Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I lived in Boston for 15 yrs.....moved here to Seattle not too long ago. When I moved here I thought I had left the bad behind and moved to something great. Now after several years of having to deal with "seattlite" crap, I am longing for Boston again. I didn't realize how good I had it back there.
MidwestA... this exactly is why it's so difficult to ask other's experiences, because they differ so vastly. I lived in Boston & Seattle, 20-yrs & 2-yrs respectively. I felt as if Seattle were a smaller, cleaner, nicer version of Boston, with all the bad taken out of it... less crowds, nicer people, cleaner streets, less congested, less traffic & parking woes, better weather, lower COL. Both have great restaurants, but Seattle's are more affordable.
I'd never return to Boston for any reason. I'd go back to Seattle in a heartbeat. Of course, as with anywhere, it depends completely upon which part of the city you live. I lived in a tough, working class, unfriendly Boston neighborhood whilst there (had a house, so that's where I remained & could afford to live at the time) & in Capital Hill in Seattle... where all the fun was. I had to drive around for 20-min every single night to find a legal, on-street parking space after work in Boston & in Seattle I had a reserved space. I could walk to the theatre, plays, ballet in Seattle & I had to take public transit, a pricey cab or drive & go through parking costs/woes in Boston.
Now, if I lived in Copley Square, N. End, Back Bay or the S. End in Boston, perhaps I'd have had a completely different take on the city, but most single girls can't afford those areas. Because of where I lived & worked, I find it hard not to cringe when somene brings up Boston. I truly disliked it. When someone mentions Seattle, I take a deep sigh & recall happier past thoughts. The overcast weather is similar, but Boston is bitterly cold with feet of snow each year... I shoveled 100ft of my & my neighbors' property each & every storm & also our cars. When I lived in Seattle, there was no snow during my time there, but in our present days of ever-changing weather, I don't know if snow is the norm in a Seattle winter now?
There are plenty of things to do in both cities & plenty of free or low cost events. IMO, I found a lot more to do in Seattle, but those activities may differ from what you choose to do. I felt that in Boston, where I lived 1-mi from the subway which I could walk to only by traversing several dangerous areas, it was far less convenient & enjoyable for me to take multiple trains & also a bus to venture out at night... the area in which I lived made me not even want to go out a lot, particularly in cold, snowy weather or in the dark in the winter for safety reasons. In Seattle, I pretty much walked 1-2 miles & didn't feel as trepidacious of particular areas. Maybe for these reasons I enjoyed Seattle more, as I simply got out & about more & everything was easy to get to, meaning, walkable. It wasn't a chore to think about commuting. I often said in Boston, my entire life revolved around a parking space & not losing it... that dictated if I would/could go out or stay in.
I don't want to sway you either way & of course, my opinions & experiences are my own. You can live in a nice or not so nice area of either city, which would greatly affect you one way or the other & influence your likeability quotient. But, even just weatherwise, the drier air of the PNW & warmer winter temps are far easier to adjust to & much more pleasant... they're both equally as overcast & rainy... I actually like that weather, too, perhaps because I've lived most of my life in wet/cold European & US climates. When I lived in Seattle, I worked with many people from Montana... they used to say the prettiest springs/summers they'd thought they'd ever experienced were in MT, but after being in Seattle, the best warm seasons were certainly there. I'm a bit more partial to San Diego... but, Seattle would be my 2nd choice if I had to move from here.
Good luck in your decision making.
Oh & Freebird, I agree with what others said. Life's too short. If you prefer Boston (many long timers love it & don't want to leave the New England area), don't waste any more time living in a place you don't care for... this is why I'll do my best to remain in a beach community in CA... I thrive in this climate & the laid back quality of west coasters is refreshing. Living where you like makes a huge difference in frame of mind, spirit & mental health & well being, I believe. Best of luck to you, too.
One thing you'll quickly discover about Seattle compared to Boston is that public transit (especially rail) is severely lacking. There's nothing like the 'T' in the Seattle area.
With all due respect ToBe, that depends upon where one lives & to where one regularly commutes. My T experiences were such a pain I couldn't even get friends to regularly visit (I went to Copley Sq to meet them instead so they'd stop complaining about taking multiple trains & then waiting & waiting for a bus)... they always said, "How can you be in the inner city, but in a black hole as far as public transit?" Also, since parking is a nightmare, no one wanted to drive & go through hassles with hostile neighbors who feel they own public spaces in public streets. Sad, particularly since I had a large house with a large deck near the beach.
I lived 1-mi from a redline train station. It was not always convenient/safe to walk to the station, such as in the dark & could take quite awhile navigating icy winter sidewalks. Busses also ran (I could pick them up a very brisk 15-min walk from my house... the opposite direction of the station), but the service was laughable... 10-12 min in-between busses according to the schedule... hardly. More like 20+... huge difference when standing in the wind/rain/snow & packed bus after packed bus passes without stopping, because they're all full on weekday mornings. More often than not I said, "Wow, that just wasted 40-min & I could've walked to the subway by now & jeez, I'm going to be late again today." Despite iffy sections of iffy streets, I often walked regardless, against my own better judgement. Yes, there were a dozen scary incidents over the years... small girls alone attract attention from yobs, in any city.
Further, every errand I needed to do, everywhere I worked, everything I did for fun seemed to be off the greenline. Even if I did walk to the T, meeting friends after walking 1-mi afterwork through several iffy sections, then taking the redline train to the greenline train gets awfully tiresome awfully quickly. It deeply curtailed my funtime because I often chose not to go out. Also, the T shuts down early... last busses/trains near midnight... gotta run like a loon come 11:30-ish if you've multiple change overs, etc. I had co-workers who came from R.I. or Boston's suburbs with quicker & easier commutes than mine by far, by only needing to take 1 train (Amtrak, commuter rail) into N. or S. Station, then walking 5-min to work.
