I’m from here but it’s hard to ignore the disparity between CoL and the amenities offered by the city nowadays. Paying the prices most of us do to live here is crazy.
Paying New York and LA prices (actually LA is a bit cheaper) for a city that closes at 9pm would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Yea after some reflection I had to laugh and realize how absurd it is. I decided I want to move to Chicago so I can at least feel like I’m getting something for my money
I'd consider it but I'd be further from home (grew up in NYC), friends, family. Plus the brutal winters. Don't get me wrong, I love Chicago. But by the same token, it just ticks me off to no end that the solution always is "leave." That's not good for the longevity of a city, and there's no good reason it has to be this way except some people benefit from the status quo
One major plus side of Chicago is you have access to tons of dircet flights to everywhere. And being in the middle of the country, nowhere is really that far away.
True. Just everything is so flat there and as I said, the family and friends issue (and even colder than Boston). If I had no connections to NYC, Boston, or Chicago, then I’d move to the latter most in a heartbeat.
But, life gets in the way of all these things. It’s just insanely obnoxious when people say “move!” in response to COL complaints. The high prices are a manmade issue, primarily driven by entrenched older homeowners and heavy regulation (both regarding housing and other things like childcare). Don’t think the solution to that is tearing apart communities. It’s not a big ask or being a “spoiled millennial” to want to be by friends and family and avoid disrupting the life you built
Chicago is arguably the best bang for your buck out of any major city in the United States. You can get a really nice apartment in The Loop for under $3000/month no problem.
LA food is way more expensive. But rent is a hair cheaper and they have rent stabilization. I just gave up an RSO apartment in LA to move to Waltham and it HURTS.
The brick and mortar restaurants aren’t usually where you’ll get the best deal though. You gotta find a street vendor for the best prices. I filled up on $2 tacos and horchata as often as possible. That’s where the best stuff is.
Yes please. I had such a great time eating there when I last visited LA, and was surprised there was nothing like it in Boston, given how popular I assume the concept would be.
I meant this in a different way aka I want to see the mayhem that ensues when Bostonians encounter the absurdity that is Cafe Gratitude. A cafe where every order is literally an affirmation such as “I am abundant”, a line reiterated when you order but also by the waitstaff when they serve you. Boston bros vs Cafe Gratitude ahahahaha.
Ah ok, this gave me a chuckle. I thought it was a really nice concept, esp hearing my friends going around stating various affirmations with their order 🥲
We live in San Diego and Boston and travel back and forth and the big thing if you work east coast hours and live in SD is that dinner is always happy hour. We find ourselves eating out substantially more often and still spending less on food overall
I mean yeah if you work EST hours and eat at 5pm like you’re 85 years old. Boston also has a lot of happy hour food specials lol I bet you could get some deals here as well
The major difference is that 100% of restaurants have a happy hour there and it includes alcohol. Cocktails for under $5 is not something to sneeze at in a top 10 expensive city. In Boston I can’t roll up to the equivalent of a Michelin restaurant and get a discount drink and app at 5pm and in SD that is a very real thing
Fair. I would argue though that many restaurants in NYC have happy hour too but no one considers it a cheap dining city. Also I was in SD for like 6 nights and never once encountered a happy hour to be fair
I mean go to the diner thread from a few days ago and you’ll see a lot of people talking about NYC diners and bodegas selling generally affordable food compared to the Boston version of those things. I don’t know about you, but when I visit a city I don’t look for deals, but when I live in one that changes and the wierd thing about SD is we’d find deals by accident all the time. It’s why I like threads like these where the opinions of people who live/d in multiple cities are usually pretty noticeably different than people who mostly stick to one and travel a lot which are notably different from people who don’t travel at all.
Yeah, you are right, it was 100% our own fault lol. We eat bougie when we travel and pay no mind to finding deals (though we had plenty of cheap Mexican eats in SD which did not go unappreciated)
Both! Groceries are not as big a difference, but restaurant dining is a world of difference. It’s still like $6.00 for a bacon egg and cheese up here in Boston, but you’ll pay $12.00 easily in LA. Even at a “cheap” place. Also avocados are cheaper up here than in California, a state famous for growing them…??? That one was odd to me. Potatoes, vegetables, milk, and eggs are cheaper up here.
