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Do not, again DO NOT, move to San Diego without a job. YOU WILL NOT GET ONE. Spend five minutes in the San Diego forum. It is next to impossible to get a job a any McDonalds in the county without knowing anyone who works there. Look up the many threads dealing with IT or Teacher job in the SD thread. There are no jobs. The Moderator of the SD thread is a high level IT guy and he says-no jobs anywhere. Thats why were are no longer there. Most of my friends are now in TX, Denver, or the upper NW.
I lived in Chicago (city, not Chicagoland) for almost 20 years. Fabulous choice if you can handle the winters.
That may be true, but let's not forget that Houston is so physically large it can easily fit Boston, Chicago, Seattle, and Denver...with more than enough room for San Francisco.
So Houston is a very impressive park city, but it's not as if those other cities are slouches.
The link I provided is actually a list of "America's Best Cities for Outdoors", so it may be worth a look for the thread starter. However, it's a Forbes Ranking, which people love to bash, so take it with a grain of salt.
Oh I wasn't trying to say "Houston has the best parks in America." We have some very nice parks, but IMO there is nothing in Houston that can match Central Park, Millennium Park, or Golden Gate Park. I just brought that up because Houston isn't normally thought of as an "outdoorzy" city when we actually have several very nice parks here and a large sq ft of park area.
All these are based on opinion and of course everyone is going to be homer. You may be better suited doing some research or actually visiting these Metro Areas and find which one better suits your needs.
In this economy, apply for jobs in all those places, move to where you get an offer, and be thankful for employment. This is not an economic climate in which to be too picky.
Out of the cities you mentioned, Boston is at or near the top of every category. Boston is (obviously) great for education. This is true for both employment for your wife, and the education for your daughter, whether it be in public or private school.
For outdoor activities, Seattle and Denver are probably superior to Boston, but Boston is no slouch with Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Newport, Rhode Island for beaches, and New Hampshire and Vermont for woodsy activities.
Boston and Seattle are about equal for Tech jobs, while Boston and Chicago are about tied for Culture. In terms of history, there's obviously no competition with Boston. Boston is also arguably the best sports city in the country, with the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins all being extremely competitive, and having great success so far this decade.
Boston and Chicago are easily the most urban cities out of the group. Both are very walkable and have great urban transportation. If you're not going to live in the actual city, and preferred to live in an inner-suburb, Boston has great cities like Cambridge, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, Somerville , Quincy, and Milton surrounding it.
Good luck in making your decision!
John Shaft may well be right on with the opinion that it may be a matter of going with the city where you find employment. However, if we assume you do have the choice to make, I agree with Tmac that Boston, while it may not be number one in all categories, is at or near the top in more categories than the others.
This idea does have some qualifiers, though. First, in general Boston would seem to fit well with your degree in compsci, being that it is generally known as a high tech town. Sometimes, though, the general does not always hold true in particular areas. I know little enough about the computer field so that I don't know how different cities rate for work in your specialty. Sometimes emphasis on different specialties can vary even in cities that are strong in a field in general, so you'd need to get more info on how your specialty does in these cities.
You also said that weather is somewhat important. How important a factor it is, and what kind of weather you prefer, could take some points away from Boston (as well as Chicago and Seattle, unless you prefer cold, snowy, and/or gray weather).
A area you say is very important is the quality of schools. If you would plan to live right in the city, you might want to think twice about Boston, where the quality of city schools is inconsistent. On the other hand, I don't know anything about schools in the other cities you're considering, but big-city schools in general don't seem to have the best reputation, so Boston's schools might be on a par with those in the other cities. Also, given your stated preference for an urban setting, Boston and Chicago would give you some good options for inner suburbs that still retain some urban character and also are fairly affluent communities with solid schools systems.
A criterion I believe you did not mention, but which is worth considering, is cost of living. It's worth keeping in mind that ousing costs in Boston are not the highest in the country, but they're up there. You would be well advised to do some serious research on your likely income and on the cost of housing before choosing a city.
So, it appears that no city on your list is a perfect fit, but Boston seems to fit more of your preferred characteristics more closely than the others, IF you find good employment there, can handle the cost of living, and can tolerate cold, snowy winters.
This idea does have some qualifiers, though. First, in general Boston would seem to fit well with your degree in compsci, being that it is generally known as a high tech town. Sometimes, though, the general does not always hold true in particular areas. I know little enough about the computer field so that I don't know how different cities rate for work in your specialty. Sometimes emphasis on different specialties can vary even in cities that are strong in a field in general, so you'd need to get more info on how your specialty does in these cities.