If one can afford to live off the greenline in one of the nicer 'hoods I mentioned before, life can be a blast in Boston. That is, if one or a couple can afford it. Look at the scowls on commuter's faces in the morning on the trains... many of us had long commutes with multiple change overs. In unpleasant weather, which is 9-mos out of the year imho, it took a great deal of energy out of me to endure.
To be fair, I will say something I loved about it. I lived 3 very short blocks to the ocean & miles of walkable beaches. I could see the ocean from my kitchen window. Nothing in the world is better than that. I don't mean to slam it, to those of you who live there & like it... just offering my personal opinions because it's a city, not unlike NYC (where I've also lived) which can enhance your life or make one feel depleted. Loved NYC & Seattle because I had all I described above that I didn't have in Boston... mainly, walking distance to everything. In Boston, ensure you are near what you want to do & where you go/work otherwise it may become draining rather quickly. Also, ensure you won't mind the brutal weather & all that comes with it... shoveling out a car, etc. If I were forced to live there again, I'd either live in the suburbs close to a train station & commute into town for work, or live in a very walkable area like Copley Sq. or the S. End sans car, even if it meant multiple roommates to afford the rent & walk or take the T everywhere.
I lived in boston for 10 years, and seattle for 12. I personally like boston more, but the cost of living there is much higher than seattle. renting, car insurance, food will cost more. what im paying for rent now (750/month), in boston for a comparabe SF/condition/location from DT and similar safeness, I would have to pay 1800 per month for the same apartment.
you can find a decent studio in seattle city limits for about 800 a month, but in boston a decent studio that is still in boston's limits will be around 1500.
Transportation- seattle has busses and a starter light rail, you can choose to drive, parking is not too bad. most of seattle, if you walked 15 minutes, no matter where you live, you will hit a bus stop. In boston, if you live near a T stop, you have to pay tons of money just to have that luxury, the only areas where its not as expensive and next to a T stop, it will be a dangerous place. Parking in boston is a nightmare, your better off not driving.
its up to you, do you like snow and cold in the winter, and hot humid summers, or do you like damp, overcast warm winters and modest summers?
Been in Seattle (from Miami via Vermont) 23 years. At times the grey is tough, most of the time I am crazy in love with this town. I have lived all over town, found that the neighborhoods on the north side of town are the best for for me.
lol....if it were that easy just to pick up and move again don't think I wouldn't hesitate. but thanks for the "advice"
Patanjali, yes...rent can be high but it can be high in Seattle too. And look on commuters faces???? Do you work downtown? Have you seen the faces here? Apparently not if you think Bostonians are grumpier. I have never witnessed this much grumpy commuters while working in the Financial District in Boston. Not to mention the commuting options in Boston are sooo much better. Ever see what happens when there is heavy rain or a bit of snow here in downtown Seattle? It took me almost 4 hours to get back home the last time it snowed. Not to mention the crippling snow storm that brought the city to a standstill several years back. They don't send out extra buses when it gets bad...nooo....they make you wait until the next bloated bus comes by. The schedule here is a joke too. Especially if you take the CTA or STA into downtown seattle. And last time I checked, the buses here didn't operate past 1-2am either.
Weather? Seattle has Boston beat, and in the nature dept too.
Patanjali....personally I don't think you experienced Seattle that much because you apparently don't realize that Boston was better in many areas regarding commuting.
I was born in Boston, raised in New England and go back 2-3 times a year. I would personally choose Seattle. I think the city of Seattle is prettier and the winters although rainy, much more temperate and the summers not as humid. The city of Seattle has a great vibe. I lived in San Fran for 18 years and San Diego now for 7, and I think Seattle is the most scenic major city in the U.S. If you like the outdoors Seattle is hard to beat. I really love the vibe & architecture of the city of Seattle as well.
Boston is a great town, I think it's one of my top 5 favorites in the U.S. (SF and Seattle being 2 of the others). You also have Cape Cod, Maine, Vermont, NH, NYC all close by. I absolutely love Vermont. But I would personally take Seattle because I just like the vibe and the beauty is a bit more dramatic and the winters & summers way less harsh. But I could be very happy in Boston too.
Robert, you need to hang out in a foul-mouthed soccer pub in Seattle. You need to eat in little amazing Cambodian and Ethiopian hole in the wall restaurants. You need to go to one epic Remix at Seattle Art Museum. You need to ride naked on your bicycle in the Fremont Solstice parade.
Robert is just mad because his colleagues at work didn't enjoy his wildly original 'butch lesbians are ugly' joke.
FWIW, as a Bostonian, I can see what Patanjali is saying about public transportation. The OP said that they want to live outside of the city and commute in, with a family home; once you move off of the beaten path of the T, commuter rail or bus lines, your options do decrease...however, it's usually easy enough to park the car at a T station and ride the T in from somewhere like, say, Wonderland station.
Which is why I said earlier...it just comes down to the home lifestyle you plan to lead, and how you intend to use the city you're at proximity to. It's not inaccurate to say that taking commutes into consideration is important. The public transit system in Boston is fantastic -- if you have ready access to it. I always have, so I've never had to worry about the inconvenience of being on its outlying arms; now that I want to move out of the city proper...I'm moving to Seattle. That's just my .02.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Despite iffy sections of iffy streets, I often walked regardless, against my own better judgement. Yes, there were a dozen scary incidents over the years... small girls alone attract attention from yobs, in any city.