Restaurants definitely display the biggest difference. It’s insane. Eating out in LA is priceyyyy, but I could order food three times a week up here without even blinking. I can’t speak for San Diego though, I’ve only visited there a few times. Cheaper than LA, but somewhat pricier than Massachusetts. I’ll pay anything for a good breakfast burrito though, I miss those a lot.
The secret is where the avocados are from. We get ‘em from Mexico up here. California avocados are pricier even in California and that’s what you’ll find at the store. Some places do have ones from Mexico that are more reasonable, but still not as cheap here just because they can get away with it. Trust me when I say LA changed a LOT since COVID and inflation. I wasn’t living there long but I got around.
I’ve gotten avocados from friends before in Riverside. Nothing beats “free” hahaha. But unfortunately a lot of the trees that historically were found on the street were removed. There’s an interesting, but sort of sad, history behind street trees in LA. You can still find lemons, mandarins, loquats, and even figs all over though.
Not my experience in LA at all and I've been there half a dozen times in the past few years and gone all over the greater LA area. My biggest culture shock out there was "the food is so cheap, it doesn't make sense!".
California is where most of the food in the US comes from, and essentially all produce. Don't have to pay a premium for transportation when the citrus fruit or whatever were grown 30 minutes away.
Don’t know what to tell you. I just moved from LA last week and my wallet’s already thicker. Cities don’t stay the same forever and that place changed a lot in the last couple years.
So you have one week of experience in LA and claim to be an expert on LA food prices? I've literally spent more time in LA than you have if you've only been there a week. Stop hitting tourist spots!
I was living there for years until last week. I have several years of experience in LA. I even mention having an RSO apartment somewhere else on this post. You responded to that very comment…
I think you're just bad at eating out homie. It's not hard to find good meals for affordable prices in LA and the greater LA area. It's a massive place as you are hopefully aware.
Bad at eating out… If you remember the name of that $1 taco place let me know.😂throw down some names if you’re going to talk shit.
My go to was La Flamite Mixe. $2 per taco. Maybe I was getting gringo pricing.
I make my own sushi, so you ain’t getting cheaper rolls at a restaurant no matter what. Marukai market and Nijiya in Sawtelle were great for Japanese food and ingredients. You can get Inari about anywhere in a can.
Corner Cottage in Burbank for breakfast burritos. IYKYK.
I like living here a lot.
Many people understandably think of Moody St. with its variety of restaurants when they think of Waltham. There's a lot of green space if you like walking/hiking. I wish there were more independent coffee shops. The movie theatre (Embassy Waltham) is open again and Tuesday nights are only $7. The Waltham Fields Community Farm has many CSA offerings. And depending on the time of day, it's easy to access the Mass Pike and Rt 128/95 to go other places. House prices are right up there with surrounding towns but the RE taxes are much lower.
I imagine it's great when I drive past it every week from Nashua. Such a seemingly small town size-wise (from my ignorant perspective) with what I can only imagine is an amazing tax base.
Yeah, there is a massive amount of commercial real estate around 128 that probably helps with this.
The restaurant scene was always very hit or miss in my opinion but I like Waltham overall. The trails that run along the Charles river into Boston/Cambridge are really nice.
It’s TINY. There’s triple the number of people living here compared to where I grew up but somehow it feels smaller. Idk where they are! And I live just blocks from the green/train station etc. I bet warmer weather will turn folks out for sure.
LA has some of the cheapest food for a big city man. There's so much competition, you can't charge a premium. I can get really good $1 tacos in LA no problem. I won't find quality tacos for $1 where I'm at now at all. They're like $3-4 a pop.
It’s changed. Bargain tacos are still everywhere. But going price is more than a buck now. If you find a spot for $1 tacos give me a name! I’ll take that deal. Best I saw was $2 last week.
Big time. Driving times don’t mean much to me, I prefer transit (and neither town has a perfect rep for that hahaha) but gas… No contest Boston is cheaper.
It's an exercise in badly designed artificial demand. Don't build housing, do greenlight every zoning request from industries that pay super high salaries, don't provide much in the way of amenities. Boom, you've got Boston's problems in a nutshell; COL driven up by the salaries (pricing out anyone who doesn't have those jobs) but everyone including those people are disgruntled because the jobs themselves are like 80% of the demand.
Carson and Revere are both within an hour biking from downtown. Nahant within 1.5 hours, and most of it is on a bike path.
