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Moving to the Boston area, advice requested...

Schadenfroh

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Greetings, I will be moving to the Boston area for work in the coming months. Picked up a job as a software engineer in Burlington, MA. This is my first job in the real world outside of graduate school, so my credit is not outstanding (although, nothing bad on there). I will be renting at least for a year to make sure that I like the area and the job enough to stay. I fear Northeastern winters, as I grew up not too far from New Orleans, it does not snow or freeze (much) near The Gulf Coast...

A couple of questions about the move, as I have only visited the Northeast once (for the job interview):

* Any thoughts on the communities surrounding Burlington? I would like to live in a safe area, relatively close to work and as relatively (for the area) inexpensive as possible. I was looking at Woburn. My coworker suggested Arlington, but it is rather far and more expensive. Would be nice to have easy access to mass transit into Boston proper. Just me, for now at least, girlfriend and I will be going into long-distance mode till she graduates a year from now, so no family to consider.

* Any good website where I can read about local and state gun and knife laws and permits for MA? I imagine my firearms are either illegal there or require a crap load of paperwork issued at the consent of local law enforcement.

Likely more to come after I examine more apartments and communities in the area.

Thanks!
 
Alot of the cities surrounding Burlington are decent. Arlington is very nice but also very pricey. Lexington is UBER expensive. Wilmington is nice and a decent price (i live here), Woburn has some nice areas. Tewksbury has some decent areas as well but might be a little bit of a hike.

As for the weapons all I can say is good luck. Not only do you have to follow state regulations but also certain cities will have other regulations. Some cities can be almost impossible to get a permit. You will have to takes classes and all kinds of other hoops to jump through. Also some weapons may be illegal even as "collector's items".

If you have any specific questions let me know.

Here is the firearm info for wilmington

http://www.wpd.org/firearmslicensing.html

You are also going to need to look up what you will need to do to carry the firearms across state borders. Unless you have something very expensive or rare you might be better off selling the weapons and buying again at a later date once you've settled into your new area.
 
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Being young and wanting to enjoy the city life, my recommendations would be Arlington or Somerville. From either, you can take Rt 3A straight to Burlington in about 15-20 minutes.

Arlington center has lots of good restaurants and the bus line on Mass Ave that will take you straight into Cambridge where you can take the subway all around Boston.

Somerville around Davis Square is great with lots of restaurants/bars. You have the subway that will take you into Cambridge/Boston.
 
First, welcome to the Democratic People's Republic of Taxachusetts.

1) I'm not aware of Burlington having any kind of bad reputation with regards to safety. In fact, I know of nothing that I would consider unsafe near Burlington. Woburn, Winchester, Wilmington, Billerica, Reading... the only parts I'm a little fuzzy on is Bedford and Lexington; I think they're fine too, I just live further away from them.
2) If you are looking for transportation into Boston, consider Wilmington, the B&M line has a stop there at the crossing of 62 and 38. 62 links through to Burlington. The B&M line overall runs through Wilmington, Reading, and down through Medford. That's probably your best bet for transportation into Boston.
3) As for low cost, I know nothing that can help you there. You're looking at an area predominantly populated by houses.
4) You are probably completely fucked on firearms. http://www.fsguns.com/fsg_information.html You might be able to glean something useful, or at least a starting point off that page. From what I can tell, it is up to the discretion of your local police chief, and all I can add to that is don't live in Reading. http://www.usacarry.com/forums/massachusetts-discussion-firearm-news/ Possibly someone here can tell you more?
5) Knives are a little fuzzy. My best guess, and what I work off of for myself, is no switchblades, no balisongs, and don't commit a crime with a knife on your person or it elevates the charges. Assisted opening seems to be fine.

I know there's a bunch of people here who live in MA, but most that I'm aware of are down in Cambridge/Boston.
 
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Oh yeah! Winter!

Get a car with FWD or AWD, get an extendable snow brush/scraper for the car, get a shovel. Dress warm, boots are advisable. When driving in snow/ice, keep the speed down, don't accelerate hard, leave lots of room to the next car, put the brakes on way earlier than you would normally, and don't turn too hard/fast. Beware of black ice.
 
You're in a good area, relatively speaking. Where you should live depends on the lifestyle you want. Lexington and Concord are nice towns but super expensive. If you want something more urban, think about Somerville (even though it's a little farther). Woburn isn't a bad town, though perhaps a little industrial for my tastes. Also, in the other direction, Chelmsford is a great town too (though also far).

