When did Boston become such an expensive/stressful city? (Worcester: rent, condo)

[johngolf]

I was born in MA (Waltham). I moved in and out of MA several times (to LA, Ohio, Chicago) in my life. I have lived in Waltham, Marlboro, Brighton, Cambridge, North Reading, Andover. I have owned homes in Waltham, Marlboro, Andover, North Reading in that order.

Based on home prices I saw the home price market starting to climb in the early 90's. My Andover home (4 bed, 2 bath, two car garage, large lot) bought in 1982 sold for $180K in 1993. My North Reading home (townhouse) bought in 1993 for $200K sold in 2001 for $400K. That home is valued today at $475K. I am recalling this from memory but I am very close on dates and cost.

[Vanderbiltgrad]

I moved from Boston to Nashville in the early 00's. I do miss Boston a lot but Boston has a lot of issues. Traffic, high taxes, high cost of living, it is a stressful place to live but it awesome an place to live if you have money.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by SalamanderSmile

There are just too many people trying to do the same thing at the same time in Boston; in places and on an infrastructure that cannot handle it.

Try going to the aquarium with your kid on a weekend, or (god forbid,) the Children's Museum, or the Museum of Science. Get in the big line of bumper-to-bumper cars to go apple picking in the fall and then wait to park, get up at 7am to be at Crane's beach to get a parking space (for $30 btw) in the summer, try to take the helltrain to see the Red Sox play if you can pony up $500 for your family to get in, sign up for summer camp in January at midnight the minute the registration opens for the privledge of paying $600/week or you are out of luck. Everything just sucked and was very family unfriendly. I liked it well enough in my 20s living in Cambridge with too many roomates, but it is just too expensive for what you get once you age out of that phase.

As far as music goes, I have been able to see far more bands in Ohio than I did in the last ten years in Boston. There is a ton of local music and not many bands that I would want to see pass us by. I love Louisville though. In Boston the sheer logistics of a nightout where we both could actually relax, consume alcohol, and see a band was daunting once we moved to Waltham and were commuter-rail-ers.

Fair enough, the family thing makes sense, and yeah, if you moved to Waltham that's a killer. The people I know that moved out to Waltham, Watertown, etc barely do anything anymore. I couldn't live there, happily. I don't know many people that have moved there, or Melrose, or whatever, for more affordability that don't regret it.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by SalamanderSmile

Other than the ocean we want for very little.

Proximity to the Ocean isn't an insignificant thing. I certainly couldn't do without it.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by SalamanderSmile

Try going to the aquarium with your kid on a weekend, or (god forbid,) the Children's Museum, or the Museum of Science. Get in the big line of bumper-to-bumper cars to go apple picking in the fall and then wait to park, get up at 7am to be at Crane's beach to get a parking space (for $30 btw) in the summer, try to take the helltrain to see the Red Sox play if you can pony up $500 for your family to get in, sign up for summer camp in January at midnight the minute the registration opens for the privledge of paying $600/week or you are out of luck. Everything just sucked and was very family unfriendly.

This seems like lot of whining to me. I have kids, we do everything we want with a bit of planning and effort. Kids are generally up early. Get a (tax deductible) membership to the Children's Museum for less than the cost of 2 visits. A membership comes with the privilege of a members only hour from 9-10a on the weekend. We get there at 9a, have the museum to ourselves and work to the upper floors when the doors open at 10a. We are out of there by 11 when the hordes have descended, and back to our car that we were able to park at a meter less than a block from the museum. Very easy and we have the rest of our day ahead.

Our kids go to various camps and we have never registered for any of them on Jan 1. Are there 1 or 2 (e.g. Drumlin Farms camp) that people rush to fill up? Sure, but that is the case anywhere. In reality 95%+ of the camps around here that is just not the case. Most of the camps we send our kids to are far less than $600/week. This isn't NYC, it is quite easy to opt of that kid rat race in Boston.

I understand that not everyone can pony up for Red Sox tickets. We get as much enjoyment at the Harvard or BU hockey games for a fraction of the price, and there are countless opportunities like that. That said I took both my children to Red Sox games this year. Ticket demand is not what it was. If you wait until the morning of a game, you can take your pick of seats on StubHub for half the price of face value. Again, easy with a bit of planning.

Greater Boston has certainly become more congested, but let's not get too far into hyperbole here. We have considered leaving for various reasons. Access to activities, culture and diversity for our kids is one of the reasons we remain.

