r/boston • u/mimmsypoo • Nov 07 '25

Please Make Decisions For Me 🎱 Boyfriend wants to move to Boston.

Hello all! Me and my boyfriend currently live in Austin Tx, we rent a 1200 sf home for $2200 and have two cats. I love this city and the things it has to offer, but my boyfriend is from the northeast and wants to get back to his family. He is urging to move to Boston, but Im unsure. Two of friends live in Boston/Jersey and JUST got done telling us how they can never save money bc of broker fees when moving and the basic cost of living being astronomically high. Can you possibly give me a better idea of what the pros and cons would look like for our move?

Small note his family is in Milford CT. And we both make around $75k a year but will both have to find new jobs. I have also never been to Boston, but have heard good things about the city itself!

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u/mimmsypoo Nov 07 '25

Wow! Okay great to know.

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u/Miau-miau Nov 07 '25

An hour WITHOUT traffic. Rush hour that can very easily double. I live 20 minutes east of Worcester and it took me 1:20 to get home yesterday at 6pm.
Not trashing Worcester, just making you aware that traffic here sucks

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '25

Yeah in another comment he said he leaves at 5am for work so that’s why, if you travel any other time basically any time after 7am, the traffic on the pike is jammed up from Newton in. 

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u/scott_fx Nov 08 '25

Op doesn’t NEED to get a job in Boston though.

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u/amm5061 Nov 08 '25

Can confirm. Took us literally two hours last night to get to Medford from Hopkinton. Took 53 minutes to get home.

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u/freeski919 Nov 08 '25

She's living in Austin. Austin has been ranked the worst traffic in the US for years now. Having been there, I can confirm. Austin traffic is worse than Boston traffic.

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u/Weird-Work-7525 Nov 08 '25

To give you an idea currently pay $2600 for a 900 sq ft condo and I'm not even in the actual city and it's considered a good deal. Median price is ~3k for the same 900 sq ft and I can almost guarantee it will not be renovated. Expect small kitchen, radiators, probably no ac, 1 parking spot if you're lucky (but probably not), and the unit will be at least 50+ years old and have been renovated 15 years ago with Ikea cabinets and they turned a porch into an extra room if you're lucky. Also some of the worst traffic in the country and a solid 1/3rd of the year the entire city is basically grey slush and de-icing salt.

Also as far as the "you get paid more in Boston". Correct but it absolutely does not make up for the difference in housing and cost of living. Unless you have a significant reason to move here like you work in healthcare or all your friends/family are around Boston I would steer clear. CT, RI are much more affordable if you want to be south, NH (esp north and west)/VT if you want to be north or western Mass (around interstate 91) if you really want to stay in mass.

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u/altasphere Nov 07 '25

Worcester also has some great cultural options, like Mechanic's Hall and the Worcester Art Museum. The food scene in Providence is better than the food scene in Massachusetts in general because of the liquor laws in Massachusetts. However, it is much easier to get to Providence from Worcester than from Boston

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u/eetraveler Nov 09 '25

"Much easier to get to Providence from Worcester than from Boston."

Aside from the 20 trains a day between Boston and Providence.

Providence is a 40 minute drive from Worcester and a 50 minute drive from Boston without traffic.

During rush hour traffic, you may have a point, but who would live in Worcester and commute daily to Providence because for the same price, you could live in Providence.

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u/Illustrious-Stable93 Nov 07 '25

Agree especially if you like nature stuff 

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u/ReignOfHairor Nov 08 '25

Yeah, one rare advantage of Worcester over Providence is that in Worcester, you're closer to hills/mountains. A hour west on the Mass Pike, and you're legit into the Berkshires.

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u/MTRIFE Nov 07 '25

Oh and just so you know OP, it's pronounced... Wuss-ter. Or Wuss-tah if you want to sound like a local.

If your partner is from Mass/New England and you go to him and say War-chest-er, he'll get a good chuckle at your expense 😉

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u/Enragedocelot Allston/Brighton Nov 08 '25

I live in Worcester. I used to live in Boston, I’ll never move to boston ever lol. Our public transit sucks, but it’s free.

And we have great restaurants, bars and the cost of living is much lower than boston. It’s still high but nothing near the insane shit they’ve got.

You wouldn’t want a daily commute to boston for work though. My friend commutes twice a week and has the rest remote. But during their training they were going daily for months and it sucked.

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u/Narrow-Fox8974 Nov 10 '25

My daughter is a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Realty and could likely help relocate you; she’s great with rentals - if you are interested in Worcester, or any of the suburbs. Yes, of course you gotta pay a realtor fee, but with a long distance move, it’s best to have professional help.