Affordable housing = Mission impossible (Boston, Fitchburg: transplants, insurance, school)

[Boston_Burbs]

The 5 Most Affordable Places To Raise Your Kid If... | ClickHole

Thought this was amusing

[brightdoglover]

As long as software and biotech and such are such booming industries (and they show no signs of slowing down) real estate in eastern MA is going to be very very high. I remember before software became an economic driver (like early 1980) and when it did, with the Lotus building in East Cambridge and then desktop computers everywhere, things shot up and up. A couple of stalls, but never a Texas-like collapse.

After losing most friends to COL moves years ago, I am now witnessing retirement movers. Normal working people who have owned houses for decades but want to move elsewhere for COL, different weather, different life. I have decided to become one of them. Where I'm moving isn't considered cheap, but most places are cheapER than eastern MA. (An advantage of spending one's working years near Boston). If many of the people I've watched leave had stayed here, I might be more tempted to retire here, as I could afford it, but everyone seems to have plans to go. It seems eastern MA is a great place for education (yours or your kids), career-building and work, and then forget it.

I would certainly never move here now, no more than I'd consider NYC or San Francisco or other very expensive places.

I do think that Boston's "losses" will be the gains of places like Pittsburgh and other up-and-coming places, and real estate prices and a bit of culture will be the drivers.

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

As long as software and biotech and such are such booming industries (and they show no signs of slowing down) real estate in eastern MA is going to be very very high. I remember before software became an economic driver (like early 1980) and when it did, with the Lotus building in East Cambridge and then desktop computers everywhere, things shot up and up. A couple of stalls, but never a Texas-like collapse.

After losing most friends to COL moves years ago, I am now witnessing retirement movers. Normal working people who have owned houses for decades but want to move elsewhere for COL, different weather, different life. I have decided to become one of them. Where I'm moving isn't considered cheap, but most places are cheapER than eastern MA. (An advantage of spending one's working years near Boston). If many of the people I've watched leave had stayed here, I might be more tempted to retire here, as I could afford it, but everyone seems to have plans to go. It seems eastern MA is a great place for education (yours or your kids), career-building and work, and then forget it.

I would certainly never move here now, no more than I'd consider NYC or San Francisco or other very expensive places.

I do think that Boston's "losses" will be the gains of places like Pittsburgh and other up-and-coming places, and real estate prices and a bit of culture will be the drivers.

Honestly, Eastern MA is a great place to live. I feel fortunate to have grown up here (Cambridge to be exact). But it goes without saying that other major metro areas in our country are just as great. They each have their own uniqueness and pros/cons. I would stay put and continue growing my family here, but,
The cost of living is absurd (particularly the real estate market).
The snow sucks. Lived here my whole life, its fun when I was kid, not when you have to wake up at 4 am and dig 2 cars out to get to work.
I'm sick of the general insular, introverted, smug mentalities that a lot of the locals have (I noticed this mostly when I moved out of Cambridge).

[brightdoglover]

I think townies or locals anywhere could be accused of being insular and living-in-bubble thinking, whatever that thinking is. Places like Cambridge, that attract people from all over the world, are the exception, not the rule. I enjoyed my time in Cambridge but I would not want to be there now (and I was able to buy the world's smallest condo and could have lived there. But I wanted fresh air and trees and nature and space from other people more than I wanted Cambridge).

It's all about tradeoffs, and how they are weighted for every person.

[OrganicSmallHome]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Your requirements:

1. Commuting range to Cambridge
2. A neighborhood that doesn't feel so sleepy or rural
3. Would love restaurants nearby
4. Love sidewalks.
5. Schools are important.

If you drop one of those from your list, it will open up a lot of options. You decide which one.

I agree with this. The first on the list, especially, significantly lowers the OP's chances of finding what he wants. Another way to open up possibilities would be to consider a condo rather than a single family.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I do think that Boston's "losses" will be the gains of places like Pittsburgh and other up-and-coming places, and real estate prices and a bit of culture will be the drivers.

