People who need convincing to stay in Boston

Blogging Barbie (yep), who normally takes the B line, is a bit shook up by this morning's derailment/fire in Brighton:

... I've truly loved Boston for the past three years. But in a way, I wonder if that derailed car is a metaphor for my life here, right now. As I drove to my interview this morning (don't get excited, just a temp position), I watched that trolley car being dragged from the wreckage, its charred and broken remains, being pulled along as its tired wheels screamed in discord.

I can't help but wonder ... is that my relationship with this city? ...

Michael Femia asks for help:

I'm having one of my occasional "maybe I should move out of Boston" spells. This spring's weather broke my spirit, the local sports scene has nowhere to go but down, I've looked at apartment costs in other cities which break my heart, and...I don't know...I just feel like maybe life will be a little different (read: better) somewhere else.

So convince me why I should or shouldn't go, and if I go, where I should go. ...

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It's been great knowin' ya.

By anon (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 2:25pm

It's been great knowin' ya. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

I'd Miss You Most Of All, Scarecrow

By Michael | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 2:32pm

...or, brave schizophrenic "anon", as the case may be...

little twerp

By Anonymous | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 2:38pm

anon (not verified) is the best argument for requiring commenters to register at UHub, not because people must post using their actual name but because multiple people use anon (not verified) and I'd like to remove the screen of confusion that the little twerp hides behind.

If you're thinking about leaving Boston....

By anon II (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 2:55pm

....you probably should.

It's not about doors, asses, etc., it's about your heart and your gut usually figuring out what the best solution is before your brain catches up. If you don't feel like Boston is the right place for you, it probably isn't.

And I learned this the hard way, by ignoring my heart and my gut because my brain didn't like the answer.

The only thing making me

By Working4Life (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 2:57pm

The only thing making me question why I stay is the freaking rent prices!

$1100 for a crummy studio in Allston!?

Daddy and Mommy's credit cards paying little snowflakes monthly rent is pricing out living in Boston for the rest of us...

Inflation is a vicious cycle

By Gareth | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 3:01pm

It's not just the well-endowed college students driving up the housing market. The fact is that salaries are also higher in Boston. They're higher as response to higher cost of living. Voila: vicious cycle.

Not to mention high-density

By Arborway | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 4:09pm

Not to mention high-density development - even in the center city - is either prevented, or delayed by NIMBYs.

well-endowed

By anon III (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 4:11pm

Where do these well-endowed college students live? Are the doorways bigger?

Try another neighborhood

By Verifiably Anonymous (not verified) | Thu, 05/15/2008 - 9:22am

Not all neighborhoods are so pricey. Trying living in one of the outer boroughs like Hyde Park or Rozzie and you will find lower rent without sacrificing safety. Sure, it may not be as cool, but it's still only a 10 minute ride on the commuter rail to downtown.

when the commuter rail

By anon (not verified) | Thu, 05/15/2008 - 1:12pm

when the commuter rail comes, which is not very often.

That's way too much for a

By Jemima (not verified) | Thu, 05/15/2008 - 9:49pm

That's way too much for a crummy studio in Allston. I hope you're not actually paying that.

glass half empty

By jdj (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 3:14pm

If the #2 complaint in your life is that your teams are doing too well (no place to go but down), things can't be all that bad. Maybe the Celts will lose by 20 tonight and Michael will cheer up.

And FWIW I think this is the nicest spring weather we've had in years.

Spring

By Bostonian (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 3:44pm

Agreed on spring. This is the first real New England spring I can remember having in a few years. We aren't supposed to get 80 degree days in spring, nor is it supposed to rain for weeks on end, as in years past.

Maybe it's easy to forget

By Michael | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 3:49pm

March and the first 2/3 of April. I was about ready to organize a candlelight vigil until it got over 45 degrees. I would have, too, except the five-month long gust of wind we endured would have made candles impractical.

Those months are winter

By Bostonian (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 5:30pm

March? That is definately winter. You should have no hope of warmth in March. April is the month that is supposed to make you have some hope - "April showers bring May flowers" - but not actually get warmth. May and June are legitimate New England spring months after which we get temprate sunny July-August, hot humid September (making you wish for snow) chilly October-November (making you curse the lack of snow as you wear your skis in the livingroom) then winter from December-March. This is probably more like my Boston seasonal chart, rather than New England, as in Maine you really get Winter from October-April, "spring" in May-June, summer from July-August and then fall in September.

calendar shift?

By BikerGeek (not verified) | Wed, 05/14/2008 - 6:24pm

The last few years, it seems as if we've been getting March's weather in April, April's weather in May, and May's weather in June.

I lived in the SF Bay Area

By Kristine (not verified) | Thu, 05/15/2008 - 9:51am

I lived in the SF Bay Area for 5 years before moving here over 4 years ago, and while people seem to have this romanticized view of the Bay Area, I know I'd never be happy living there again because it's SO much more expensive than Boston and we couldn't afford a home. As a result, Boston still seems startlingly affordable to me.

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