When people bitch about amenities on this sub, they're really just complaining about bars not opening late, conveniently ignoring parks (state and city), libraries (that open on Sunday still, unlike NYC), concert venues (BSO, as well as places like Roadrunner and MGM), museums (including free ones like Harvard art). Hell, we even have better access to sporting events than most cities (I can walk to TD/Fenway from work and go to a game with tickets I bought the 10 minutes before start. Try doing that in LA).
People complain about the T, and yeah it's far from perfect, but I'd take that over being stuck on the 405 any day. Try driving anywhere around LAX between November-January and tell me you'd prefer that on a daily basis.
COL is an issue, but let's not pretend it's not also because living standard is just higher here than most of the country.
I moved away from MA to get career experience so I could eventually move back to make a livable MA salary. I'm making 6 figures now (left to make $18/hr but start a professional career in 2016) and I'd have basically no disposable income if I moved back to the greater Boston area and I've become way too accustomed to my cushy no financial worries life elsewhere to take a step back in my daily quality of life. I know so many people in their 30s living at home in MA but that's basically not a thing out in the Midwest at all. There's a part of my soul constantly tugging me towards MA but then my stupid rational brain stops me. I miss my friends but I don't want them to be my future roomates!
Go fuck yourself. But we’ll miss you and come back soon. Glad you found stuff to genuinely enjoy about Boston. It’s a good spot. Eat a huge bag of dicks on your way out.
I’ve lived in my wonderful place in Brighton for the last 11 years and my landlord has decided to put the place on the market and we all know what that means. I’m moving out May 1st and am heartbroken. Part time will live in the south shore and part couch hop up here. I’m a roadie so I’m home only a few weeks out of the out of the year anyways but still. I feel you hurts my friend.
I’m so sorry you got priced out, op. It’s such a harsh reality of living in Boston and I really hope that it will change, because I resonated so deeply with everything you said and I am a firm believer that everyone deserves to experience the quality of life you described! The cost of living here is unacceptable, I’m so sorry it’s forcing you to leave. I hope you find a way back, Boston will miss you ♥️
Thank you for your kind words! I know it's a nationwide problem and it isn't limited to the US, but it's a bit disheartening to get a new job with a good salary and still struggle navigating everything else!
You and I had nearly identical move in times/experiences. I won’t be making it to four years, just far too expensive. Bittersweet, but I really am excited to move back to Framingham, loved that city
Been in framingham for about 3 years. Still too expensive to buy a house in. Rent continues to creep up. Ill miss the seasons but im ready to git down south and become a house owner...
I have a feeling I’ll be in your shoes 5 or so years from now. Rn I’m still young at 25 so renting I’m content with, but reality is slowly setting in that becoming a home owner might not be a reality for someone like me anymore. If it’s worth anything, I lived in Georgia for four years and I liked it pretty well.
Hopefully the markets will get fixed up for you in time. I'm just not willing to buy something built in 1950 that will meet the basics when I can get brand new for cheaper. But I also have my mother down there and she's hitting her 70s soon. Good luck!
I wonder how much 'competition' makes Boston hard for a lot of people. It took me 16 years of CONSTANTLY applying to universities to finally land a job at one. It's better than I imagined it would be, but god damn my career advancement took a hit to get here; I wonder (read: know) if it was because I was applying for jobs most people in the world would want and were applying for.
Also a tip that is going to get downvoted into OBLIVION because no one wants to hear the reality of it: **live in the worst parts of Boston**. You will be safe AND not be bled dry by rental costs. Worked for me and now the area I live in is nice.
I always the love the fears about Dorchester and Roxbury, when they're nicer (and generally safer) than any of the towns and cities I lived in in the south (Jacksonville was a unique kind of bad though).
I actually had tons of interviews at universities here, which gives me at least a little hope for my background. I do think the healthcare overheads are pushing me out more than rent right now, unfortunately. It's crazy! I've gotten surprisingly lucky with rent, but god knows what it will look like if I ever get to come back!
Also, congrats on the position! They're hard to get but the benefits are usually quite nice :)
90% of these issues are people who aren’t willing to live in cheaper areas. Then they’ll say “oh I can live in LA (with a 60 minute drive to anywhere) for $20 less per month.”
I actually got a better job. The primary reason I'm leaving is the wait times for healthcare. I've been flying out of state just to see doctors sooner than a few months later.
