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Get that high paying "job" that can generate that "income" that in turn can afford you to rent/buy in Boston.... that is the way you can get back there... or get anywhere.
Just a note...
For anyone trying to find rentals or houses on Craigslist...
*BEWARE*
There are tons of scams.
DO NOT buy/rent from anyone you haven't or couldn't meet face to face (means possibility of a poser seller/landlord etc.)***
DO NOT give vital information filling out an on-line forms (even if that link looks legit enough, don't *ID theft*)
DO NOT buy/rent from someone who is going to send you the keys via mail (see the first line)
DO NOT give your references via that on-line form when these *posers* ask you to... they will spam your friends as well.
Tons of that Nigerian/Ghana/other countries scams (remember the banking/charity scams???) out there... they have horded many craigslists (housing, careers, second hand goods too good to be true like jewelry etc. etc.) and besides craigslist... they are extending their claws even out through some of your local papers even... so watch out!!!
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 are right about the education and that's fine but a large percentage actually do NOT want to stay at any cost.
75% of graduates graduate with debt..median for a four year degree at a public university is 24K. Add that into finding a place to live, taxes, eating etc and it is quite hard.
I can tell you that most international students DO leave as their degree has a higher value back home then here.
36% of residents in Mass have four year degrees. Easily one of the highest percentages in the country. (if DC was a state it would be the highest). RI is up there as well. People with degrees have higher aggregate demand for their jobs so that actually makes them MORE likely to move than those without.
You can make the argument about silicon valley but technology is not a large employer. Google only has 20,000 employees world wide, twitter only 300..the dot com crash DID hurt the area quite a bit as much of the startups failed..the large survivors being Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo etc.
We have a diversified economy to a point but it is largely segregated into education, health care, sports and maybe banking. Right now restaurants are starting to panic since the NBA talks are still going on. Frankly I don't think viewers will care until after the superbowl. If someone is finished with their education and doesn't care for sports and is pretty young what specifically ties them to the area?
It's not as if having health care here means someone has to live here 24/7. If we didn't have inventions of the airplane and logan airport (along with TF green, the one in worchester and NH) then people would stay here. People come here for care but they don't come and stay here just to get care.
Banking is consolidating..just ask anyone where things are going.
What is really at issue in the state is that too much of the states economy is tax exempt. Education, hospitals, non profits etc. Every time Harvard expands Cambridge loses potential tax revenue..Brown (the university not the Senator) practically owns half of Providence. PILOT programs are very controversial. Without a commercial tax base the taxation then goes to residents. It is very hard for people to ask the government for more when there is no one really left to pay for anything.
To make it easier to look for housing in your price range, try padmapper.com -- you can set the range and see where on the map there is housing available in that range. You might find that some areas around Boston are affordable for you (South Boston, Jamaica Plain, suburbs, ... or live in Providence and take the commuter rail to Boston on the weekends). You'll figure it out.
I know what you mean about Boston. I lived there for five years and then had to come home to Texas when I got Lyme (one of the perqs of the northeast) but I am trying to get back to Boston as well. Texas is painfully unintellectual even in some of the major cities.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,161,809 times
Reputation: 8105
Quote:
Originally Posted by hueyeats
Just a note...
For anyone trying to find rentals or houses on Craigslist...
*BEWARE*
There are tons of scams.
DO NOT buy/rent from anyone you haven't or couldn't meet face to face (means possibility of a poser seller/landlord etc.)***
DO NOT give vital information filling out an on-line forms (even if that link looks legit enough, don't *ID theft*)
DO NOT buy/rent from someone who is going to send you the keys via mail (see the first line)
DO NOT give your references via that on-line form when these *posers* ask you to... they will spam your friends as well.
Tons of that Nigerian/Ghana/other countries scams (remember the banking/charity scams???) out there... they have horded many craigslists (housing, careers, second hand goods too good to be true like jewelry etc. etc.) and besides craigslist... they are extending their claws even out through some of your local papers even... so watch out!!!
That's all good advice, but it's not like Craigslist is chock-full of scammers. Nigerians in particular are easily spotted because of blatant claims that only someone very gullible would jump on, and often odd grammar. But there are slicker American con artists too.
If you're looking for low-end housing, your only realistic choice is Craigslist. You're just not going to get that from a realtor's list, they don't want to waste time showing apts with a low return.
I have lived in Texas my entire life, and that is about the best representation of the low life, argumentative, condescending trash that fills Houston and most Texas cities. People in the South mask their obtuse and crass personalities with "southern hospitality" but in reality, I think Paula Deen is the only person south of the Mason Dixon line that wouldn't repulse even Mother Theresa herself...
You are right about the education and that's fine but a large percentage actually do NOT want to stay at any cost.
75% of graduates graduate with debt..median for a four year degree at a public university is 24K. Add that into finding a place to live, taxes, eating etc and it is quite hard.
I can tell you that most international students DO leave as their degree has a higher value back home then here.
36% of residents in Mass have four year degrees. Easily one of the highest percentages in the country. (if DC was a state it would be the highest). RI is up there as well. People with degrees have higher aggregate demand for their jobs so that actually makes them MORE likely to move than those without.
You can make the argument about silicon valley but technology is not a large employer. Google only has 20,000 employees world wide, twitter only 300..the dot com crash DID hurt the area quite a bit as much of the startups failed..the large survivors being Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo etc.
