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I was searching online for reasons to leave Boston and go back to Houston. I lived in Houston for 2 years and so far I'm in Boston for 7 months. Here is the deal about both cities.
Houston:
Large city with tons of wealth and industries. The arts, entertainment, shopping, and restaurants are incredible. The biggest downside is the illegal Mexicans which causes huge crime (car break in, hit and run, robbery, etc.) Also, the traffic is really bad in Houston. If you work in the city and live in the suburbs such as Katy, it will take you at least 45 minutes to get home. Also, the heat is outrageous in Houston, humid as hell. However, Houstonians are very accepting of gays, lesbians, Asians, Whites, Indians, Hispanics, Caribeans, Blacks, etc. People are friendly, music scene is awesome. You can listen to Hip Hop, Country, Pop, rock, alternative and it's all there. Music in Boston sucks really bad. You can tell by the lack of personality on the radio. Housing cost in houston is amazing. you can buy a 5 bedroom home for $160K and have nice yard, updated amentities and have space. Not in Boston, most people rent for the rest of their lives. The food here is amazing. BBQ, chinese, indians, mexican, tex-mex, american anything.
Boston:
People are very judgeamental based on your education, race, income, and profession. When you are visiting here they may seem friendly but in reality, they are very rude and selfish individuals. The girls here think they are all that and they are butt ass ugly. Girls in Houston are hot and they know it. People in Boston are uptight and the cost of living is ridiculous. it looks beautiful when you visit, but the sick truth is you can't afford it. Most people here are miserable. They save their lives on the weekend. But then they don't do anything on the weekend. Boston is what you would call it a New York City wannabe. They try to act like NYC with the public transportation and food but it is way behind. They want to keep the history of the city and the people here do not like change. Bostonians are very regional and snobby. Also, your neighbors are very rude and they try to act "smart" and educated and love telling you what you can't and can do. The T here sucks ass because it's not efficient and in the winter times, the buses are not reliable. I live in Brookline which they vote that it is the best neighborhood and best school system in the country. The truth is, you can't afford a home here. A 2 family home here across the street from me sold for $1.2 each. For a piece of crap, with no back yards, tons of pot holes in Boston too. The food scene sucks here too. I lived in all the major cities here in the U.S. (NYC, Miami, Boston, Houston, Seattle, LA) and if you are thinking about moving to Boston, forget about it. Taxes are through the roof tops too! So if you want to pay for high cost of living and high taxes and rude people please go there. It is not worth it and I do not recommend it. IF you want to move to a big city in the East Coast. Go to NYC or D.C. It has a lot more to do and a lot more culture, food, entertainment, and 4 seasons.
Hope this helps anyone that is deciding about either cities.
Very immature post. How's that for judgeamental (sic).
You can move to Boston if you really want it. You have to weigh the cost of living to the quality of life. DON'T settle for so so kind of life. Boston is no more expensive than S.F., L.A., Miami, and not to mention NY. And just think of all the R-tards that live there. GOOD LUCK!
In addition...
Just from my experiences, Texans have some sort of holier than thou type of attitude. I don't know why but they feel special. I agree with the big fish little pond mind set. I have lived in the "south" for long enough to realize how different it is from the rest of the nation. The lack of education is amazing, and I don't just mean a college education.
I have lived in Houston and Boston, and I can tell you the ONLY good thing about Houston is that you can get a nice house for cheap there. Everything else about that town is horrible. There's a reason the COL is so low in places like that. Texans think their state is such a great place, but aside from the COL there is absolutely nothing for them to be bragging about. It's hot, it's ugly, and you can ride the roaches.
Boston, on the other hand, is incredible. The OP already knows this, so I don't need to list reasons why.
Like others have said.....make it happen, man. You'll probably have to make sacrifices in order to do so, but ask yourself if it's worth it, and then proceed accordingly. The great thing about Massachussetts is that it's so small you're never really that far from Boston no matter where you live.
Last edited by Tyryztoll; 07-30-2011 at 11:54 AM..
But can we please just ignore the person who posted about Houston vs. Boston?? I have ZERO interest in Houston and so many of the responses refer to that post.
Zero interest in Houston...
I'm just trying to figure out how I might get back to Boston... Cuz I love that dirty water....
