Thinking about a move to Boston

[keweenawlove]

Hi ladies,

I hope you don't mind if I pop in here. I posted on MM that I have a job offer in Boston and was directed here. I'm trying to figure out if I can see myself living in Boston and they didn't have me on-site before giving me the offer so it's making things exponentially harder. 

Offer is to direct a medial research lab for a major hospital with an academic appointment at a major university. The main job location is Weston but they also expect some time spent in Waltham, Cambridge, and downtown Boston. It's a huge position and it's definitely high risk/high reward. We'd almost for sure be looking at at least a temporary cut to our lifestyle. I'm currently making $77,000 in Milwaukee/Chicago and they're offering $100,000. H hasn't looked too much at jobs but thinks he could find a job but wouldn't see much of a pay increase. He's a research chemist in industry.

What do you love about living in Boston? We live in a Milwaukee suburb right now where we have a 20 minute drive to downtown but still have a ton of space and great running trails. I've never lived on the east coast so I'm trying to wrap my head around the COL increase and decide if it's worth it to us. 

[scm1011]

Hi! RockNVoll already said much of what I would have said.

I can speak to the running aspect though. Boston is often named on of the top running cities, as we have a pretty great collection of bike paths and trails in and around the city, plus a HUGE running culture. There are no shortage of free group runs to choose from any day of the week. If you move to the Waltham area (I'd also suggest looking into Watertown considering your working locations), you're close to the Charles, which boasts miles and miles of running routes along the river. There are also popular trails in the inner suburbs.

I'm also from here, so that colors my opinion I'm sure, but I love Boston. Aside from all the stuff Rock mentioned, we're close to the beach and the mountains. There are so many options for great weekend getaways within a 2 hour drive (NH, Maine, VT, Berkshires, the Cape, Newport, etc). 

I do think your raise will be completely eaten up by the cost of living increase, however. But I agree that your husband shouldn't have a problem getting a job here.  

[drloretta]

^^What they said, LOL

We moved here in 2011 from a LCOL area in PA. We were "lucky" in that the housing market was just starting to recover at the time, so we were able to afford a house even though we took a bath on the sale of our home in PA. It is more expensive, no doubt. I always laugh when my H hears about a job in CA and talks about how expensive it is. Dude, we're in MA!

That said, we do like it here, much more than in PA. We have a DD who has opportunities galore for more activities than I could count. My H and I are both in the pharma/biotech industry, so one of the reasons we moved here was that he could switch jobs and not have to uproot us again. I've lived in a number of places (CA, CO, MD, PA, WI, MA) and I'm glad we made the move here. Not having family close has been a challenge at times, but our little town has a great mom's group that's like a little village.

We were also able to settle in a suburb instead of closer to Boston, so we were able to find a town where housing prices weren't insane. That said, our house has probably appreciated significantly and inventory is low, so prices are getting ridiculous.

I agree with Rock and SCM that them not having you come out is a big red flag. Have you asked them to bring you out? If so, what kind of response did you get?

GL and keep us posted!

[keweenawlove]

Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it. If anyone thinks they might have a connection at the hospital or university, I'm happy to PM names. The search committee chair told me he's known one of the PhD committee members for years so I reached out to him. He didn't have much to offer other some vague "sure it is better than what you have either location, job, or both" and wouldn't elaborate more. That's been the only direct connection I've found in my network.

I asked them for a visit out there and they said they would arrange it but I have to pay for it because they don't have funds available which makes no sense for any time of interview I've done. They said they felt confident enough about me just over the Skype interviews I've done with them. A mentor here thinks maybe they can say they can expect me to jump at the offer just because of who they are. I worry about what else it means I would have to deal with working for them.

I do have some airline miles and credits I could cobble together to get out there for free and a friend of a friend who will put me up so I'm half thinking about just going out there for a night or two to see the lab and explore around a little bit but I'm feeling more and more they want me to be ready to jump right into this and take a risk with more unknowns than I'm willing to do.

[elfinia7]

I've worked (currently still do at one) at two of the more well known universities in the Boston area that have excellent research programs. I'm happy to share what I know if you want to pm me.

[keweenawlove]

UPDATE: I told them I wanted to see a written offer before going out there to visit. After they dragged their feet for almost 2 weeks without an offer, I decided nothing about this job felt right so I turned it down. I'm annoyed they were so unorganized after they verbally offered it to me but I feel good about staying here. Sorry I won't be joining you!

[scm1011]

keweenawlove , I would have loved if you moved out here, but I think you made the right choice. I followed along on MM and agree with everyone that there were so many red flags.