We have a diversified economy to a point but it is largely segregated into education, health care, sports and maybe banking. Right now restaurants are starting to panic since the NBA talks are still going on. Frankly I don't think viewers will care until after the superbowl. If someone is finished with their education and doesn't care for sports and is pretty young what specifically ties them to the area?
It's not as if having health care here means someone has to live here 24/7. If we didn't have inventions of the airplane and logan airport (along with TF green, the one in worchester and NH) then people would stay here. People come here for care but they don't come and stay here just to get care.
Banking is consolidating..just ask anyone where things are going.
What is really at issue in the state is that too much of the states economy is tax exempt. Education, hospitals, non profits etc. Every time Harvard expands Cambridge loses potential tax revenue..Brown (the university not the Senator) practically owns half of Providence. PILOT programs are very controversial. Without a commercial tax base the taxation then goes to residents. It is very hard for people to ask the government for more when there is no one really left to pay for anything.
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Quote: " 75% of graduates graduate with debt..median for a four year degree at a public university is 24K. Add that into finding a place to live, taxes, eating etc and it is quite hard."
Well, an engineer out of school often starts at about $70K+.... so it is not that hard (I should know, as I have hired plenty). And $24K is the price of a Toyota Camry. I think that is a cheap investment for a degree you will have for your entire life.
Quote:" I can tell you that most international students DO leave as their degree has a higher value back home then here. "
Well, at my company, in the greater Boston area, 45% of the engineers were from India, 45% were from China, and 10% were US citizens. At its peak, there were 1500 people.
Quote: "You can make the argument about silicon valley but technology is not a large employer."
"According to a 2008 study by AeA in 2006, Silicon Valley was the third largest high-tech center (cybercity) in the United States, behind the New York metropolitan area and Washington metropolitan area, with 225,300 high-tech jobs. The Bay Area as a whole however, of which Silicon Valley is a part, would rank first with 387,000 high-tech jobs. Silicon Valley has the highest concentration of high-tech workers of any metropolitan area, with 285.9 out of every 1,000 private-sector workers. Silicon Valley has the highest average high-tech salary at $144,800."
The dot com area of technology is only a fraction of the big picture. Look at Rt. 128... Why is it called the Technology Belt?
Quote:"It is very hard for people to ask the government for more when there is no one really left to pay for anything."
Well, many of us are asking the government for LESS. How about we each pay for what we actually use?
"Well, an engineer out of school often starts at about $70K+.... so it is not that hard (I should know, as I have hired plenty). And $24K is the price of a Toyota Camry. I think that is a cheap investment for a degree you will have for your entire life."
Depends on what engineering degree though. Chemical is much different than mechanical and that is different than programming. I wouldn't say a car is an investment I was just pointing out the costs. Anyone can get a cheaper used car.
"Well, at my company, in the greater Boston area, 45% of the engineers were from India, 45% were from China, and 10% were US citizens. At its peak, there were 1500 people."
I understand what you mean but there's a strong difference between some that might be visa holders and some that go to school here and then leave. You have to have a job to get a visa. There is a whole debate that if someone gets a advanced degree that we should offer them a visa automatically. I agree but it is controversial. I have met plenty that pretty much had to leave because after the degree is finished they would have to find a job asap or else.
Did you look at the employers on the list? You consider Verizon to be a tech company? You consider a cable company to be a tech company? Huh? Pitney Bowes is a postal machine company! Detolitte is an accounting company not a technology company. Some of those are also defense contractors..I don't know if you've heard the proposals but there are going to be cuts at DoD.
Certainly those companies can use technology but to call Pitney Bowes a high tech company is a bit of a leap. OCR technology has been around for two decades and I've used it but I wouldn't call the job I had with it "high tech".
That's kinda like saying if someone even uses a computer at any stage that it is high tech...
The numbers listed list the number of employees they have in the state. It doesn't really mean these are all technology based jobs.
"The dot com area of technology is only a fraction of the big picture. Look at Rt. 128... Why is it called the Technology Belt?"
And many of the major companies during the miracle time of the 80's are gone. Wang, Digital..even Lotus.
"Well, many of us are asking the government for LESS. How about we each pay for what we actually use?"
I agree but sometimes that is a hard sell to others.
There is also a strong difference between inventing things and actually producing them. Google for all of its wonders only employs 30k people worldwide, twitter 300 etc. We have such high efficiencies that frankly the demand is there but it isn't a massive demand that asks for more people.
Programming can be performed worldwide. It does not physically require people to be in the same building. I, you or anyone can solicit for work to be done for as little as $10/hr https://www.elance.com/r/contractors...rningsSort/o-1
You don't have to pay social security, medicare, taxes etc.
I grew up on the north shore. Went to college and grad school in Boston and lived in the city for 15 years. I lived all over the city; Beacon Hill, Back Bay, South End, JP, etc.
Then I moved away. I've since lived in 3 different states; New Jersey (which I liked), then Santa Fe, NM and now Greenville, SC.
I am homesick for Boston beyond belief!!
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??
It's nice to know others have the same feelings about this as me. I feel the same way. Boston is an extremely expensive city now. It's been overrun by trust fund babies and parent-subsidized yuppies beyond belief, who drive up costs dramatically. These consumer whores up-bid rents, spend mindlessly and create a commercially-driven cookie-cutter culture. Boston is losing its flavor so much I don't even know if I want to go back. Most of the flavor and real people are in the outlying suburbs and cities now.
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Lol
