Boston area peeps?

My job may be getting relocated thanks to the recent BRAC announcement by Mr. Rumsfeld. I was wondering if there were any Stangnet folks who would allow me to bend their ear concerning the greater Boston area. I know from my quick research it appears as if housing & taxes are way out of control for the area. Do most people live well outside of Boston and then commute in for work? The area I may be moving to is actually in Bedford Mass (Hanscom AFB). I'm pretty sure my quality of life will take a steep dive if I make this move...

Any assistance in answering some questions would be greatly apprciated though!

U.M.
 
Uncle Meat said:
My job may be getting relocated thanks to the recent BRAC announcement by Mr. Rumsfeld. I was wondering if there were any Stangnet folks who would allow me to bend their ear concerning the greater Boston area. I know from my quick research it appears as if housing & taxes are way out of control for the area. Do most people live well outside of Boston and then commute in for work? The area I may be moving to is actually in Bedford Mass (Hanscom AFB). I'm pretty sure my quality of life will take a steep dive if I make this move...

Any assistance in answering some questions would be greatly apprciated though!

U.M.
Hey!! Your getting whacked by BRAC too!! Looks like I (and most of Naval Air Station Brunswick (Maine) will be getting "realigned" to Jacksonville, Florida!! Welcome to wintery New England! I have been stationed in both the south, and north, and I can tell you by experiance that the northeast is BY FAR the most expensive place to live.
 
Dan_Soprano said:
Hey!! Your getting whacked by BRAC too!! Looks like I (and most of Naval Air Station Brunswick (Maine) will be getting "realigned" to Jacksonville, Florida!! Welcome to wintery New England! I have been stationed in both the south, and north, and I can tell you by experiance that the northeast is BY FAR the most expensive place to live.

I figured as much... Alabama is too good to be true as far as cost of living is concerned. I have a 2000 SQ FT home with a 2 car garage on almost an acre of land. House was built in Novemeber 1999 and I bought it in January 2000. I paid 137K for it and my property taxes are approximately $350 a year. The same size/style of house in Bedford MA costs over a half-million dollars and the property taxes are over $6000 a year! Looks like I'll be selling the Cobra and damn near all my other toys if this move goes through...

It's really depressing to think the salary I currently receive lets me live like a king in Alabama, but the same salary in Boston puts me at almost poverty level... :(

U.M.
 
Uncle Meat said:
I figured as much... Alabama is too good to be true as far as cost of living is concerned. I have a 2000 SQ FT home with a 2 car garage on almost an acre of land. House was built in Novemeber 1999 and I bought it in January 2000. I paid 137K for it and my property taxes are approximately $350 a year. The same size/style of house in Bedford MA costs over a half-million dollars and the property taxes are over $6000 a year! Looks like I'll be selling the Cobra and damn near all my other toys if this move goes through...

It's really depressing to think the salary I currently receive lets me live like a king in Alabama, but the same salary in Boston puts me at almost poverty level... :(

U.M.

Yes, housing and taxes are out of control and the figures that you gave are pretty accurate for the area around Hanscom. I live in a one bedroom Condo just west of Bedford and paid almost as much as you did for your house in Alabama (and way more in taxes).

It sucks but I lived here all my life and have never known anything else.
 
winks said:
Yes, housing and taxes are out of control and the figures that you gave are pretty accurate for the area around Hanscom. I live in a one bedroom Condo just west of Bedford and paid almost as much as you did for your house in Alabama (and way more in taxes).

It sucks but I lived here all my life and have never known anything else.

Heavy depression is slowly starting to sink in.... :(

U.M.
 
dark_cobra_01 said:
Uncle Meat moving to Massachusetts ??

Damn.. Welcome aboard and try like hell to keep that Cobra.

We'd enjoy seeing U with us when the NEBOC group gets together ..

:nice:

If I move I won't be able to afford the Cobra. I'll have to sell it just to be able to house and feed my wife and son. I found an on-line calculator that compares the cost of living from one city/state to the next. My current annual salary would have to DOUBLE in order for me to live in Bedford the way I currently do in Prattville. I may just have to turn down the move and get a job here as a Wal-Mart greeter. I'll have a higher standard of living in Alabama as a Wal-mart greeter than living in Boston as an IT Specialist!!!

U.M.
 
You could do what I did for 6 years, and what alot of others do daily..

COMMUTE :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


If you Live out of state (NH or RI) .. You may find a reasonablly priced home . But this of course causes you to commute for like 1-2 hours each way to work.. You may also find something affordable out by the Worcester area and keep your commute down to about an hour..


Maybe this helps ya..
 
U.M., you might want to look a bit west, along the Rt. 2 Leominster/Fitchburg area, or even a bit further west, Westminster, Gardner area... This would give you about a 45min. - 1 hour commute, but housing would be a BIT more reasonable..
 
DaveSVT2000 said:
U.M., you might want to look a bit west, along the Rt. 2 Leominster/Fitchburg area, or even a bit further west, Westminster, Gardner area... This would give you about a 45min. - 1 hour commute, but housing would be a BIT more reasonable..
:stupid: Moving out west willl get you more for your money, but not much.
 
hey man... ya this area sucks... I sell cars and will need to make 90 minute commute if I want to buy a nice house and still be able to eat. You would have about an hour commute living around Manchester NH and you can buy double the house for half the money 10 minutes across the NH border.. not to mention all other expenses are a fraction of the cost.

For a closer commute... go a little west of Leominster... its still Mass but will be a hell of a lot cheaper than Bedford.
 
Are you in the AF? If so, the base has some of the nicest housing I have ever seen, and that's saying a lot! The BAH around here is $1900 for an E-6 (TSgt) like myself. If oyu need any specific info about the base, let me know.
 
the south coast is still reasonable compared to the boston area.don't get me wrong it's not cheap at all,but compared to the area your looking at you may still be able to keep the cobra.a couple of towns to look at may be fairhaven,dartmouth,acushnet,freetown,and westport.around an hours commute.i did it for five years.
 
5.0x2 said:
Are you in the AF? If so, the base has some of the nicest housing I have ever seen, and that's saying a lot! The BAH around here is $1900 for an E-6 (TSgt) like myself. If oyu need any specific info about the base, let me know.

No, retired from the AF after 21 years and I'm now working for the DoD. $1900 for BAH huh? DAMN! I will get an increase in locality pay if I make the move to Hanscom, but it only equates to about $7000 annually which doesn't come close to making up the difference in living costs between AL & MA!

U.M.