But can we please just ignore the person who posted about Houston vs. Boston?? I have ZERO interest in Houston and so many of the responses refer to that post.
Zero interest in Houston...
I'm just trying to figure out how I might get back to Boston... Cuz I love that dirty water....
Thanks
I would gladly ignore the enlightened one.
One big factor with rentals getting even more expensive in the Boston area is the economy. Fewer people are qualifying for mortgages, so they are renting. Take those people, add them to the people who have moved out of their houses that they walked away from and have moved on to renting, and the rental demand has gone through the roof, thus maintaining and increasing in areas, already high rental prices. I saw on the news that Boston is building a bunch of housing units to try to off set the demand, but, that won't happen for a few years. Given that the mortgage/housing crisis will continue for at least a few years, IMO, rents and apartment inventory will continue to be tight.
My personal experience I can tell you that things are tough out there. Perhaps you can rent a place that already has roommates to get your foot in the door in the area? Another alternative would be took look farther west (sucy as Framingham, Marlborough, etc.) or the south shore, and commute for a while.
So according to your logic, YOU must be ugly, poor, an ******* and have bad taste in music by virtue of living in the Boston area. You must really hate yourself to put yourself down like that!
Actually cantabridgienne, you can tell by travelchics post this person can't be a native. As soon as someone indicates Boston wants to be NYC they've lost it. Boston has never wanted to be, and probably never will want to be NYC. NYC is trashy, dirty, glitsy, severely over-populated, and entirely different focused than Boston. Boston is more conservative (meaning, less in-your-face than NYC), more sophisticated, and more sane. Boston is the intellectual capital of the country with more prestigious colleges and universities than any other place in the world. The economy here is so diverse that virtually any economic downturn, or downright depression affects Boston very little. Every year there are over 300K students who come here to go to school, and a large percentage of them want to stay at any cost. Route 128 is our nations technology highway, which is the birthplace of much of what Silicon Valley in CA inherits.
But...here I am looking at the rents and cost of houses in the Boston area and simply cannot believe it. Boston was always expensive but I can't figure out how the rents have continued to sky rocket these past few years in a down economy. I'm trying to figure out how I might make it back to Boston, my home town, but it doesn't look possible. The salaries don't seem to have increased but the rents sure have. WTH?!
I no longer have family in the area. I can't just move in with someone. What a drag. Moving back to Boston seems insurmountable... ((BIG SIGH))
Has anyone recently moved back? How did you do it and where did you end up living? What is the rent in your neighborhood?
I don't even care about the cold weather. I kind of miss the winter. I miss pizza and the north end and pizzeria regina and the north shore beaches and the various Trustees of Reservations parks and hikes I would go on. I miss the aloof attitude (this chatty southern style in SC gets on my nerves). I miss a cold rainy day. Of course I miss October. I miss the architecture and the multitude of big old institutions. I miss visiting my aunt's old farm house on the coast of maine. I could go on and on. Can anyone put me in perspective or is it normal to miss Boston after you leave? How can I get back??
Wanderer71, the best advice I could give is, don't look at the housing costs too closely. IF you really want to come back, you'll find a way.
Truthfully, there is probably very few areas that are as resilient to an economic downturn as the Boston metro area. Areas such as Wellesley, Newton, Needham, Weston, Brookline, Weston, and the like have been completely immune to even the most severe economic depression, prices are still actually climbing. The economy here appears too diverse. After 9/11 NYC had a downturn; if a similar situation happened in Boston it would have had less affect. --But, of course many of these areas in MA represent the most desirable areas. It wasn't until I started travelling to other "so-called" desirable areas around the country that my appreciation for Boston became more solid.
There are ways though, there are several pockets that are worth considering. There are foreclosures in the area that are worth taking a look at. Years ago, I felt similar to you, when I was considering a move to CA, I thought it was too over-priced, and couldn't bare the thought of traffic even worse than route 128 during rush hour. If you let those little demons in, those voices could reck it for you. Always look at it this way, if you came and it was too expensive, you could still always move. RI and Worcester are also much cheaper alternatives. I was looking at some foreclosures in Hyde Park and Qunicy about a year ago that looked promising. I would consider the north shore too.