The reason corporations pay the absurd wages of the Bay Area or NYC or Boston is because those are the only places in the world with critical mass of subject matter expertise. If you want to start a company, you can draw from an enormous labor pool of experts. In Pittsburgh, you have to relocate them. Anyone living in the Bay Area, NYC, or Boston understands the housing math. If they relo to Pittsburgh, they're gone forever and can't buy back into those high COL housing markets. If the company they join fizzles, they're screwed. They have no choice but to move out of Pittsburgh. Look at where the venture capital investment goes. The Bay Area is 10x Boston or NYC. Other than some little pockets in Seattle, Raleigh-Durham, and a few other 3rd tier places, there simply isn't capital available and that's because there are no people with the skills to staff a company anywhere else.

What needs to happen is to dramatically improve public transportation in the high COL regions. If you could get to downtown Boston in 45 minutes from 75 miles out, it would open up a huge number of square miles for housing commuters. With the public transportation infrastructure we have now, it's inexcusable to run out of parking. You should be able to show up at any commuter rail, outer subway station, bus lot, or park & ride lot at 8am and find a parking spot.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The reason corporations pay the absurd wages of the Bay Area or NYC or Boston is because those are the only places in the world with critical mass of subject matter expertise. If you want to start a company, you can draw from an enormous labor pool of experts. In Pittsburgh, you have to relocate them. Anyone living in the Bay Area, NYC, or Boston understands the housing math. If they relo to Pittsburgh, they're gone forever and can't buy back into those high COL housing markets. If the company they join fizzles, they're screwed. They have no choice but to move out of Pittsburgh. Look at where the venture capital investment goes. The Bay Area is 10x Boston or NYC. Other than some little pockets in Seattle, Raleigh-Durham, and a few other 3rd tier places, there simply isn't capital available and that's because there are no people with the skills to staff a company anywhere else.

What needs to happen is to dramatically improve public transportation in the high COL regions. If you could get to downtown Boston in 45 minutes from 75 miles out, it would open up a huge number of square miles for housing commuters. With the public transportation infrastructure we have now, it's inexcusable to run out of parking. You should be able to show up at any commuter rail, outer subway station, bus lot, or park & ride lot at 8am and find a parking spot.

What you say is absolutely true. Companies do center around areas with critical mass of expertise and adapt to the costs of having to be there.

That being said, Pittsburgh is slowly becoming one of those places with critical mass of expertise. It's one of the major centers of artificial intelligence expertise in the world. Carnegie Mellon and Pitt have focused on AI and robotics over the past couple of decades which created a basis for spin offs and startups and has attracted companies like Google, Intel, and Disney to locate there to take advantage of the expertise.

[brightdoglover]

Pittsburgh also has the medical/university infrastructure happening. Dunno about capital ventures, but getting a good job is a good bet in Pittsburgh. (Disclaimer- I lived there for two years before any positive changes and have to really think to see it differently. But if I had to live in a big city area, I'd consider Pittsburgh).

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

What needs to happen is to dramatically improve public transportation in the high COL regions. If you could get to downtown Boston in 45 minutes from 75 miles out, it would open up a huge number of square miles for housing commuters.

The "hub" system of trains is a real drawback. You can't get "there" from "here" with any ease. And the T has been neglected to the point of absurdity.

I rode the Fitchburg commuter train into North Station recently and was delighted. However, it was off hours, and it mainly runs for those who work "normal" business hours, Monday-Friday and there are few options outside of that. I gather the normal business hours are jammed.

The town of Littleton recently built a nice small station, replacing the bus-stop shelter in the middle of a field. Still not enough parking but very workable otherwise. No transportation to the station and it's not walkable, so still have to drive to get there.

[OrganicSmallHome]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I think townies or locals anywhere could be accused of being insular and living-in-bubble thinking, whatever that thinking is. Places like Cambridge, that attract people from all over the world, are the exception, not the rule. I enjoyed my time in Cambridge but I would not want to be there now (and I was able to buy the world's smallest condo and could have lived there. But I wanted fresh air and trees and nature and space from other people more than I wanted Cambridge).

It's all about tradeoffs, and how they are weighted for every person.

In my opinion, Cambridge has a very good share of the insular and living-in-bubble thinking, and is not in any way an "exception."