries (gross $7-9/10k per month between us) and rent an apartment for about $2,000 a month, we'd be hoping this would provide a fairly decent standard of living?
Also, the 5.3% tax - is that on top of a federal tax? How much income tax can we expect to pay?
I have banking experience and semi state electricity supply experience, both working in a financial admin capacity. Overall I have 10 years work expereince, 7 of which were in full time roles.
As for hearing the different languages around you, it's also a rareity in Dublin to hear English so we're not too concerned about that.
Brookline seems to come up quite a bit when we look at places to live that are close to Boston. We've also seen some suitable properties in Beacon Hill which are within our budget.
If there's any other advice you could offer it would be great.
Also, if there's anyone out there in recruitment or who knows someone in recruitment it would be great if you could help us on the jobs front

[Cantabridgienne]

$2K should get you a good apartment in most neighborhoods. Coming from Dublin, I'm guessing you are used to smaller spaces.


Dinner out: This varies wildly, but for two starters, two entrees, one dessert and a middle-of-the-road bottle of wine at somewhat trendy place, figure anywhere from $100-$200 for low/average priced places, up to the sky's the limit. Don't forget you need to tip 15-20% of the total cost of your bill.

Drink: $5-$8 for a beer, $8-$13 for a glass of wine, $6-$12 for a cocktail. Again, depends what you get and where you get it. Again, remember we tip for drinks, either per drink or 15-20% of your bar bill.


Groceries: I spend about $130 per week for two people and one cat. I cook about 5 nights a week and usually bring lunch to work, and this figure reflects that. This price really depends how you shop, what you buy, etc.


Bottle of wine: $10 to the sky's the limite (but most of my every day bottles are under $20 and I don't think I drink swill)


Visit to a doctor: Depends on your insurance co-payment. Mine is $20.


Subway/local bus pass: $59 per month. Otherwise, the subway is $2 per ride and bus is $1.50.

[NG1284]

Originally Posted by Dj1990

Umm Boston's Irish community is getting smaller by each hour.
You're going to see a lot of Mexicans and Brazilians.
You will hear Spanish everywhere, you can't even take the subway now without hearing Spanish next to English.
The economy sucks here too.

Hyperbole at it's best.

Irish is still the largest ethnic group in MA, by far, and there's plenty of Irish haunts in and around Boston. Mexicans? Please. The only Mexicans I know are the couple of guys who run my favorite burrito shop (Maria's Taqueria!). Most of the Spanish you hear will be from Puerto Ricans. Yes, there are some of them around, but no more than any other minority. Also, the economy is perfectly fine in Boston.

If you're a social worker you probably won't have too much trouble finding a job, there's plenty of places around, especially towards the Southern part of Boston (Orange Line).

[Tombstoner]

My own experience is that $2K is sufficient for a fairly small space in a good-but-not-great part of town.

I agree with most of Cantabrigienne's estimates, though my notion of drinkable wine (not plonk) is easily had for $7-10/bottle--$15 gets a quite decent bottle.

The joint tax rate (federal and state) would probably come out to roughly 35%...maybe a bit higher. If you are grossing $7K/month minimum, you'll do fine but probably won't be in restaurants/pubs several nights a week.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Tombstoner

While I don't share in the spirit of Dj1990's post, as a newcomer myself I think there are some nuggets of truth in idea that Boston does not seem particularly "Irish" and that the economy is not great. I'm sure there are tons of Irish-Americans and recent immigrants here, but apart from the occasional pub and parade, I wouldn't say there's a broader Irish culture that permeates the city--it doesn't

I don't know what city you're spending time in. Maybe it's where you live, or maybe because I'm Irish (I mean Irish-American), but Irishness seems pretty prevalent to me. The "occasional" pub? You can't go two blocks without one. 1 in 4 Mass. residents claims Irish ancestry, and it's even higher for Eastern Mass. The South Shore suburbs are overwhelmingly Irish-American. There also are plenty of people straight from Ireland in Dorchester, Quincy, Brighton, etc.

Does it feel like Dublin or Cork walking down Boylston Street? No, not really. But if it's Irish you want, you can find it more readily in Boston than just about anywhere else in the U.S.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Tombstoner

My own experience is that $2K is sufficient for a fairly small space in a good-but-not-great part of town.

I suppose this depends on what you mean by "fairly small" and how far from the center of Boston you go.

This statement seems accurate for the Back Bay, but there are plenty of nice neighborhoods where you can get a decent and quite sizeable place for under $2000: JP, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Brighton Center, Southie, the nice parts of Dorchester and Somerville, numerous parts of Cambridge. If you're willing to look in Quincy, Watertown, Belmont, Arlington or Newton you can do quite well for $1500 or under.

By sizeable I'm talking 1100-1200 square feet, which should be OK for a couple in a major metropolitan area. Boston has a lot of more affordable and pleasant options compared to a city like NYC, where you'll pay through the nose, have a long commute and still live in a dodgy and overwhelmingly urban area.