Well, it seems like it's more affordable in Boston now as opposed to 20 years ago, anyway. The apartment in Back Bay I rented when I lived there is selling as a condo right now for $249,000. It sold in 1991 for $465,000. Unfortunately, home prices and sales going down means rent prices going up......and I think it's gonna be that way for a long time still.....
I was searching online for reasons to leave Boston and go back to Houston. I lived in Houston for 2 years and so far I'm in Boston for 7 months. Here is the deal about both cities.
Houston:
Large city with tons of wealth and industries. The arts, entertainment, shopping, and restaurants are incredible. The biggest downside is the illegal Mexicans which causes huge crime (car break in, hit and run, robbery, etc.) Also, the traffic is really bad in Houston. If you work in the city and live in the suburbs such as Katy, it will take you at least 45 minutes to get home. Also, the heat is outrageous in Houston, humid as hell. However, Houstonians are very accepting of gays, lesbians, Asians, Whites, Indians, Hispanics, Caribeans, Blacks, etc. People are friendly, music scene is awesome. You can listen to Hip Hop, Country, Pop, rock, alternative and it's all there. Music in Boston sucks really bad. You can tell by the lack of personality on the radio. Housing cost in houston is amazing. you can buy a 5 bedroom home for $160K and have nice yard, updated amentities and have space. Not in Boston, most people rent for the rest of their lives. The food here is amazing. BBQ, chinese, indians, mexican, tex-mex, american anything.
Boston: People are very judgeamental based on your education, race, income, and profession. When you are visiting here they may seem friendly but in reality, they are very rude and selfish individuals. The girls here think they are all that and they are butt ass ugly. Girls in Houston are hot and they know it. People in Boston are uptight and the cost of living is ridiculous. it looks beautiful when you visit, but the sick truth is you can't afford it. Most people here are miserable. They save their lives on the weekend. But then they don't do anything on the weekend. Boston is what you would call it a New York City wannabe. They try to act like NYC with the public transportation and food but it is way behind. They want to keep the history of the city and the people here do not like change. Bostonians are very regional and snobby. Also, your neighbors are very rude and they try to act "smart" and educated and love telling you what you can't and can do. The T here sucks ass because it's not efficient and in the winter times, the buses are not reliable. I live in Brookline which they vote that it is the best neighborhood and best school system in the country. The truth is, you can't afford a home here. A 2 family home here across the street from me sold for $1.2 each. For a piece of crap, with no back yards, tons of pot holes in Boston too. The food scene sucks here too. I lived in all the major cities here in the U.S. (NYC, Miami, Boston, Houston, Seattle, LA) and if you are thinking about moving to Boston, forget about it. Taxes are through the roof tops too! So if you want to pay for high cost of living and high taxes and rude people please go there. It is not worth it and I do not recommend it. IF you want to move to a big city in the East Coast. Go to NYC or D.C. It has a lot more to do and a lot more culture, food, entertainment, and 4 seasons.
Hope this helps anyone that is deciding about either cities.
Are you kiding me? If you feel this way about Boston- you certainly don't deserve to live there. Go to Texas where you can meet other educated people like yourself.
You live in Brookline and you are telling us we city data folk that we can't afford to live there? I hate to hurt your feelings but many people can and do and get to send their kids to world class public schools. Just leave, you seem like you would truely flourish in Texas where people are more on your level.
Actually cantabridgienne, you can tell by travelchics post this person can't be a native. As soon as someone indicates Boston wants to be NYC they've lost it. Boston has never wanted to be, and probably never will want to be NYC. NYC is trashy, dirty, glitsy, severely over-populated, and entirely different focused than Boston. Boston is more conservative (meaning, less in-your-face than NYC), more sophisticated, and more sane. Boston is the intellectual capital of the country with more prestigious colleges and universities than any other place in the world. The economy here is so diverse that virtually any economic downturn, or downright depression affects Boston very little. Every year there are over 300K students who come here to go to school, and a large percentage of them want to stay at any cost. Route 128 is our nations technology highway, which is the birthplace of much of what Silicon Valley in CA inherits.
You just sumed up what I wanted to say perfectly and described the Boston vs. NY thing to a T
Op, I have never been in your situation but as long as you sock away some money, I'm sure you can handle moving back!
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