Are we at peak urban? The suburbs have 63.5% of Boston metro job listings according to Indeed. (Springfield: houses, job market)

[panchilly]

https://www.indeed.com/jobs?l=Boston,+MA&radius=25

at the top of the webpage it shows this
68,554 total listings within 25 miles of Boston, MA.

Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville listings: 25067

Suburb listings = 68554 - 25067 = 43487

Suburb % = 63.5%
Urban % = 36.5%

Are we at peak urban?

[btownboss4]

I may be wrong but I think it would be exceedingly difficult to detect a trend from 1 data point

[tysmith95]

A lot of anti urban posters on here.

I still see more development near the center of Boston than I do in the suburbs.

[panchilly]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

A lot of anti urban posters on here.

I still see more development near the center of Boston than I do in the suburbs.

There has been development on 128 but it's harder to notice since it is spread out more. Boston development is in a more compact area so easier to notice.

[Space_League]

Originally Posted by panchilly

There has been development on 128 but it's harder to notice since it is spread out more. Boston development is in a more compact area so easier to notice.

same logic applies to the job listings though. the 128 belt is a lot bigger than the city in terms of area, so there is more space for stuff like this

[panchilly]

Originally Posted by Space_League

same logic applies to the job listings though. the 128 belt is a lot bigger than the city in terms of area, so there is more space for stuff like this

Of course that logic applies. You are absolutely correct.

Since the city of Boston is so small it should be obvious that the "suburbs" would have more total jobs due to the larger area but people are misinformed and they push a narrative that MOST or even ALL of the jobs are in Boston and Cambridge.

This post should serve as a friendly reminder that 128 and 495 haven't gone anywhere and that there are a lot of jobs out this way.

[bugelrex]

need to see the average salaries of both to get a clearer picture

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by bugelrex

need to see the average salaries of both to get a clearer picture

of comparable jobs + COL in 30-60 minute commuting radius.

In my experience, if you're lucky enough to find a niche job well outside the city in your field (say Nashua or 495 'boroughs), the income to COL almost always favors the 'burbs. Firms recruiting specialized talent (i.e., hard to find) will generally throw Boston competitive incomes at you as they correctly view Boston firms as legitimate competition. This might not hold true for certain industries, but for my industry you can expect incomes which are within 10% of Boston in an area where housing is 30-50% less.

However, this may not be the reality for the middle-lower percentiles.

[panchilly]

I think 2019 was peak urban for a looong time. Today Framingham, Acton, or Sudbury is a hotter market than Somerville. They are all hot but that is saying something.

[mdovell]

I think it depends about what you call Urban. There's plenty of urban areas outside of Boston with Massachusetts within Gateway cities. The other thing to keep in mind is that there's many jobs now that are frankly remote so the location frankly doesn't matter. I recently had an interview on one of the largest University Systems in New England and the director said she hired five remote employees since the pandemic and some of them are in places like Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Not everything that is big has to happen in Boston. The biggest UMass campus is in Amherst, the biggest Fair show is the Big E in West Springfield, the biggest flea market is in Brimfield (which I was at last week). Boston might have a high population but you do have to consider that if they had a restriction to only hire local people many of those jobs are Beyond filled because the skillset just isn't there. You have to think it takes most of the 128 belt and the 495 belt the prop up the job market in Boston with the talent. The more specific it invents the job is the wider the applicant pool has to be. If you're looking for a nuclear engineer you better not be looking for some small towns of tens of thousands of people you're going to need a broad range did advertise to millions of people to find somebody that can do that.

As for housing values you have to understand that it doesn't necessarily matter the amount it goes up but the amount of those up relative to a percentage. I've seen houses easily go up double if not maybe even triple in western Mass over the past six years. Increased access to Transit and more telecommuting along with the retiring Baby Boomers base means that this is possible