Leaving Boston
As I move into my tenth year living in Boston I have found myself questioning whether or not this is the place I want to live. This isn’t anything new, though; I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. I miss the simple pleasures of suburbia – mainly the outdoors, lack of traffic and congestion, and sense of community. It could be that the city life, in general, isn’t for me. Maybe it’s even simpler than that – I just need a change. Whatever the reason, I’m confident that it’s time to move on. This presents several challenges, difficult choices, and logistical hurdles. Here, I’ll just put them out there for my own evaluation but, more importantly for yours in the form of suggestion. Since finding an actual place to live is the easy part (that is, when you are leaving the city) I’ll begin with the first concern: getting from point A to point B…
1. Transportation
I’ve done the commuting gig before, and now I can say that I’ve done the “car-less” gig as well. I’ve also live in the surrounding communities of Boston – the medium where you are still “in the Boston area”, but far enough so that you can park when going grocery shopping. So, I’ve ran the spectrum and it truly evens out financially in the long term. However, there is the part of investment – buying a car (since I sold mine when I moved to Mission Hill). This is something that I will need to plan for and I know from experience that it is not cheap when you start from zero. I’ve thought about places near the commuter rail as a means to bridge my way from car-less to car without the concomitant financial constraint of moving into a new place. It’s sub-optimal, but perhaps doable and maybe even necessary. So, how about it?
As I move into my tenth year living in Boston I have found myself questioning whether or not this is the place I want to live. This isn’t anything new, though; I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. I miss the simple pleasures of suburbia – mainly the outdoors, lack of traffic and congestion, and sense of community. It could be that the city life, in general, isn’t for me. Maybe it’s even simpler than that – I just need a change. Whatever the reason, I’m confident that it’s time to move on. This presents several challenges, difficult choices, and logistical hurdles. Here, I’ll just put them out there for my own evaluation but, more importantly for yours in the form of suggestion. Since finding an actual place to live is the easy part (that is, when you are leaving the city) I’ll begin with the first concern: getting from point A to point B…
1. Transportation
I’ve done the commuting gig before, and now I can say that I’ve done the “car-less” gig as well. I’ve also live in the surrounding communities of Boston – the medium where you are still “in the Boston area”, but far enough so that you can park when going grocery shopping. So, I’ve ran the spectrum and it truly evens out financially in the long term. However, there is the part of investment – buying a car (since I sold mine when I moved to Mission Hill). This is something that I will need to plan for and I know from experience that it is not cheap when you start from zero. I’ve thought about places near the commuter rail as a means to bridge my way from car-less to car without the concomitant financial constraint of moving into a new place. It’s sub-optimal, but perhaps doable and maybe even necessary. So, how about it?
Hey Scotty. While a hurdle, I don't think you should look at transportation as preventative towards your goal of living out of the city. The commuter rail and even the bus routes reach far and wide. A good friend of mine lives in Belmont in what I would consider a suburban neighborhood right on a bus route that goes into Harvard Square (and gets you there in 15 minutes). There are great opportunities for community feel just right outside the city. You just need to do the grunt work of the research and then lay down what you want to a realtor and go out with them. Watertown is another option I was personally looking at. There is a gorgeous river and many parks so you can get a dog, commute to the city and buy that dirtbike you always wanted. I've been feeling that drive to move out too. Right now I live in a small neighborhood in Brookline. The neighborhood is great. Nice houses, real families... I live right near Jamaica pond, so I love the location, but its noisy as hell because its still the city, so I'm giving it up in the fall for something else. Good luck. Lets get that beer this week.
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