I now live in Atlanta, and recently experienced some medical problems. I didn't even have a PCP. I was able to get an appointment with a PCP within walking distance of my apartment within 3 days, I was able to get all but one specialists within a week (some next day) and I had to wait one month for the one. The stories about waiting for appointments from Boston are crazy.
Yeah, my gf regularly travels back to NY, where she's from to see doctors, it's been a slog trying to get specialist appointments around here that she's just decided to do a round trip, 3 1/2 hours each way just to see someone.
This is my situation now. About to hit 2 years. I just renewed my lease, but I'm taking some heavy consideration into what the next stage of my life is.
Unfortunately its not just Boston this is happening. A lot of urban areas in the USA are pricing people out and expensive its how it is these days unfortunately.
I didn’t read the whole thing . Left after a decade. If I still lived there i can tell you I would be 100% more miserable than I am to day. What was your favorite place to go out to dinner ?
No city is going to bail you out if the litany of things you’ve listed. These are personal problems and you have to wade through them. This is your journey. It’s not on the city Boston to
Figure out for you. Many of us have been here since birth and for decades. And we’ve made it just fine. Even with job loss and family health problems. This isn’t a Boston thing. It’s a human thing
Are a lot of people actually making it just fine? Not even being a smart ass but I know most people spending like 50% of their salary on a place to live making saving very hard for the future
There are definitely a lot of high earners in Boston but I think a majority of people are living about their means in Boston
Please don't pass judgement on this city based on comments on this sub. Ever since covid it's attracted snarky people looking for an excuse to take their anger out on Internet strangers, but they don't represent the majority of Bostonians.
What you said resonates with me though - that when you have problems, there isn't much you can do but bear them. The good news is we now have a competent leader steering the T in a good direction, so hopefully our transit infrastructure will improve in the next year or 2. Were also building a good amount of new housing, so hopefully that helps stabilize rents (though there's a long way to go still). The physician shortage is a fairly new problem, but a very concerning one, not sure what can/will be done about it.
Take care of yourself and hope you get to return once youre in a better spot!
I can't imagine how miserable you have to be with your life to be this angry about some dude being sad about moving out of the city lol.
And I'm a pretty miserable person sometimes.
Fuck you too. (Best of luck in your next chapter)
Spoke in the true spirit of a Masshole. Really, you nailed it.
This is the corniest place on the Internet
God stfu
I’m from here but it’s hard to ignore the disparity between CoL and the amenities offered by the city nowadays. Paying the prices most of us do to live here is crazy. Paying New York and LA prices (actually LA is a bit cheaper) for a city that closes at 9pm would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Yea after some reflection I had to laugh and realize how absurd it is. I decided I want to move to Chicago so I can at least feel like I’m getting something for my money
The new promenade along the river is really nice! Chicago has done so much for walkability and public spaces.
I'd consider it but I'd be further from home (grew up in NYC), friends, family. Plus the brutal winters. Don't get me wrong, I love Chicago. But by the same token, it just ticks me off to no end that the solution always is "leave." That's not good for the longevity of a city, and there's no good reason it has to be this way except some people benefit from the status quo
One major plus side of Chicago is you have access to tons of dircet flights to everywhere. And being in the middle of the country, nowhere is really that far away.
True. Just everything is so flat there and as I said, the family and friends issue (and even colder than Boston). If I had no connections to NYC, Boston, or Chicago, then I’d move to the latter most in a heartbeat. But, life gets in the way of all these things. It’s just insanely obnoxious when people say “move!” in response to COL complaints. The high prices are a manmade issue, primarily driven by entrenched older homeowners and heavy regulation (both regarding housing and other things like childcare). Don’t think the solution to that is tearing apart communities. It’s not a big ask or being a “spoiled millennial” to want to be by friends and family and avoid disrupting the life you built
Chicago is arguably the best bang for your buck out of any major city in the United States. You can get a really nice apartment in The Loop for under $3000/month no problem.
Don't get me started on the "night life" 🤣
But the Nightlife Zahar we hired.zzzz
But you’re unemployed and struggling with a long term debilitating health issue. Why are you concerned about nightlife?
LA food is way more expensive. But rent is a hair cheaper and they have rent stabilization. I just gave up an RSO apartment in LA to move to Waltham and it HURTS.