[yellowstatus]

This thread is devolving into an subjective outpouring of personal preferences. I.e. big city vs small city

My impression is that Boston is stressful and expensive relative most US cities. On the plus side, there are a wealth of economic opportunities and cultural amenities. Boston cost of living is really in-line with other major developed cities.

I grew up in Greenwood, IN where $300,000 gets you a 4000 square foot home and lived near Palo Alto where $2.2 million gets you a 1200 square foot home. Boston is expensive but largely in-line with the economic opportunities. If anything, Boston is cheap once you compare it to the appropriate city benchmarks.

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok

[Boston_Burbs]

If you lived in Ipswich you could get a decent house for $500k, free parking at cranes, apple picking at Russel Orchards, and a commuter rail.

Also, who pays full price for these museums aside from tourists? About every library has discounted passes to all the museums.

I have run the numbers 100 times, the significant drop in income would not out weight saving $100-$150k on a house, when you add in the fact I would need a second car to commute to work.

[Bruins_Fan]

Originally Posted by SalamanderSmile

We moved to Cincinnati which elicits gasps of horror on the Boston forum. Other than the ocean we want for very little. We have all of the same cultural amenities available to us but we can actually DO THEM which we couldn't in Boston. Cincinnati also has (due to the numerous fortune 500 companies here) philanthropic money falling from the skies, so the art/music scene is (and has been forever) very very vibrant for a city it's size. Which is important to us. Also the parks and public spaces are truly amazing.

Additionally we have (due to being on the western edge of EST) an extra hour of daylight over Boston which has made a huge difference in my husband's/son's quality of life. They have (at least)an extra hour of outside time for playing, mowing, raking, hanging out and that is 5 hours a week minimum. In the summer it doesn't get dark until 930. That is really significant to working parents. The weather is also milder in the winter which makes the outdoors more use-able year-round.

The schools around Cincinnati are comparable to those of greater Boston(although fewer) and CPS has a latin magnet that rivals Boston Latin in national rankings.

We live in an inner-ring 1920s new-urbanist village where the kids walk to school and the ice cream shop is open until 10.

Cincinnati is a little Austin-esque in that it is a blue city in the middle of a red state but I look at it as at least my vote will count here.

Have quite a few relatives in Cincinnati. They are not from Boston, but in any event, they love it there.

P.S. Must be nice having your vote count! Looking at second homes down south soon, and believe me I will be voting there instead!

[Whatsnext75]

'There are just too many people trying to do the same thing at the same time in Boston; in places and on an infrastructure that cannot handle it.'

Totally agree. On monday i tried going to both Houghtons pond and the trailside museum for a darn walk. Ever heard of those places? If not, im not suprised as in they are nothing special. However i couldnt go to either of them because there were no parking spaces. Apparently eveyone and their mother had the same idea i did. Its getting worse and worse it seems in terms of crowds. I rarely bother with museums which is sad...i just will not deal with hours of waiting and swarms of people in my face though. Its one thing on the train, a complete other thing when im trying to have fun and relax.

I used to love castle island but that's another place that's become unpleasant due to crowds.

[semiurbanite]

Originally Posted by SalamanderSmile

There are just too many people trying to do the same thing at the same time in Boston; in places and on an infrastructure that cannot handle it.

Try going to the aquarium with your kid on a weekend, or (god forbid,) the Children's Museum, or the Museum of Science. Get in the big line of bumper-to-bumper cars to go apple picking in the fall and then wait to park, get up at 7am to be at Crane's beach to get a parking space (for $30 btw) in the summer, try to take the helltrain to see the Red Sox play if you can pony up $500 for your family to get in, sign up for summer camp in January at midnight the minute the registration opens for the privledge of paying $600/week or you are out of luck. Everything just sucked and was very family unfriendly. I liked it well enough in my 20s living in Cambridge with too many roomates, but it is just too expensive for what you get once you age out of that phase.

As far as music goes, I have been able to see far more bands in Ohio than I did in the last ten years in Boston. There is a ton of local music and not many bands that I would want to see pass us by. I love Louisville though. In Boston the sheer logistics of a nightout where we both could actually relax, consume alcohol, and see a band was daunting once we moved to Waltham and were commuter-rail-ers.

Your experience in Cincinnati sounds interesting, what are some of the better neighborhoods you would recommend there.

Regarding Boston, I think you are being a bit unfair. Our kids get to the Museum of Science in under 15 minutes and parking is no issue 95% of the time. Camp registration has to be done in the spring, not a big deal. Living close to amenities is key though. My kids have access to far more than I did growing up in Western MA.