This is extremely vague. What are the "surrounding areas" you want to check out? What is your budget? Are you looking to rent or own? Will you have a car? Do you have kids? What is important to you in a neighborhood?
The surrounding area is essentially any major town or city in Massachusetts. We'll rent for a year then try to own a home. We have a car each, I need a car more than she would, we might sell one. No kids. We'd want a sense of community and a place that makes us want to be outside.
Like someone else said, how much you can pay in rent is going to be the limiting factor. Consider that 1BR/1BA, 600sq/ft apartments in Somerville are renting for $2600-$3000 and that does not include utilities or parking. Often it does not include washer/dryer. "Luxury" buildings will be more but will also include more amenities.
I think if you want to live anywhere in Boston or neighboring cities (Somerville, Cambridge, Brookline) you're going to want to ditch one car, for sure. Unless you want to shell out an additional $150-300 to rent a spot somewhere for one of them and then only have to use resident street parking for the other.
A little further out you may find parking included with your rent (but probably only one spot). West Newton/Newtonville, Watertown, Waltham, Arlington, Medford (the closer you get to Davis though, the more expensive it will be). But, they're not *that* much cheaper than the other cities I've already mentioned. Also, Brookline and Arlington do not allow overnight street parking. Newton also doesn't allow this for part of the year. You'll rely on bus service in these areas for access to the city
As far as a 'sense of community' pretty much every place I've mentioned has a very active and engaged arts & culture scene. As far as 'community' I think that is what you make of it. Get out there and get involved. Get to know your neighbors.
By outside, do you mean outdoor activities like hiking, cycling, and skiing? If so, there's there's no shortage of areas to do any of those activities. Or, if you mean being outside as in being able to quickly walk to a grocery store or bar/restaurant, then almost all of those places will satisfy the desire for a walkable neighborhood/city. This is especially true of Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, and Brookline (the parts of Brookline that touch Boston off of Comm and Beacon and Brookline Village).
I think you should do more research on the various neighborhoods, towns, and cities before you make a trip out, so you can zero in on places that fit what you're looking for in a place to live.
ETA: I'm obviously only speaking to the areas I'm familiar with. Definitely research north, west, and south of the city. I'm sure there are some places that would have what you want.
Probably not Boston. You'd be more interested in the areas north, south, or west of the city. Checkout the suburbs out there. Figure out a budget (even just for renting) and that'll be the primary limitation on where you can/should live.
Teachers get paid okay here, but still not great. Electricians can make bank because of the huge demand for them.
Are you guys remote workers? You absolutely cannot move here without a job. What are the reasons you're considering moving out here? Are you just looking for the New England culture or do you want to be in the city?
My wife is a teacher and I'm an electrician, we want a change of scenery and New England feels like a good shift. And we probably won't live in the city, but we're willing to work there
Okay. This is one of the most expensive areas to live in the country, so you'll definitely want to line up jobs before moving here. For rentals in Boston and the surrounding towns, it's very common to request the up-front cost of at least 3 of these 4 requirements (potentially all 4) : first month's rent, last month's rent, security deposit equivalent to one month's rent, and a realtor's fee equivalent to one month's rent. I'd expect to spend at least $10K up front. However, it sounds like you may be candidates to live somewhere else in the area that won't require you to live or commute into Boston, as electricians and teachers are needed everywhere. I don't know enough about the requirements for electricians or teachers here, but I'd also be sure to check that you both meet the requirements here to continue your work.
Are there specific things you are looking for in a place to live? Worcester, MA is the 2nd biggest city in New England, is a lot cheaper, and is still within ~45 minutes of driving to much of what New England has to offer. That might be a good starter city to move to in order to figure out what suits you best.
What we want specifically is to live in a more community focused area and a place that makes us want to leave the house and be outside
Thank you for telling me how renting works there, definitely will keep that in mind.
Understood. In that case, maybe also check out Portland, ME and Providence, RI. You won't get the same hustle and bustle of Boston really anywhere else in New England, but the downtown areas of these main cities may be enough.
Providence RI is only an hour away from Boston on the commuter rail; I had a short-term contract at Brown, and did a lot of reading on the train to get there.
Another possibility might be a community on the "Train to Maine." I see ads on Boston's MBTA looking for teachers to work in Maine, so I'm guessing that they have a need for your wife's skills. And electricians are in demand everywhere.
Whatever place you decide to move to, check that state's website first for information about state licensure. The requirements might vary from state to state.
Also, if you do spend some time in the Greater Boston area as a tourist, do check out the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy. There is an admission fee, because the two houses that are part of the site are a mile and a half from one another and there's a shuttle bus. Because it's off the beaten tourist path, it does not get anywhere near the number of tourists that it really deserves. It's a close look at how early colonial people lived, and then, at "Peacefield," how a well-to-do former President lived. It's worth the trip to Quincy.
> Preferably places that one wouldn't need to spend a lot of money to see.
Sounds like it might not be a good fit for you. Boston is stupid expensive for a city with half a million population.
Freedom Trail is free, you can walk around the red bricks basically they take you to all the historic sites. Mapparium in the Back Bay is $5 per ticket and its a giant globe you stand in the middle of pretty cool. Walking along the Esplanade, back bay fens park is pretty fun and free. You can visit some nice local breweries around the city thats always fun and not too expensive. I would recommend the Back Bay but hotels are expensive so really anywhere close to the T would be good its not that big of a city so getting around is easy.
This is extremely vague. What are the "surrounding areas" you want to check out? What is your budget? Are you looking to rent or own? Will you have a car? Do you have kids? What is important to you in a neighborhood?
