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Boston?



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amother


 

Post Mon, Jun 16 2014, 6:32 am
My DH and I are thinking of moving to Boston (probably Brighton) because of an opportunity that came up for him there. I know nothing aobut the community and if you could answer any of these questions, it would be great.

- How much approximately is rent for a two bedroom apt? 3 bedroom apt?
- Are there a lot of young couples there?
- What are the schools like? How does tuition compare to NY schools?
- Is it a very hard job market (I'm a teacher)
- Do you need a car to live there?

Thanks in advance.
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Liba




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 16 2014, 6:54 am
Smile You don't generally need a car. The trolley is great. Parking is a bear if you do have a car and tickets abundant and expensive.

BUT a lot will depend on where you find work. If you end up teaching far from a trolley line, you may find you want a car.

What subject/grade do you teach? Public or Jewish?

What kind of schools are you looking for? Torah Academy is the Bostoner Rebbe's pre through middle school. It is a great place and you aren't likely to have major sticker shock from tuition. Maimonides, the modern orthodox school on the other hand's full tuition is liable to make many a jaw drop.

Both are excellent, though very different, schools.

There is also a Beis Yaakov high school and the mesivta for HS for boys.

I have been out of Boston for well over a decade so I am not the best one to answer your questions. I have family there, but they are of the older generation. They aren't paying tuition anymore. Smile
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 16 2014, 9:01 am
I live in Boston and will be happy to answer your questions. A lot of the details of cost of rentals and schools depend on which ones you are looking at, so feel free to pm me for specifics.

Overall, there is a mix of more established families and young couples, but always a few new, younger faces each year, and everyone (of all ages) is very nice and friendly.

You can get by without a car, but life is a lot easier with one.

At the moment, there are several schools with openings for teachers. Depends on the fit.
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amother


 

Post Mon, Jun 16 2014, 10:47 am
As someone who lived in that area pretty recently, these were the challenges that an in-towner might not think of:

It is hard to think of settling down there because of the housing. While many people non-wealthy people manage to buy houses eventually, a tiny, ugly house can cost $550,000. I guess the benefit is that there are no mansions or dramatically different lifestyles within the Brighton community.

There is literally no affordable takeout, and no nice dining either. You can save money but if you want a nice night out with your husband, you better hope he likes Ballet.

So many of the expenses are non-negotiable. Tuition is not crazy (about 10k a child) and Torah Academy does a wonderful job of both educating the kids and bringing the community together. But if you have a few kids then every time you get a raise it will just go straight to tuition. You can't choose a smaller or uglier apartment - the very tiniest and ugliest can cost $2000 a month. It can be hard to get cheaper cuts of meat, and even chicken quarters and hot dogs are expensive. Unless you want to spend three hours on a grocery trip, you will find yourself spending 30-40% more than a Shop-Rite or kosher grocery in the NY area.

There were also benefits that I would not have though of before living there.

The community is friendly, diverse, and non-judgmental. This can be good or bad I guess. Everyone has a different background, a different story. I felt like in NY I was surrounded by people just like me and I loved getting out of that box. There is also a strong sense of community, especially among the Brighton/Torah Academy crowd. The shuls, parks, library, mikvah, school, fundraisers are all the same people again and again.

There is much less materialism in the community than there is in the New York area. (This might not be true among the younger Brookline/Maimonides people.) Sheitels, fashions, etc. are way behind NY and I mean that in a good way. Just as an example, I once wore a israeli-style bandana to shul bec. my sheitel was a mess and while I knew that other people did it, I could not get the uneasiness out of my head - it would literally be unheard of in other shuls I've been to. But when I got there it was obvious that nobody had any idea that I had usually only worn sheitels. They just complimented me on the bandana and some of them asked where they could get it.

Just a final solid point that may be helpful: We lived really, really simply and we are exceptionally low maintenance (for Americans lol I don't want people chiming in to argue from a settlement in Israel) and we were able to get by on $75k or so a year. This incorporates tuition breaks and a few other things that would have cost more if we had more income. At this level, I would feel the strain occasionally (making liver soup for supper on sunday lol) but I don't think my kids ever felt that they had less than their friends.
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ectomorph




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 16 2014, 11:01 am
amother wrote:
My DH and I are thinking of moving to Boston (probably Brighton) because of an opportunity that came up for him there. I know nothing aobut the community and if you could answer any of these questions, it would be great.

- How much approximately is rent for a two bedroom apt? 3 bedroom apt?
- Are there a lot of young couples there?
- What are the schools like? How does tuition compare to NY schools?
- Is it a very hard job market (I'm a teacher)
- Do you need a car to live there?

Thanks in advance.

My sister lives there, and you can PM me for her contact information.

- she has a 2 bedroom that's very nice for 1950 in the Brighton area. She knows of another one that's available but it's not suited for more than 1 or at most 2 little kids.
- yes there are a lot of young couples
- dunno, no kids in school yet
- It's easier for teachers than NY, but bear in mind there are only 2 frum schools. There are plenty of other schools though.
- You don't NEED it but it's really hard to manage without one. She doesn't drive but her husband does.
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 16 2014, 12:02 pm
Two minor corrections:

Frum schools in the area - (more than just 2):

- Torah Academy (yeshivish, some others, pk-8)
- New England Hebrew Academy (Chabad run, both student body and teachers range widely, toddler-8)
- Shaloh House (Chabad run, Russian background, diverse population, toddler -8?)
- Maimonides (MO, teachers from variety of backgrounds, k-12)
- Mesivta of Greater Boston (HS)
- Bais Yaakov of Boston (HS)
- Yeshiva Ohr Yisroel, a new HS for boys opening this fall

40 minutes away in Sharon is:

- the Shas school (k to 5th grade) and
- the Binah school for girls (7-12).

A number of these schools are currently interviewing to fill positions.

Second correction.

While it is true that there is not much in the way of restaurants, (there is pizza, deli, felafel, chinese), there is plenty to do on a date night.

In addition to the aforementioned ballet, Boston has a fine array of classical and other genre music events, loads of interesting lectures that are open to the public, plenty of good theater, places to play (mini golf, etc), and a number of both city and country places to walk.

I can't imagine ever running out of things to do.
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