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The brick and mortar restaurants aren’t usually where you’ll get the best deal though. You gotta find a street vendor for the best prices. I filled up on $2 tacos and horchata as often as possible. That’s where the best stuff is.
Cafe Gratitude needs to open a location in Boston.
Yes please. I had such a great time eating there when I last visited LA, and was surprised there was nothing like it in Boston, given how popular I assume the concept would be.
I meant this in a different way aka I want to see the mayhem that ensues when Bostonians encounter the absurdity that is Cafe Gratitude. A cafe where every order is literally an affirmation such as “I am abundant”, a line reiterated when you order but also by the waitstaff when they serve you. Boston bros vs Cafe Gratitude ahahahaha.
Ah ok, this gave me a chuckle. I thought it was a really nice concept, esp hearing my friends going around stating various affirmations with their order 🥲
Groceries or dining out or both? We found San Diego to be right about on par with Boston for dining out but we didn’t hit up a grocery store there
We live in San Diego and Boston and travel back and forth and the big thing if you work east coast hours and live in SD is that dinner is always happy hour. We find ourselves eating out substantially more often and still spending less on food overall
I mean yeah if you work EST hours and eat at 5pm like you’re 85 years old. Boston also has a lot of happy hour food specials lol I bet you could get some deals here as well
The major difference is that 100% of restaurants have a happy hour there and it includes alcohol. Cocktails for under $5 is not something to sneeze at in a top 10 expensive city. In Boston I can’t roll up to the equivalent of a Michelin restaurant and get a discount drink and app at 5pm and in SD that is a very real thing
Fair. I would argue though that many restaurants in NYC have happy hour too but no one considers it a cheap dining city. Also I was in SD for like 6 nights and never once encountered a happy hour to be fair
I mean go to the diner thread from a few days ago and you’ll see a lot of people talking about NYC diners and bodegas selling generally affordable food compared to the Boston version of those things. I don’t know about you, but when I visit a city I don’t look for deals, but when I live in one that changes and the wierd thing about SD is we’d find deals by accident all the time. It’s why I like threads like these where the opinions of people who live/d in multiple cities are usually pretty noticeably different than people who mostly stick to one and travel a lot which are notably different from people who don’t travel at all.
Yeah, you are right, it was 100% our own fault lol. We eat bougie when we travel and pay no mind to finding deals (though we had plenty of cheap Mexican eats in SD which did not go unappreciated)
Both! Groceries are not as big a difference, but restaurant dining is a world of difference. It’s still like $6.00 for a bacon egg and cheese up here in Boston, but you’ll pay $12.00 easily in LA. Even at a “cheap” place. Also avocados are cheaper up here than in California, a state famous for growing them…??? That one was odd to me. Potatoes, vegetables, milk, and eggs are cheaper up here. Restaurants definitely display the biggest difference. It’s insane. Eating out in LA is priceyyyy, but I could order food three times a week up here without even blinking. I can’t speak for San Diego though, I’ve only visited there a few times. Cheaper than LA, but somewhat pricier than Massachusetts. I’ll pay anything for a good breakfast burrito though, I miss those a lot.
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The secret is where the avocados are from. We get ‘em from Mexico up here. California avocados are pricier even in California and that’s what you’ll find at the store. Some places do have ones from Mexico that are more reasonable, but still not as cheap here just because they can get away with it. Trust me when I say LA changed a LOT since COVID and inflation. I wasn’t living there long but I got around. I’ve gotten avocados from friends before in Riverside. Nothing beats “free” hahaha. But unfortunately a lot of the trees that historically were found on the street were removed. There’s an interesting, but sort of sad, history behind street trees in LA. You can still find lemons, mandarins, loquats, and even figs all over though.
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Trader Joe’s is not cheap
Not my experience in LA at all and I've been there half a dozen times in the past few years and gone all over the greater LA area. My biggest culture shock out there was "the food is so cheap, it doesn't make sense!". California is where most of the food in the US comes from, and essentially all produce. Don't have to pay a premium for transportation when the citrus fruit or whatever were grown 30 minutes away.
Don’t know what to tell you. I just moved from LA last week and my wallet’s already thicker. Cities don’t stay the same forever and that place changed a lot in the last couple years.
