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Boston is a very family-oriented city.
But I love the culture of Montreal.
I'd say either would be great.
But personally, I would choose Boston simply because it's in New England. The schools in Boston are also probably better.
I don't see how Boston is a more family oriented city than Montreal - both have extensive family oriented areas and both have some excellent schools. In addition, kids would grow up bilingual in Montreal - a big plus. Note that the Canadian public schools are ranked higher than the US - though this may be due to less other social problems. In fact I would say the the actual city of Boston is not family oriented with poor schools and large numbers of college students. Additionally the cost of real estate is lower in Montreal. If you are anglophone, there are a number of anglophone areas - the western part of the island and some areas of the south shore (Greenway Park). Anyone planning to move to Montreal from outside Quebec with kids should look into schooling laws. I believe that if you go public, you have to send your kids to french schools (perhaps some dual language schools exist too). English public schools are only for kids whose parents went to English public schools in Quebec. Having said that, my husband went to french public schools in Quebec and got a much better education than I did.
I don't see how Boston is a more family oriented city than Montreal - both have extensive family oriented areas and both have some excellent schools. In addition, kids would grow up bilingual in Montreal - a big plus. Note that the Canadian public schools are ranked higher than the US - though this may be due to less other social problems. In fact I would say the the actual city of Boston is not family oriented with poor schools and large numbers of college students. Additionally the cost of real estate is lower in Montreal. If you are anglophone, there are a number of anglophone areas - the western part of the island and some areas of the south shore (Greenway Park). Anyone planning to move to Montreal from outside Quebec with kids should look into schooling laws. I believe that if you go public, you have to send your kids to french schools (perhaps some dual language schools exist too). English public schools are only for kids whose parents went to English public schools in Quebec. Having said that, my husband went to french public schools in Quebec and got a much better education than I did.
First off I agree that both cities would be fantastic places to raise a family overall. There are tons of amenities geared towards families in both and no child would be deprived in either.
I do disagree about the blanket statement about US schools being inferior to Canadian. Massachusetts schools according to the TIMMS testing are top 5 in the entire world and only outpaced by Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. (http://www.boston.com/interactive/interactives/20081210_timss/)
That is not to take anything away from Quebec, as you can see from the study they are ranked first in Canada, but Massachusetts is the gold standard for public education in N. America.
The bi-lingual aspect should not be discounted though I agree, raising a child bi-lingual is a great thing, but there are also French and Spanish immersion schools (Public and Private) in Massachusetts that would fit that need if desired.
I don't see how Boston is a more family oriented city than Montreal - both have extensive family oriented areas and both have some excellent schools. In addition, kids would grow up bilingual in Montreal - a big plus. Note that the Canadian public schools are ranked higher than the US - though this may be due to less other social problems.
The United States is a capitalist society. Our rich are very rich, and our poor are very poor. Similarly, we have some very poor school systems but we also have some of the finest schools in the world. The Boston area ranks among the highest systems in the country. This report ranks Massachusetts as the #2 school system in the country. Not too bad. Not to mention the fact that Greater Boston, Massachusetts, and the New England region as a whole has arguably the best (certainly the most well-known) private academies in the country (Lawrence Academy, Andover Academy, Governor Dummer, Milton Academy, Deerfield, Phillips Exeter, Roxbury Latin).
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In fact I would say the the actual city of Boston is not family oriented with poor schools and large numbers of college students.
There are some bad schools within the city of Boston, but there are also schools like Boston Latin, one of the finest high schools in the country.
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