DC or Boston with 3 kids?

[Anonymous]

Boston is better than DC in every way. Go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'n from Boston originally. Most of my family is there. Can't stand the cold anymore, but I'd move in a heartbeat if we could line up jobs. The COL is better there overall (I grocery shop both places due to elderly relatives) and there are more options in terms of great schools and reasonable commutes.

and much better access to top notch outdoor activities - the ocean, mountains and lakes. I too am from the Boston area and I'd go in a hearbeat.


One of the big draws for me woudl be to move away from the County based school systems to a town based school system. I'm sick of having a school system trying to meet the needs of 100K students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'n from Boston originally. Most of my family is there. Can't stand the cold anymore, but I'd move in a heartbeat if we could line up jobs. The COL is better there overall (I grocery shop both places due to elderly relatives) and there are more options in terms of great schools and reasonable commutes.

and much better access to top notch outdoor activities - the ocean, mountains and lakes. I too am from the Boston area and I'd go in a hearbeat.


One of the big draws for me woudl be to move away from the County based school systems to a town based school system. I'm sick of having a school system trying to meet the needs of 100K students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'n from Boston originally. Most of my family is there. Can't stand the cold anymore, but I'd move in a heartbeat if we could line up jobs. The COL is better there overall (I grocery shop both places due to elderly relatives) and there are more options in terms of great schools and reasonable commutes.

and much better access to top notch outdoor activities - the ocean, mountains and lakes. I too am from the Boston area and I'd go in a hearbeat.


One of the big draws for me woudl be to move away from the County based school systems to a town based school system. I'm sick of having a school system trying to meet the needs of 100K students.

I agree but those property taxes are crazy.

[Anonymous]

Would you work in Boston?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'n from Boston originally. Most of my family is there. Can't stand the cold anymore, but I'd move in a heartbeat if we could line up jobs. The COL is better there overall (I grocery shop both places due to elderly relatives) and there are more options in terms of great schools and reasonable commutes.

and much better access to top notch outdoor activities - the ocean, mountains and lakes. I too am from the Boston area and I'd go in a hearbeat.


One of the big draws for me woudl be to move away from the County based school systems to a town based school system. I'm sick of having a school system trying to meet the needs of 100K students.

I agree but those property taxes are crazy.

There are no county income taxes. The net financials are comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'n from Boston originally. Most of my family is there. Can't stand the cold anymore, but I'd move in a heartbeat if we could line up jobs. The COL is better there overall (I grocery shop both places due to elderly relatives) and there are more options in terms of great schools and reasonable commutes.

and much better access to top notch outdoor activities - the ocean, mountains and lakes. I too am from the Boston area and I'd go in a hearbeat.


One of the big draws for me woudl be to move away from the County based school systems to a town based school system. I'm sick of having a school system trying to meet the needs of 100K students.

+1M

Except that MCPS has 150,000+ students. Ridiculous.

Town-based school systems are better in pretty much every respect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'n from Boston originally. Most of my family is there. Can't stand the cold anymore, but I'd move in a heartbeat if we could line up jobs. The COL is better there overall (I grocery shop both places due to elderly relatives) and there are more options in terms of great schools and reasonable commutes.

and much better access to top notch outdoor activities - the ocean, mountains and lakes. I too am from the Boston area and I'd go in a hearbeat.


One of the big draws for me woudl be to move away from the County based school systems to a town based school system. I'm sick of having a school system trying to meet the needs of 100K students.

+1M

Except that MCPS has 150,000+ students. Ridiculous.

Town-based school systems are better in pretty much every respect.

The town I grew up in in MA had 25K people. We had 4 elementary schools, one middle and one high school, a superintendent and all related school staff - about 300 kids per grade. The taxes were far less than Mongtomery County taxes. The only downside was the lack of diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'n from Boston originally. Most of my family is there. Can't stand the cold anymore, but I'd move in a heartbeat if we could line up jobs. The COL is better there overall (I grocery shop both places due to elderly relatives) and there are more options in terms of great schools and reasonable commutes.

and much better access to top notch outdoor activities - the ocean, mountains and lakes. I too am from the Boston area and I'd go in a hearbeat.


One of the big draws for me woudl be to move away from the County based school systems to a town based school system. I'm sick of having a school system trying to meet the needs of 100K students.

I agree but those property taxes are crazy.

There are no county income taxes. The net financials are comparable.

This made me laugh. We moved to DC from NJ. We had the local town-based schools along with county taxes. Our property taxes on our $900,000 home were $29,000/yr!