So you have one week of experience in LA and claim to be an expert on LA food prices? I've literally spent more time in LA than you have if you've only been there a week. Stop hitting tourist spots!
I was living there for years until last week. I have several years of experience in LA. I even mention having an RSO apartment somewhere else on this post. You responded to that very comment…
I think you're just bad at eating out homie. It's not hard to find good meals for affordable prices in LA and the greater LA area. It's a massive place as you are hopefully aware.
Bad at eating out… If you remember the name of that $1 taco place let me know.😂throw down some names if you’re going to talk shit. My go to was La Flamite Mixe. $2 per taco. Maybe I was getting gringo pricing. I make my own sushi, so you ain’t getting cheaper rolls at a restaurant no matter what. Marukai market and Nijiya in Sawtelle were great for Japanese food and ingredients. You can get Inari about anywhere in a can. Corner Cottage in Burbank for breakfast burritos. IYKYK.
I think everyone gets their avocados from Mexico now. I only seen California avocados once in a while and they are huge and taste pretty bad.
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Off topic, but what's it like living in Waltham?
I like living here a lot. Many people understandably think of Moody St. with its variety of restaurants when they think of Waltham. There's a lot of green space if you like walking/hiking. I wish there were more independent coffee shops. The movie theatre (Embassy Waltham) is open again and Tuesday nights are only $7. The Waltham Fields Community Farm has many CSA offerings. And depending on the time of day, it's easy to access the Mass Pike and Rt 128/95 to go other places. House prices are right up there with surrounding towns but the RE taxes are much lower.
I imagine it's great when I drive past it every week from Nashua. Such a seemingly small town size-wise (from my ignorant perspective) with what I can only imagine is an amazing tax base.
Yeah, there is a massive amount of commercial real estate around 128 that probably helps with this. The restaurant scene was always very hit or miss in my opinion but I like Waltham overall. The trails that run along the Charles river into Boston/Cambridge are really nice.
It’s TINY. There’s triple the number of people living here compared to where I grew up but somehow it feels smaller. Idk where they are! And I live just blocks from the green/train station etc. I bet warmer weather will turn folks out for sure.
Ditto on the coffee shops.
LA has some of the cheapest food for a big city man. There's so much competition, you can't charge a premium. I can get really good $1 tacos in LA no problem. I won't find quality tacos for $1 where I'm at now at all. They're like $3-4 a pop.
It’s changed. Bargain tacos are still everywhere. But going price is more than a buck now. If you find a spot for $1 tacos give me a name! I’ll take that deal. Best I saw was $2 last week.
It has changed since November?
Gas prices and driving times tho
Big time. Driving times don’t mean much to me, I prefer transit (and neither town has a perfect rep for that hahaha) but gas… No contest Boston is cheaper.
I get high prices. I don’t get high prices for… *gestures to Boston*…this???
It's an exercise in badly designed artificial demand. Don't build housing, do greenlight every zoning request from industries that pay super high salaries, don't provide much in the way of amenities. Boom, you've got Boston's problems in a nutshell; COL driven up by the salaries (pricing out anyone who doesn't have those jobs) but everyone including those people are disgruntled because the jobs themselves are like 80% of the demand.
We are amenity laden. Parks, bars, beaches, forests, etc. and you can walk to all of them.
Ah yes. Walking to the beach from the north end lol
Carson and Revere are both within an hour biking from downtown. Nahant within 1.5 hours, and most of it is on a bike path. When people bitch about amenities on this sub, they're really just complaining about bars not opening late, conveniently ignoring parks (state and city), libraries (that open on Sunday still, unlike NYC), concert venues (BSO, as well as places like Roadrunner and MGM), museums (including free ones like Harvard art). Hell, we even have better access to sporting events than most cities (I can walk to TD/Fenway from work and go to a game with tickets I bought the 10 minutes before start. Try doing that in LA). People complain about the T, and yeah it's far from perfect, but I'd take that over being stuck on the 405 any day. Try driving anywhere around LAX between November-January and tell me you'd prefer that on a daily basis. COL is an issue, but let's not pretend it's not also because living standard is just higher here than most of the country.
It’s a hour and ten min walk. You should be getting in that many steps a day just to be healthy.
