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Old 01-14-2010, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Revere, MA
294 posts, read 1,104,245 times
Reputation: 213

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Wait, you moved from CT? Isn't CT the richest state? I also lived in CT, in Fairfield County to boot. The cost of living is only slightly different from Mass. And I'm not only referring to Fairfield County. Unless you lived somewhere that was a whole lot cheaper than where you are living now. Matter of fact, the state tax in CT was HIGHER than MA before we only recently raised ours.
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Old 01-14-2010, 01:33 PM
 
22 posts, read 60,163 times
Reputation: 30
If I were you, I stay in TX.

All of my friends who moved from TX are unhappy in here MA. None of my friends who moved to TX regret the relocation. Go figure!



Quote:
Originally Posted by staub81 View Post
Hi,
Me, my wife and 4mos old son are considering a move from DFW, Tx to the Boston area. Looking for the perfect town or neighborhood. We are extremely flexible, but have some factors that come into play. Hope you guys can help!

- My wife works in the medical field, so somewhere with Hospitals, Doctor's offices, medical centers would be nice. Commuting is not an issue as long as the time is less than an hour.
- I currently work from home, and do not need a job. However, if for some reason I change jobs, I do work in IT, so an area with technology jobs wouldn't hurt.
- Being from Texas, we're used to a cheaper cost of living. Affordability is important to us.
- We're a young family, looking for a community with other young families.
- Looking for down to earth people, not a snooty or elitist community.
- Several people have recommended us moving to a community along 495. They say the cost of living is much cheaper away from the city and there are many more transplant families, like us, that we may have more in common with than natives.
- Some of the towns that have been suggested are Plymouth, Marshfield, Mansfield, Chelmsford.


So which community would you suggest?
Looking forward to hearing yoru suggestions.
Thanks!
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Old 01-14-2010, 02:54 PM
 
615 posts, read 1,516,788 times
Reputation: 416
Quote:
Originally Posted by felicitev21 View Post
Wait, you moved from CT? Isn't CT the richest state? I also lived in CT, in Fairfield County to boot. The cost of living is only slightly different from Mass. And I'm not only referring to Fairfield County. Unless you lived somewhere that was a whole lot cheaper than where you are living now. Matter of fact, the state tax in CT was HIGHER than MA before we only recently raised ours.
Not all of us who lived in Connecticut are from Greenwich or live in Fairfield county. I was in the Navy and lived in New London County near the coast.
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Old 01-14-2010, 02:57 PM
 
615 posts, read 1,516,788 times
Reputation: 416
Quote:
Originally Posted by masspro View Post
If I were you, I stay in TX.

All of my friends who moved from TX are unhappy in here MA. None of my friends who moved to TX regret the relocation. Go figure!
Im counting down the days until I move.
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Old 01-14-2010, 03:16 PM
 
7,235 posts, read 7,003,761 times
Reputation: 12265
I'm still dying to know how someone can only find "chowdah" and "standard American food". Maybe that has something to do with you, Verio, and not the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?
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Old 01-14-2010, 03:34 PM
 
Location: Revere, MA
294 posts, read 1,104,245 times
Reputation: 213
I specifically said, I was not speaking of one area in CT in general. Regardless, the state tax WAS higher over there, no matter where you lived in the state. And CT has all the same taxes...excise, cigarette, gasoline actually costs more over there. If you're renting an apartment how are you subject to paying property tax? Obviously, no one enjoys paying any sort of tax. But that's not something that goes away. I don't know what the cost of apts. or housing is in New London, but I'm guessing there is a big difference from what you are implying. Really, if taxes, ethnic food, etc. are really big concerns to you, how thoroughly did you look onto the place you were moving to before you came here? Weather? Compared to CT? No difference there. TX, obviously. But this year they have been having a 20 degree winter too. Yes, you are right about the "double" tax on liquor. But they are trying to get that repealed.
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Old 01-17-2010, 03:38 PM
 
406 posts, read 1,491,295 times
Reputation: 235
Quote:
Originally Posted by Verio View Post
Please, give me a list of your 10 Brazilian Steak Houses... it would please me to read them. I know of three, 2 of which are poorly rated on Yelp... so please enlighten me.

This makes me laugh. Define living "well"? 200K combined family income? I mean, with a mortgage, preschool more than 1400/mo for one child... you must really be racking in the cash eh?

Bottom line is, unless you're ultra rich, compared to the rest of the population, Mass isn't for you I guess.
Laugh all you want, but not at my expense if you please. I'm happy and not whining--and I moved here from a much lower-cost area. Also, I'm far from ultra-rich, I'm solidly middle-class with a hefty mortgage. But I have memberships to almost every museum in the greater Boston area, and make great use of them. Have you ever checked them out? Most have at least one free day or evening a week, and most libraries offer free passes. My 3-year-old loves the ICA, the Museum of Science, and the DeCordova.