[Anonymous]

I'm not native to either city, but we moved from Boston to DC about 5 years ago. I can't tell you how much I prefer DC. First of all, if you are planning on publics you absolutely must live in the burbs if you are in boston (which are unquestionably fantastic) but the boston public school lottery system is horrendous and there are no neighborhood schools. We had one child in a larger childcare center in boston 3 days a week and were paying $2100. Quality childcare there is exorbitant... there are very very few options. Nanny will be cheaper but not cheaper than here. The weather... I will caution you not to underestimate the weather and the impact it will have on your life. Its a major, major factor. The city is really quite small. You'll hit every decent restaurant there within the year, and they are not that good and expensive. There are fewer museums and cultural events. Its really a fairly parochial city at the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have family in Boston and would move back in a heartbeat, mostly because all the trips there are driving me nuts, and I feel like I'm missing out on having a close relationship with my two nephews. Beyond that, it's a little more apples-to-oranges.

The work culture is more laid back pretty much anywhere but DC. I wouldn't worry about having to stay long hours, unless you're in a very particular field of work, because all the overachievers end up here.

People in Boston are sometimes said not to be friendly, because they have that stiff upper lip and are more reserved. It's the "live and let live" mentality. However, there are a number of transplants from other cities who you'll find are much easier to deal with.

People really enjoy the outdoors, there's a mass exodus to beaches in summer and to VT/NH for skiing in winter. There are a gazillion very cute New Englandy towns to visit, you can do trips to Canada, etc.

If you don't mind living in the farther-out suburbs, look into Concord or Lexington. If it's important to live closer to the city, check out Arlington (great schools but very old housing stock) or Brookline (hard to find a small home, but great semi-urban option if you want to live in a mansion). Cambridge is great, but their school system is all lottery, no in-bound option. I'm not 100% sure, but I think Boston schools aren't a realistic option (but someone correct me if I'm wrong). My sister lives in Marblehead, which is nice and right on the ocean shore, but the commute is really crappy.

I think some may find Bostonians are little too small-town, and they are always comparing themselves to New York.

The housing stock in the Boston area is a positive. It is charming, certainly compared to DC housing stock - lots of built-ins, porches, foyers, all of this is a given for the most run of the mill houses, whereas in the DC area, these features are unusual and command a price.

To each their own. We love our town house in Capitol Hill, but there's nothing equivalent in Boston. The older houses in Arlington tend to have small rooms and are poorly heated. And the closer to bus route/T station, the worse the house and the higher the price. But it's only what, three stops, to Harvard Square, and a few more to Downtown Crossing, so it's hard to compare.

I lived in Arlington for years and that was not my experience at all. Most housing there was built before WW2 and is charming and solid.

A townhouse on Capitol Hill OTOH has tiny rooms.

[Anonymous]

With regard to the comment above about commute times, most people I know, myself included, took the commuter rail or commuter boat. These ran like clockwork and were safe and clean. Great way to read, fo work or to take a short nap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$50K in childcare? You know that DCPS offers fulltime free preschool from age 3, right?

Here's a typical example. Brent offers PreKindergarten age 3 to 5th grade, with free before care and aftercare for a charge until 6 pm
http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Brent+Elementary+School

Are you serious? Maybe OP's 3 year old child missed the Sept 30 cutoff. $50k is standard childcare cost in DC for 2 kids. Not much you can do about that.

[Anonymous]

I'm from Boston.
Do you really mean living "in" Boston? Or in the burbs?
Schools are good in a lot of the suburbs. Cost of living not that different.
It's much much colder and winters are a lot longer. That's the worst part.
It's near beaches but the water is freezing and the beaches are rocky. But I'm picky about beaches.
It's got a lot of great day trips.
I think people are the same here as there, in terms of being nice.
I find work the same--I work crazy hours here, worked the same there.

Go Pats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not native to either city, but we moved from Boston to DC about 5 years ago. I can't tell you how much I prefer DC. First of all, if you are planning on publics you absolutely must live in the burbs if you are in boston (which are unquestionably fantastic) but the boston public school lottery system is horrendous and there are no neighborhood schools. We had one child in a larger childcare center in boston 3 days a week and were paying $2100. Quality childcare there is exorbitant... there are very very few options. Nanny will be cheaper but not cheaper than here. The weather... I will caution you not to underestimate the weather and the impact it will have on your life. Its a major, major factor. The city is really quite small. You'll hit every decent restaurant there within the year, and they are not that good and expensive. There are fewer museums and cultural events. Its really a fairly parochial city at the end of the day.

Agree with all of this. Lived in Boston for six years. Winter lasts from September to April and not only is it cold, it is super windy. Snowed every single day for all of January one of the years we lived there.

Least friendly, most grouchy people I ever encountered. Also still extremely racially segregated.

It was fun for a year or two, but there is no way I'd move back.