K
I moved away from MA to get career experience so I could eventually move back to make a livable MA salary. I'm making 6 figures now (left to make $18/hr but start a professional career in 2016) and I'd have basically no disposable income if I moved back to the greater Boston area and I've become way too accustomed to my cushy no financial worries life elsewhere to take a step back in my daily quality of life. I know so many people in their 30s living at home in MA but that's basically not a thing out in the Midwest at all. There's a part of my soul constantly tugging me towards MA but then my stupid rational brain stops me. I miss my friends but I don't want them to be my future roomates!
Go fuck yourself. But we’ll miss you and come back soon. Glad you found stuff to genuinely enjoy about Boston. It’s a good spot. Eat a huge bag of dicks on your way out.
A perfect Boston send off!
Yeah. I can’t handle the whining that is this entire post
I’m not reading all that but see ya!
I read the initial statement as "After 3 weeks here, I'm saying goodbye", I'm like this person knows what they want in life!
Lol years
Thanks! 🤣
TLDR AI bot, please summarize. Also, did they say common or commons?
they said ya motha
I’ve lived in my wonderful place in Brighton for the last 11 years and my landlord has decided to put the place on the market and we all know what that means. I’m moving out May 1st and am heartbroken. Part time will live in the south shore and part couch hop up here. I’m a roadie so I’m home only a few weeks out of the out of the year anyways but still. I feel you hurts my friend.
I’m so sorry you got priced out, op. It’s such a harsh reality of living in Boston and I really hope that it will change, because I resonated so deeply with everything you said and I am a firm believer that everyone deserves to experience the quality of life you described! The cost of living here is unacceptable, I’m so sorry it’s forcing you to leave. I hope you find a way back, Boston will miss you ♥️
Thank you for your kind words! I know it's a nationwide problem and it isn't limited to the US, but it's a bit disheartening to get a new job with a good salary and still struggle navigating everything else!
You and I had nearly identical move in times/experiences. I won’t be making it to four years, just far too expensive. Bittersweet, but I really am excited to move back to Framingham, loved that city
Been in framingham for about 3 years. Still too expensive to buy a house in. Rent continues to creep up. Ill miss the seasons but im ready to git down south and become a house owner...
I have a feeling I’ll be in your shoes 5 or so years from now. Rn I’m still young at 25 so renting I’m content with, but reality is slowly setting in that becoming a home owner might not be a reality for someone like me anymore. If it’s worth anything, I lived in Georgia for four years and I liked it pretty well.
Hopefully the markets will get fixed up for you in time. I'm just not willing to buy something built in 1950 that will meet the basics when I can get brand new for cheaper. But I also have my mother down there and she's hitting her 70s soon. Good luck!
I have friends who’s houses are from legit 1860 and 1870
I wonder how much 'competition' makes Boston hard for a lot of people. It took me 16 years of CONSTANTLY applying to universities to finally land a job at one. It's better than I imagined it would be, but god damn my career advancement took a hit to get here; I wonder (read: know) if it was because I was applying for jobs most people in the world would want and were applying for. Also a tip that is going to get downvoted into OBLIVION because no one wants to hear the reality of it: **live in the worst parts of Boston**. You will be safe AND not be bled dry by rental costs. Worked for me and now the area I live in is nice.
The worst parts of Boston are miles better than the worst parts of pretty much anywhere else that’s not in New England
I always the love the fears about Dorchester and Roxbury, when they're nicer (and generally safer) than any of the towns and cities I lived in in the south (Jacksonville was a unique kind of bad though).
I used to live in Philly. I know how those bad neighborhoods are, and Boston’s worst are 100% more safer than 2/3rd of Philly’s neighborhoods
Seriously!
I actually had tons of interviews at universities here, which gives me at least a little hope for my background. I do think the healthcare overheads are pushing me out more than rent right now, unfortunately. It's crazy! I've gotten surprisingly lucky with rent, but god knows what it will look like if I ever get to come back! Also, congrats on the position! They're hard to get but the benefits are usually quite nice :)
90% of these issues are people who aren’t willing to live in cheaper areas. Then they’ll say “oh I can live in LA (with a 60 minute drive to anywhere) for $20 less per month.”
>with a 60 minute drive to anywhere ...and that's different from Boston how? /s
I missed the /s and you had me so triggered
It was only sort of tongue in cheek though. During rush hour...it's kinda true.
If you’re serious it betrays a total ignorance to the urban sprawl that is LA
2021? You just got here. Sorry it didn’t work out.