Very true. JasonAndAmelia, what exactly would you be looking for in regards to tech jobs? Would you only be looking for High-Tech, or would BioTech and NanoTech be something you could get in to?
1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA)
2. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett (WA)
3. Boston/Cambridge-Newton-Framingham (MA)
4. Washington DC-Arlington-Alexandria
5. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale (CA)
6. Dallas-Plano-Irving (TX)
7. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos (CA)
8. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine (CA)
9. New York City-White Plains-Wayne (NY/NJ)
10. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City (CA)
1. San Diego
2. Boston
3. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill
4. San Jose
5. Seattle
6. Washington DC
7. Philadelphia
8. San Francisco
9. Oakland
10. Los Angeles
1. Boston
2. San Francisco
3. San Jose
4. Raleigh-Durham
5. Middlesex-Essex (MA)
6. Oakland
7. San Diego
8. Seattle
9. Austin
10. Houston
11. Chicago
12. Santa Ana (CA)
13. Worcester (MA)
14. Los Angeles
Wow, everyone. That was amazingly good advice. I was surprised that I got so many responses in such a short amount of time. As far as the weather, I was born in SoCal and have family in the LA area, raised in Oklahoma where I have some friends, but my wife is from southern Indiana. So, whereas I would love warm weather year round, she's vetoed that, and wants a good mix of the 4 seasons. Thus, Boston and Chicago are actually numbers one and two on our list. Also, would it matter that honestly, when we say we are into professional sports, both of us have our loyalties already in us. Not saying this couldn't be changed, but it would take some work. I think the only one that might and it's a long shot on causing a problem is that she's a HUGE colts fan and I'm a Bears fan through and through. I know that the Pats don't really rival my bears, but she can't stand the pats. That would be interesting if we moved to Boston. We have visited all of those cities and that's why it is a tough decision. Luckily we do have some time for the economy to recover before making this decision as she's deciding to pursue her Masters before we move, just to give her an edge in the teaching field. And, as far as the education, if we were to live in either Boston or Chicago, it would have to be private education for the little one, just because of the quality of public schools in the larger cities.
Cool. Park area does matter, especially since we have a dog and want to make sure we have a place to take her. We've really been looking recently at Denver and Boston, and they were really neck in neck, but then we saw how much they pay teachers. Wife is an elem teacher. I am just appaled at how little they pay them in Denver. She almost makes that where we live now in a rural area of Kentucky. I mean, good Lord. Versus how much they pay in Boston where she would get a considerable pay raise. Between that, and me graduating, I think we'll be joining a new social class.
If that means you're becoming a blue-blooded Bostonian, then welcome! haha
If you're seriously considering a move to the area, have you considered where you'd like to be living? Living in the city is definitely a good way to go, but it can be very expensive. If you want to live in the city but aren't about to drop seven figures for a home, I would suggest looking in neighborhoods like Savin Hill (Dorchester) or maybe Southie. Both are very up-and-coming, and are in the process of becoming "yuppified" I guess you could say. They were both working-class neighborhoods in the past that have seen a great influx of newly-graduated people and young families, so it may be wise to check them out because they may be the best deals you can find in the city!
If you're looking to rent and are willing to pay a bit of money for the ultimate urban experience, look in the North End. It's an expensive area, but there's no neighborhood in the country like it. There aren't many neighborhoods in the country that can be described that way, but the North End is one of a kind--you won't find a place like it anywhere this side of the Atlantic.
If you're willing to look at an inner-suburb (remember Boston city proper's physical borders are tiny), then it's definitely worth it to check out areas like Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, and maybe Brookline or Newton. However, Brookline and Newton are both very, very expensive, so you may want to avoid those areas.
Either way, if you decide to seriously look in this area, good luck!
Other places to consider within Boston proper that are affordable and somewhat hip/trendy/up and coming:
Roxbury (Fort Hill or Mission Hill)
Jamaica Plain (between Hyde Square and Forest Hills)
Roslindale (village or arboretum areas)
Fenway
Allston/Brighton
Dorchester (Ashmont, Adams Village, Neponset)
No particular order to that list, and I'm definitely leaving some things off. There are lots of great neighborhoods within Boston that are quite accessible to downtown and interesting in their own right.
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a tentative nod in favor of Boston
