Possible new job in Framingham, moving from Charleston, SC

[brent s]

Originally Posted by sholva

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed. I honestly didn't expect this forum to be such a great resource. I think the wife and I are going to travel up and take a look at all of the places mentioned during the July 4th weekend. The only thing I don't yet seem to have a handle on is the heating costs. Between posts and PMs, it looks like the cost can vary widely. I guess it is just something I will have to find out on my own.

Yea it really is tough to estimate heating costs. It all depends on the type of heating fuel, the type of heating system, the size of the apt/house, how old and well insulated it is, etc........


For instance, I have oil/steam radiators, and I use about 3 tanks of oil between December and March, and that is with me keeping the house at 64 in the day and 58 at night, and running the wood stove occasionally too. 3 tanks of oil at the prices over this past winter worked out to roughly $1,900 give or take. But my house is 60 years old and probably not that well insulated, so.....

[gibroni]

When you find an apartment, ask them what is the average heating cost. One thing to think about is the condition of the windows and overall insulation of the house, most of the old houses are pretty crappy. I paid $2500 last winter for oil to keep my 2 bd, 100-yo house with crappy windows at 65F. If you get an apartment it should be much better, apartments are better insulated.

[julieasc]

I moved up here 3 years ago, and my husband and I are renting a garden level apartment in Newton for 1500 a month. 740sq ft. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and quarters laundry across the hall. Newton is a very nice area, west of Boston, east of Framingham. Of note, you'll get much more in Framingham than you will in Newton or somewhere closer to Boston, so you're at least headed to the right place if you keep west as people have suggested above.

Regarding housing, the prices are more expensive than Charleston, but that is because coming from Charleston you, like me, will be used to a certain level of quality that just doesn't exist here unless you want to pay 750K. Places are old, but unlike Charleston, they are not kept up well. Kitchens and bathrooms date to the 1940s-1970s. Paint chips on the outside of houses. Yards are not mowed. People do not make much of an effort to show off their houses for potential buyers or renters. To me, this was as bad as the sticker shock, but I'm from Columbia where everything is dirt cheap and brand new. A lot of my friends are young, married professionals in Charleston, and I still pay bit more and get way less than they do.

My husband, who is from MA and met me in SC, sat me down and said if I had to give up 1-3 of all of the things I wanted, what would they be? And in what order? Beauty? In apartment washer and dryer? Short commute? Dishwasher? Yard? Space? A second bathroom? Storage? These are things someone from the south has to think about before even visiting the houses up here because at most price-points, they aren't all possible. I don't mean to be so blunt, but I want yall to be as prepared as possible.

Regarding the other issues, it is really, really, really cold up here. Really. And there are some cultural differences, but I wouldn't say I ever went into shock about it. Ultimately, I think we'll stay. I like it up here. And there are a lot of very good aspects of the Boston Area. Good luck!

[Bostonmania]

Originally Posted by julieasc

I moved up here 3 years ago, and my husband and I are renting a garden level apartment in Newton for 1500 a month. 740sq ft. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and quarters laundry across the hall. Newton is a very nice area, west of Boston, east of Framingham. Of note, you'll get much more in Framingham than you will in Newton or somewhere closer to Boston, so you're at least headed to the right place if you keep west as people have suggested above.

Regarding the other issues, it is really, really, really cold up here. Really. And there are some cultural differences, but I wouldn't say I ever went into shock about it. Ultimately, I think we'll stay. I like it up here. And there are a lot of very good aspects of the Boston Area. Good luck!

Wow I'm surprised you could get such a nice apartment for 1500 in Newton.

Anyway, Framingham is nice and I have some friends who live there from Brazil who like it. I know the area pretty well immediately around Framingham, and if you're looking for a little smaller place away from some of the commercial crap you could check out Natick which is a nice town. A lot of the areas between Boston and Framingham, and just around Framingham in general are extremely wealthy.

It is not really cold up here, though the avg temperature is probably 15-20 degrees colder than what you're used to.

[Braunwyn]

I live in North Framingham. As others have noted, just stay away from South Framingham. Also, be careful with Natick as well on the South Framingham line. It's pretty busy over there. On the north side it's a bit quieter, nice neighborhoods with Sudbury and Weston close by. Lots of parks, etc.