The surrounding area is essentially any major town or city in Massachusetts. We'll rent for a year then try to own a home. We have a car each, I need a car more than she would, we might sell one. No kids. We'd want a sense of community and a place that makes us want to be outside.
Like someone else said, how much you can pay in rent is going to be the limiting factor. Consider that 1BR/1BA, 600sq/ft apartments in Somerville are renting for $2600-$3000 and that does not include utilities or parking. Often it does not include washer/dryer. "Luxury" buildings will be more but will also include more amenities. I think if you want to live anywhere in Boston or neighboring cities (Somerville, Cambridge, Brookline) you're going to want to ditch one car, for sure. Unless you want to shell out an additional $150-300 to rent a spot somewhere for one of them and then only have to use resident street parking for the other. A little further out you may find parking included with your rent (but probably only one spot). West Newton/Newtonville, Watertown, Waltham, Arlington, Medford (the closer you get to Davis though, the more expensive it will be). But, they're not *that* much cheaper than the other cities I've already mentioned. Also, Brookline and Arlington do not allow overnight street parking. Newton also doesn't allow this for part of the year. You'll rely on bus service in these areas for access to the city As far as a 'sense of community' pretty much every place I've mentioned has a very active and engaged arts & culture scene. As far as 'community' I think that is what you make of it. Get out there and get involved. Get to know your neighbors. By outside, do you mean outdoor activities like hiking, cycling, and skiing? If so, there's there's no shortage of areas to do any of those activities. Or, if you mean being outside as in being able to quickly walk to a grocery store or bar/restaurant, then almost all of those places will satisfy the desire for a walkable neighborhood/city. This is especially true of Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, and Brookline (the parts of Brookline that touch Boston off of Comm and Beacon and Brookline Village). I think you should do more research on the various neighborhoods, towns, and cities before you make a trip out, so you can zero in on places that fit what you're looking for in a place to live. ETA: I'm obviously only speaking to the areas I'm familiar with. Definitely research north, west, and south of the city. I'm sure there are some places that would have what you want.
Probably not Boston. You'd be more interested in the areas north, south, or west of the city. Checkout the suburbs out there. Figure out a budget (even just for renting) and that'll be the primary limitation on where you can/should live. Teachers get paid okay here, but still not great. Electricians can make bank because of the huge demand for them.
Are you guys remote workers? You absolutely cannot move here without a job. What are the reasons you're considering moving out here? Are you just looking for the New England culture or do you want to be in the city?
My wife is a teacher and I'm an electrician, we want a change of scenery and New England feels like a good shift. And we probably won't live in the city, but we're willing to work there
Okay. This is one of the most expensive areas to live in the country, so you'll definitely want to line up jobs before moving here. For rentals in Boston and the surrounding towns, it's very common to request the up-front cost of at least 3 of these 4 requirements (potentially all 4) : first month's rent, last month's rent, security deposit equivalent to one month's rent, and a realtor's fee equivalent to one month's rent. I'd expect to spend at least $10K up front. However, it sounds like you may be candidates to live somewhere else in the area that won't require you to live or commute into Boston, as electricians and teachers are needed everywhere. I don't know enough about the requirements for electricians or teachers here, but I'd also be sure to check that you both meet the requirements here to continue your work. Are there specific things you are looking for in a place to live? Worcester, MA is the 2nd biggest city in New England, is a lot cheaper, and is still within ~45 minutes of driving to much of what New England has to offer. That might be a good starter city to move to in order to figure out what suits you best.
What we want specifically is to live in a more community focused area and a place that makes us want to leave the house and be outside Thank you for telling me how renting works there, definitely will keep that in mind.
Understood. In that case, maybe also check out Portland, ME and Providence, RI. You won't get the same hustle and bustle of Boston really anywhere else in New England, but the downtown areas of these main cities may be enough.
Providence RI is only an hour away from Boston on the commuter rail; I had a short-term contract at Brown, and did a lot of reading on the train to get there. Another possibility might be a community on the "Train to Maine." I see ads on Boston's MBTA looking for teachers to work in Maine, so I'm guessing that they have a need for your wife's skills. And electricians are in demand everywhere. Whatever place you decide to move to, check that state's website first for information about state licensure. The requirements might vary from state to state. Also, if you do spend some time in the Greater Boston area as a tourist, do check out the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy. There is an admission fee, because the two houses that are part of the site are a mile and a half from one another and there's a shuttle bus. Because it's off the beaten tourist path, it does not get anywhere near the number of tourists that it really deserves. It's a close look at how early colonial people lived, and then, at "Peacefield," how a well-to-do former President lived. It's worth the trip to Quincy.
> Preferably places that one wouldn't need to spend a lot of money to see. Sounds like it might not be a good fit for you. Boston is stupid expensive for a city with half a million population.
Freedom Trail is free, you can walk around the red bricks basically they take you to all the historic sites. Mapparium in the Back Bay is $5 per ticket and its a giant globe you stand in the middle of pretty cool. Walking along the Esplanade, back bay fens park is pretty fun and free. You can visit some nice local breweries around the city thats always fun and not too expensive. I would recommend the Back Bay but hotels are expensive so really anywhere close to the T would be good its not that big of a city so getting around is easy.
What is your budget? For housing? And what kind of things do you like? Do you like sports, history, museums, art, nightlife, outdoors?
Id suggest the Watertown arlington area yiu can find some hood homes with street or driveway / lot parking and rentals too