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Hackers: Advice on moving from Silicon Valley to Boston/Cambridge?
I was wondering if any hackers have lived in both places?
What is a cool suburb (with reasonable housing prices, reasonable being < 700K) for young families?
Is there a lot of interesting work for a s/w hacker (embedded software, or otherwise)?
What are the costs of living (housing) like?
Is it a good place for families? Are the schools good?
I've never lived there, but my wife has close relatives there.
We're considering moving away from Silicon Valley mainly because of the high cost of living, and it just isn't the best place to raise children.
We're in the very early stages of figuring this out, and the move (if it happens at all) would probably be a year away.
- rrival 19y agoMedford, Newtown, Malden. Andover is further out. It's convenient along 93 to the north of Boston (95 is (or was always) a bit of a mess) or along route 9 to the west. Beware: seasonal affective disorder, weather, massholes, general unhappiness in the locals, provincialism, idiotic drivers who always seem to be taking a left hand turn from the right-hand lane, double points for traffic circles. Lived there 5 ys. Nice to visit. Would never move back.
- comatose_kid 19y agoThanks for the comments. Coming from Ottawa, I think I can handle most of the problems you mention. I'd probably want to avoid the burbs, since more traffic == less time for side projects.
- ilamont 19y agoSchools really make a big difference on prices. Newton has great schools, and is an easy commute into town via train, subway, or car. Watertown is even closer, but the schools don't have as good a reputation. If you have 600-700k, you'll do pretty well -- that will get you a 3BR colonial in Newton, or a larger victorian in Watertown. Belmont, Arlington are also worth a look, for schools and location near Boston/Cambridge. Most of the single family houses in these places are older (1870-1940). If you don't mind a longer drive, Wayland, Wellesley have good schools but you need cars to get anywhere -- not much public transport out there. Go even further out and you can get larger houses or larger plots ... and the stock is newer, too. But then you might have a long commute (hour or more each way) and the schools in some of the towns are a mixed bag. Like the earlier poster said, some of the routes into town or between burbs can be a mess. All the more reason to be nearer to Boston/Cambridge, or near a commuter rail station. As for the weather, provincialism and bad driviz: none of these issues are that bad, and a little hardship builds character, I always say :)
- comatose_kid 19y agoThanks. Well, 600-700k is less expensive than equivalent housing out here, so I'll have to keep Newton in mind.