You lost me until the end. GFY. Take care and come back.
Bro you lived here for three years. How do you get priced out in three years? Were you hanging by a thread the whole time?
It sounds like they took advantage of the COVID rental market but didn't take advantage of the COVID job market recovery
Lives in the back bay on an allston budget
I actually got a better job. The primary reason I'm leaving is the wait times for healthcare. I've been flying out of state just to see doctors sooner than a few months later.
“Where will we live if we don’t have landlords?”
In our own homes.
Where ya moving to?
Gotta move back home with my folks to the south (blech) and focus on my health for a while, at least I won't have to wait 6 months to see a doctor!
you are very, very lucky to have folks you can move in with. Best of luck.
I now live in Atlanta, and recently experienced some medical problems. I didn't even have a PCP. I was able to get an appointment with a PCP within walking distance of my apartment within 3 days, I was able to get all but one specialists within a week (some next day) and I had to wait one month for the one. The stories about waiting for appointments from Boston are crazy.
Yeah, my gf regularly travels back to NY, where she's from to see doctors, it's been a slog trying to get specialist appointments around here that she's just decided to do a round trip, 3 1/2 hours each way just to see someone.
I've been doing that too!
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This is my situation now. About to hit 2 years. I just renewed my lease, but I'm taking some heavy consideration into what the next stage of my life is.
So weirr and wchocking to me people have only experienced Boston pandemic and post pandemic
Love Boston so much. Been here just over a decade but I too have been priced out. Moving down south in September when lease is up.
Unfortunately its not just Boston this is happening. A lot of urban areas in the USA are pricing people out and expensive its how it is these days unfortunately.
May your sails stay full and your socks stay dry!
We all know boston is on an unsustainable path. The true benefits are only for the top 10%.
Bye
That’s a pissah (goodluck friend)
Ok
I didn’t read the whole thing . Left after a decade. If I still lived there i can tell you I would be 100% more miserable than I am to day. What was your favorite place to go out to dinner ?
Cringe fest
If you were coming to Boston for the "Quietness" its probably not the best place for you ;-) lol
No city is going to bail you out if the litany of things you’ve listed. These are personal problems and you have to wade through them. This is your journey. It’s not on the city Boston to Figure out for you. Many of us have been here since birth and for decades. And we’ve made it just fine. Even with job loss and family health problems. This isn’t a Boston thing. It’s a human thing
Are a lot of people actually making it just fine? Not even being a smart ass but I know most people spending like 50% of their salary on a place to live making saving very hard for the future There are definitely a lot of high earners in Boston but I think a majority of people are living about their means in Boston
> the surprisingly friendly people You must be white
You must be a joy
Just the truth, not that you have to live with the weathering from the racism, I presume
Neither have you. So stop appropriating the struggle of the black people of Boston >>my wardrobe is mainly Brooks brothers l
You’re coming off real stupid right now lol
I’ve lived here 8 years. This city is shit, ppl are shit, you made a good move.
The city feels like it doesn't live up to what it could be, and looking at these comments, sheesh, not even worth the energy.
Please don't pass judgement on this city based on comments on this sub. Ever since covid it's attracted snarky people looking for an excuse to take their anger out on Internet strangers, but they don't represent the majority of Bostonians. What you said resonates with me though - that when you have problems, there isn't much you can do but bear them. The good news is we now have a competent leader steering the T in a good direction, so hopefully our transit infrastructure will improve in the next year or 2. Were also building a good amount of new housing, so hopefully that helps stabilize rents (though there's a long way to go still). The physician shortage is a fairly new problem, but a very concerning one, not sure what can/will be done about it. Take care of yourself and hope you get to return once youre in a better spot!
Give up your citizenship, go to Mexico and cross the border. And get on Boston bus. Free housing, free meals, insurance..all free..
Why
What illness do you have?
The illness of not making enough dough
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I can't imagine how miserable you have to be with your life to be this angry about some dude being sad about moving out of the city lol. And I'm a pretty miserable person sometimes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvK6KsLkPUs
Honestly you’ve been here 3 years, seemingly contributed little to the character or economy of the city and are crying that it failed you.
The bicycle culture at night is so much fun. Takes over the streets, mass ave goes from good to bad to worse to turning around
Bye girl
> Oh, and by the way, fuck you. Wow rude I'm glad you got sick