Regional Talk > New England > [MA] Possible transfer

[MA] Possible transfer

I don't think it is up to us to decide if you want to or not. That is totally up to you. However, Boston has many opportunities to offer if you are wanting it.
(Not being a Yankees fan is a plus though)

Just looking for opinion on lifestyle, expenses, and culture....particularly from anyone who's familiar with both areas.

For example, I'm used to 45 minute commutes on the highway, a small house lot is 0.25 acres, having to drive to get to anything, hot summers, unpredictable winters, tornadoes, good steaks, crappy pizza, crappy pro sports teams, frozen seafood, free parking, 7% sales tax, stopping everything for NCAA football Saturdays, NASCAR, gas heat, central air conditioning, and an ice cream stand in every town.

I've been to Boston once for about an hour to stop for lunch near Harvard. All I remember is the roads were a pain in the butt....lanes that seemed to start and end on whim. There was a tropical storm coming, though, so we didn't stay long.

The only person I know from Boston talks about nothing but the Sox and the snow, so I can't get much out of him.
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All hail JoePa

reply to rds24a
Now THAT post opened up your "expectations." With that, we have something to work with. Give it a few days for people to post their thoughts.

reply to rds24a
The area near Harvard involves some of the worst driving you're likely to find, it's not that bad everywhere (although driving in Boston metro does suck pretty hard).

Living expenses will be substantially higher here, across the board. Housing costs will depend heavily on whether you are going to be living in the suburbs or living in the city. You can get a general idea by scouting around the real estate section on Boston.com, lots of apartments for rent as well as houses for sale.

I don't think the weather will surprise you much after Ohio - we have hot summers and snowy winters too, but generally we don't have a lot of very extreme weather. You'll probably be tornado-free here

Culturally - Boston will most likely be an improvement in restaurants, bars, music, museums, theater, and so on. It's a bigger city and generally has a lot to offer that way. Public transit is decent but there are only a few areas where you can get by without a car. Commuting by train is very possible even from the suburbs, but might be slow depending on how close your house and workplace are to the train.

Feel free to ask about anything specific you might have questions about...
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Join the DSLR Kiva team!

reply to rds24a

reply to rds24a
The housing costs, commute issue, and schools are the most weighing issues. Much bigger city with much older housing than what I'm used to. I've noticed there's two beltways...what the difference living inside the first ringroad versus between versus outside the loops? The transfer position is in S Boston.

Any idea what the current job market is in the area for teachers? Here the governor has designated teachers the lowest form of life and theyre getting laid off by the thousands.
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All hail JoePa

Sorry, cannot help you with info on the job market for teachers in MA. Perhaps one of our other members will drop by and offer some insight.
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Mission Accomplished

reply to rds24a
Housing, commuting, and schools/ 128 / 495 = Time/$$$. What do you want to spend?
Driving in Downtown Boston: Cow paths. Insane. Avoid.
Summer: not as humid
Winter: roll of the dice
Tornadoes: we'll say no, maybe we'll get a hurricane for you.
Steak / red meat: yes. Find a local place.
Pizza: wicked good unless you are into the NY vs Chi argument
Fresh Seafood: ayup. No need for Red Lobster.
Pro Sorts: Baseball is a religion / cult. Belichik's press conferences are gold. He is human, watch the Friday night show with the Belistrator. Celtics play a good game, Bruins rock. Soccer too.
Free parking: Nope, just nope.
NCAA football: find a sports bah.
NASCAR: Still a novelty, see "Commute"
Heat / air: depends
Ice Cream: I lost count @ 12 in my town, (vacation area) same with seafood.

I've spent time in the Midwest; some family, some business.

reply to rds24a

The teaching would be HS Science...same situation 8yrs+Masters degree.

I imagine we'll take a big hit on housing. We'd actually like to downsize slightly but even then I think we'll end up higher than what we pay now. A lot of that will depend on schools, too, and whether or not we have to include private school. We're used to both commuting, and as long as it is only one of us then 45 mins would be doable. We'd like to avoid another double-long-commute situation.

Thanks for all the input and any more you'all can provide.
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All hail JoePa

reply to rds24a

MA Teaching License Flow Chart

Mass's approach to experienced, inter-state teaching transfers is not user-friendly. They won't even recognize 8 years of experience because they only count years where you taught a single subject, not multiple subjects during the day.

Right now we're about 75% sure we're going. Probably going to look around the I-95 loop initially if we can afford it.

Got any good ribs in town?
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All hail JoePa

Redbones in Somerville.
Blue Ribbon BBQ in West Newton or Arlington.

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-Frosty, KA1FOX

reply to rds24a
I like Tennessee's Real BBQ in Peabody myself. Still have yet to find any 'real' BBQ that compares with the South's BBQ.

reply to rds24a
I'm flying out for a preliminary homefinding trip. Any reco's on a good local restaurant in the Cambridge-Arlington-Newton area that we should hit?
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All hail JoePa

reply to rds24a

Was just wheels-down back to OH a little bit ago.

I picked up on the Dunkin' Donuts thing really quick. That and coffee is either cream-and-sugar or black. I asked for sweetener and she looked at me like I was nuts.

I survived the green line and the red line, although I did see someone's little kid lick a seat on the green line. That was gross. Traffic didn't feel much worse...but I think I might need to see a chiropractor after some of the potholes.

Gotta figure out finances and the pros/cons list now. Boston didn't give me any reason not to come while I was there, but stuff certainly is expensive (except gas).
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All hail JoePa