Considering Boston as a relocate place (Florida: apartment, rentals, job market)

[northeastbysouth]

Hello Everyone,

An Ohio Transplant here for past 3 1/2 years in Charlotte, NC, where some about 3-4 years back considered the Promised Land. The secret's out, so to speak, and many are flocking here from points north (heavy northeast contingent), west and Florida.

Like everywhere, jobs are not so plentiful, regardless of what some news stories may say, though if you are into banking ... you should do fine.

Miss the vibrancy of a big city (lived in L.A. for 10 years but do not miss it ) and considering Boston. Can handle the snow, being raised in the Midwest, so ...

What do you think? I know, there will be some naysayers, but hey, they're everywhere and I can take the good with the bad.

Job market? ? Suggested areas for apt. rentals (know that closer to town the more $$$ it costs), friendly people? (Charlotte is ultra friendly).

Hope to find work before arriving sometime in the spring. A former reporter / journalist (something in communications / editorial capacity).

Plan to sell my vehicle before arriving and well, happy to do so, relying on mass transit instead. Folks say to get a place near the T to assure reliable transportation during bad weather, unlike buses stranded in snow, etc.

Any feedback would be appreciated. And thank you.

[ogre]

It's a bit difficult to recommend possible locations for you without information about your housing budget, and about the kind of feel you'd like your neighborhood to have, such as urban, suburban, being able to walk to local shopping versus having a bigger yard, whether you want to rent an apartment or live in a house, etc. Once you have a better idea where your work might be located, that too could be a factor in determining the best areas for you to live, as the convenience of travel can vary depending on the starting and ending points of a commute.

To address a couple of your points, for public transit I personally prefer trains to busses, mostly because trains don't get slowed down in the same traffic drivers deal with. However, I wouldn't worry about busses stuck in the snow, because it's really going to be very few days out of the year that this might be an issue. I'd also suggest that if you find a place along a bus route that looks really good according to most of your criteria, you'd probably do better to move there than to live in a place along a subway line which in other ways fell far short of your preferences. Busses will get you where you want to go well enough that I'd say you would not want to pass up an otherwise really good place to live just because it was located near a bus line rather than a train line.

Keep in mind too that rail transit takes the form of both subway/light rail and commuter trains. Which works better depends on your preferences. The commuter tains run less frequently than the subway, and don't run as late at night as the subway, but the commuter rail lines extend farther out from downtown Boston, making it possible to live in a more suburban locale if you prefer, while still having access to public transit.

You mentioned the friendliness of people in Charlotte. A subject which has been discussed to death on this forum is that Bostonians have a reputation for being unfriendly, cold, reserved, aloof, whichever term you prefer. My take on this is that individual situations vary a lot. You may find yourself in a light, chatty conversation with a stranger from time to time, and I find that people around here often tend to be more relaxed, and inclined to converse with strangers, in intimate settings like bars and coffee shops. Generally, you'll find people here less inclined to make it a habit to engage in idle chat with strangers as a matter of course than what you've probably experienced in Charlotte. Just keep in mind that sometimes people do chat with strangers in Boston, but it's generally accepeted that this is not always going to happen, and that it's considered impolite to keep pushing to engage a stranger in conversation when the person shows no interest in doing so after your first attempt at conversing.