where to live.... (Boston: house, schools, living in)

[samanthaab21]

I have been confused for years on where to live. I am a young female just starting out in life looking for a change. One day i want to move to orange county, ca and another day i want to move somewhere in new england. Sometimes i want nice weather all year and then other times i know i would miss the fall/colder days.

Can anyone give me advice?! Where would you prefer and why? Also for the future, where would you raise your kids?!

[hken]

As someone who grew up in Boston and then moved to SoCal, settled in Malibu for many years and planning to return to Boston, the best advice I can give you is travel now while you are young.

As you get more entrenched in life, it will be harder to make these kinds of big moves. Careers..kids...there's a time and place to be mobile when other people your age are doing it vs doing it at 30 when it's just harder to meet new people once they settle into their lives. California is so different than Boston that it's hard to appreciate until you live out here. It's not an easy move though if you don't have family or any roots here so if you find a good situation and reason to come out, I would do it (like a good job or going to school).

I'm planning to move back to raise my kids just because the cost of living in Malibu is crazy and I have family back in Boston. It was a scary choice for me when I left years ago (I was close to my elderly grandfather + I split with a girlfriend who was not coming) but I knew deep down that if I didn't do it I would regret it my whole life. To this day, I still believe it to be the biggest and best life changing decision I ever made.

[Wovencoasttocoast]

Thank you! If family and cost of living wasn't an issue would u stay in ca? That's a huge thing for me-I just feel like ca has so much to offer, things for kids to do, shopping, restaurants. I live on Long Island now and it's horrible, mass is much better it seems. We have nothing here but yet pay so much to leave here and why. I know ca is expensive but from someone who hasn't lived there yet it seems worth it because of all it has to offer. My whole family is here but not super close and I am not living my life for them

[hken]

I would stay in LA if money was no object, but the reality is, it's just not the easiest place to raise kids on a limited budget since housing is so expensive in the towns I would want to live in. I do say it's a lonely town though in many ways if you have no connections...traffic is very bad so where you work will greatly dictate your off-work flexibility. For example if you live on the east end of LA county in Diamond Bar, it's impossible to frequent westside or South Bay after work given the traffic and distance. That's why I think it's better for people to move out to LA for a purpose...job or school rather than just meandering around which can get expensive really quick.

[DaltoBoston]

I have lived in Michigan, lived in Texas, am now living in Ma and am settling here. I came to this country and I studied in texas before I moved to Michigan, due to work, moved back to texas due to work and then moved to Ma due to work, now bought a house in Ma, because I like it here and would stay here. Have I stayed in the west coast, no, however, I visit there a lot due to work. I agree with hken, if you want to explore do it now when you are young, one thing I realized is that, every move I made was exciting since it was all work related and ot be honest I made real good friends everywhere, however, as I grew older and matured and the idea of settling in came in, then it was not just what excited me, but it also became, what excited me and my wife, what career prospects does my wife and I have, is the school systems good, is what i am paying for worth the amenities etc...., what fun things can I do, if not a stone's throw away, but a short drive or ride...when I took all of this into consideration, Boston and suburbs became an easy choice... plus i have cousins here.... so that made it all the more sweet...... in short, i knew which cities i would like to be at before making that choice. As to california, the only downfall is cost of living is really high... now can you live in a smaller budget... with a family, yes, but you will compromise on living space or schools or something else.... if you are sure you can get a really good job and cost of living will not be a factor, then, ca is really attraoctive... if that is the case... i will go towards Frisco.... but then, i am an outdoor guy who loves wilderness and mountains more than water :-)