4 ms·

Boston is too expensive to own a house. I moved west and commute an hour by car to work.

ghaff 10y ago
That's one big difference from the Bay area. I also live a bit under an hour west by either car or train. Near the commuter rail, which I often used for the short period when I worked in the city. These days I work (as I also did previously) for a company on the outer 495 loop which makes for a 25-30 minute commute. It's hard to get out of the "expensive zone" as easily in the Bay area--partly because of geography and partly because it's not just SF and a number of inner suburbs that are sky-high (as is the Boston metro area out to Concord or so) but the whole of Silicon Valley. Exurban-rural town. I don't know exactly what the real estate prices are these days as I've had my place for a long time but I'm guessing $300K or so would get you a decent house.
- davexunit 10y ago
  Nice to run into people with a similar situation. I recently moved to a place just west of 495 in Worcester county, so finding a job somewhere along 495 would reduce my commute a lot, but I like my current job so I deal with the long commute. I didn't find any houses that were to my liking in the $300k range in towns with good school districts, but once you go into the $400-500k range there is good stuff. Either way, you get so much more for your money than if you bought closer to Boston.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    When I bought I was working in Westboro. There was almost nothing tech-related in Boston/Cambridge at the time. The modern Kendall Square (much less Seaport area) is a relatively recent phenomenon. I know it's probably hard for many on this site to comprehend but relatively few of my classmates--even those who worked closer to Boston--had much interest in living in the city. I imagine you're right about real estate prices. My house is sufficiently "quirky" albeit on a nice and large plot of land that what I see on Zillow probably isn't representative (and Zillow has some details wrong anyway). I'm also not sure our schools qualify as "good" although I have no personal experience.
    - davexunit 10y ago
      >I know it's probably hard for many on this site to comprehend but relatively few of my classmates--even those who worked closer to Boston--had much interest in living in the city. That's interesting. Times have definitely changed, but I'm not one for city living so "metro west" suits me just fine. And I guess I should qualify my real estate remark by saying I was looking for houses close to the pike, which drives up the price.
      - ghaff 10y ago
        I'm in northern Worcester County near Route 2--which is more rural (or at least clearly ex-urban). One of the reasons I'm there is that, even at the time I bought my house, property was more expensive near where I worked. I ended up looking progressively northwest until I found something I liked at a price I could afford. I'd say what it cost but I'm afraid it would cause some on this site to burst into tears:-) It was admittedly a fixer-upper and this was about 20 years ago.

ghaff 10y ago

That's one big difference from the Bay area. I also live a bit under an hour west by either car or train. Near the commuter rail, which I often used for the short period when I worked in the city. These days I work (as I also did previously) for a company on the outer 495 loop which makes for a 25-30 minute commute. It's hard to get out of the "expensive zone" as easily in the Bay area--partly because of geography and partly because it's not just SF and a number of inner suburbs that are sky-high (as is the Boston metro area out to Concord or so) but the whole of Silicon Valley. Exurban-rural town. I don't know exactly what the real estate prices are these days as I've had my place for a long time but I'm guessing $300K or so would get you a decent house.

davexunit 10y ago
Nice to run into people with a similar situation. I recently moved to a place just west of 495 in Worcester county, so finding a job somewhere along 495 would reduce my commute a lot, but I like my current job so I deal with the long commute. I didn't find any houses that were to my liking in the $300k range in towns with good school districts, but once you go into the $400-500k range there is good stuff. Either way, you get so much more for your money than if you bought closer to Boston.
- ghaff 10y ago
  When I bought I was working in Westboro. There was almost nothing tech-related in Boston/Cambridge at the time. The modern Kendall Square (much less Seaport area) is a relatively recent phenomenon. I know it's probably hard for many on this site to comprehend but relatively few of my classmates--even those who worked closer to Boston--had much interest in living in the city. I imagine you're right about real estate prices. My house is sufficiently "quirky" albeit on a nice and large plot of land that what I see on Zillow probably isn't representative (and Zillow has some details wrong anyway). I'm also not sure our schools qualify as "good" although I have no personal experience.
  - davexunit 10y ago
    >I know it's probably hard for many on this site to comprehend but relatively few of my classmates--even those who worked closer to Boston--had much interest in living in the city. That's interesting. Times have definitely changed, but I'm not one for city living so "metro west" suits me just fine. And I guess I should qualify my real estate remark by saying I was looking for houses close to the pike, which drives up the price.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      I'm in northern Worcester County near Route 2--which is more rural (or at least clearly ex-urban). One of the reasons I'm there is that, even at the time I bought my house, property was more expensive near where I worked. I ended up looking progressively northwest until I found something I liked at a price I could afford. I'd say what it cost but I'm afraid it would cause some on this site to burst into tears:-) It was admittedly a fixer-upper and this was about 20 years ago.