Brazilian Food:

Rodizio (somerville)
Midwest Grille (Inman Square)
Midwest Grille (saugus)
Oasis (Medford)
Muqueca (cambridge)
Taste of Brasil (Woburn)
Cafe Brazil (Allston)
Fire Bull (Peabody)
Terra Brasilis (Quincy)
Brazzille (Framingham)
Cafe Belo (somerville)
La Fogata (eastie)
Mi Tierra (Waltham)
Don Ricardos (south end)

I've only eaten at about half of these, however. While I love Brazilian food, I also love tapas, indian food, malaysian food, ethiopian food, thai food, cuban food, filipino food, etc. etc. etc. Have to spread the love...and I can't even remember the last time I ordered "chowdah" at a restaurant.

Also, it's Peruvian and not Brazilian, but I also love Machu Picchu in Union Square (somerville).
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Old 01-17-2010, 09:33 PM
 
8 posts, read 27,353 times
Reputation: 11
Brookline
-Just 15 minutes from downtown Boston,so it's not rural at all.
-Surrounded by universities,so many people are very young,like late 20ish or early 30ish,and many are not native.
-Just 1 stop to Longwood medical area(many hospitals and Harvard University of Public Health is right there),so that would be great for your medical field family.
As for the apts,you can check this-http://boston.craigslist.org/search/aap?bedrooms=2&catAbbreviation=aap&maxAsk=max&minA sk=min&query=Brookline&sort=rel
a lot are under 2200/month
And Brookline is pretty fast paced,so people definitely are not as friendly as Texas.
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Old 02-20-2010, 02:35 AM
 
Location: Long Beach
2,347 posts, read 2,773,055 times
Reputation: 931
If you're looking to rent (I believe you said 2200 or so a month) you will get a decent apartment in the outer neighborhoods of Boston (Jamaica Plain is a great place to look) It will also get you pretty far in Cambridge (Cambridgeport is another great neighborhood) Try the city of Somerville (it's just north of Cambridge) it has a ton of great neighborhoods, centered on Sqaures (davis sq. comes to mind) Newton is a great place for a family.
you'll get past the first winter, the pilgrims did, and went on to found the country, so it must have turned out well for them, haha.
The cost of living is higher here, but so it the pay and so are the benefits-better public transportation, better schools (best in the country) amazing restaurants, concert venues, day tripping spots. Rightly fully so, Baystaters are quite prideful, but hey aren't Texans too.
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Old 02-20-2010, 10:03 AM
 
Location: Westwood, MA
5,037 posts, read 6,871,790 times
Reputation: 5960
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cantabridgienne View Post
Does Chinatown know it doesn't have any ethnic restaurants?
I guess Chinese restaurants in Chinatown don't count as ethnic, nor do Italian Restaurants in the North End.

Quote:
Originally Posted by staub81 View Post
You guys are super helpful.
When I say were flexible, we really are.
If you take the employment factor out, what would your suggestions be?
Just name some places, we really just need starting places so we can really start to research specific towns.
Thanks again for your help.
Budget is important, but more important is what you're looking for in a town. Why are moving from Texas to Boston? Do you want to live in the city? Are you looking for a change of climate? Do you want a charming New England town that has a nice center (i.e. small downtown) but is otherwise fairly rural? Do you care about schools? Do you want nightlife? Friendly, outgoing people? People that will be polite and mostly leave you be?

The recommendations you'll get from people will coincide with what they would want in your situation, not necessarily what you would want (although one or more may overlap):

affordable Cambridge/Somerville/affordable Boston neighborhoods = more affordable urban life, easy access to public transit, nearly impossible to use a car but not particularly a problem because you can walk/bus/bike/subway most places. Schools not considered as good

Brookline = urban/upscale, easy access to transit, not particularly affordable (i.e. you won't have a huge apartment), good schools

Newton/Belmont/Arlington = not quite urban (for around here) but not quite suburban either, good to acceptable public transit, good schools. Your rental dollar will go farther than Brookline, having a car will be easier, but you'll be farther from the "action" of Boston.

495 towns = smaller towns with varying quality of centers, little public transit, more space for the same money (although it will vary a great deal). Some towns are bigger than others, and will have a mix of older, more traditional neighborhoods and Texas-like sprawl and new development.

Of course, there are other categories and stuff in between, so rather than list off everything (which I couldn't do anyway, because I've only been here 5 years), it's probably easier for you to let us know what you're looking for and people can shout out suggestions.
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