I don't know Wilmington very well, so I'll defer to Johnny.

As for the weapons, MA has an almost nonexistent gun culture, and the laws reflect that. As Johnny said, it's going to be a mess.
 
JohnnyMCE said:
Tewksbury has some decent areas as well but might be a little bit of a hike.
Click to expand...

I'm in south Tewksbury, Burlington is about 15-25 minutes away, depending on exactly where in the town I want to go. It doesn't help that the bridge is still out for back roads. The nicer areas of Tewksbury are further away, and the only apartments (or perhaps condos?) I'm aware of would add 5 or 10 to the drive.

P.S. Not arguing with you, I'm agreeing.
 
MotF Bane said:
First, welcome to the Democratic People's Republic of Taxachusetts.

1) I'm not aware of Burlington having any kind of bad reputation with regards to safety. In fact, I know of nothing that I would consider unsafe near Burlington. Woburn, Winchester, Wilmington, Billerica, Reading... the only parts I'm a little fuzzy on is Bedford and Lexington; I think they're fine too, I just live further away from them.
2) If you are looking for transportation into Boston, consider Wilmington, the B&M line has a stop there at the crossing of 62 and 38. 62 links through to Burlington. The B&M line overall runs through Wilmington, Reading, and down through Medford. That's probably your best bet for transportation into Boston.
3) As for low cost, I know nothing that can help you there. You're looking at an area predominantly populated by houses.
4) You are probably completely fucked on firearms. http://www.fsguns.com/fsg_information.html You might be able to glean something useful, or at least a starting point off that page. From what I can tell, it is up to the discretion of your local police chief, and all I can add to that is don't live in Reading.
5) Knives are a little fuzzy. My best guess, and what I work off of for myself, is no switchblades, no balisongs, and don't commit a crime with a knife on your person or it elevates the charges. Assisted opening seems to be fine.

I know there's a bunch of people here who live in MA, but most that I'm aware of are down in Cambridge/Boston.
Click to expand...

I am checking regarding just merely owning in a home certain knives but here is the law

(b) Whoever, except as provided by law, carries on his person, or carries on his person or under his control in a vehicle, any stiletto, dagger or a device or case which enables a knife with a locking blade to be drawn at a locked position, any ballistic knife, or any knife with a detachable blade capable of being propelled by any mechanism, dirk knife, any knife having a double-edged blade, or a switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which the blade is released from the handle, having a blade of over one and one-half inches, or a slung shot, blowgun, blackjack, metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles, nunchaku, zoobow, also known as klackers or kung fu sticks, or any similar weapon consisting of two sticks of wood, plastic or metal connected at one end by a length of rope, chain, wire or leather, a shuriken or any similar pointed starlike object intended to injure a person when thrown, or any armband, made with leather which has metallic spikes, points or studs or any similar device made from any other substance or a cestus or similar material weighted with metal or other substance and worn on the hand, or a manrikigusari or similar length of chain having weighted ends; or whoever, when arrested upon a warrant for an alleged crime, or when arrested while committing a breach or disturbance of the public peace, is armed with or has on his person, or has on his person or under his control in a vehicle, a billy or other dangerous weapon other than those herein mentioned and those mentioned in paragraph (a), shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years in the state prison, or for not less than six months nor more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction, except that, if the court finds that the defendant has not been previously convicted of a felony, he may be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction.

basically switchs, butterfly, double sided's are all illegal.
 
MotF Bane said:
Oh yeah! Winter!

Get a car with FWD or AWD, get an extendable snow brush/scraper for the car, get a shovel. Dress warm, boots are advisable. When driving in snow/ice, keep the speed down, don't accelerate hard, leave lots of room to the next car, put the brakes on way earlier than you would normally, and don't turn too hard/fast. Beware of black ice.
Click to expand...

Good advice. I'll add:

When fall/winter hit, think layers. Temperatures will fluctuate 30+ degrees in a single day, and it becomes easy to either overheat or freeze if you don't bring the right stuff. That said, you get used to it pretty quick. The most frustrating things will be the black ice and slush (the snow melts partially during the day, and freezes again at night). I usually have a comical spill at least once a winter on the black ice.

As for driving, I recommend that after (or during, if you can) the first major snowstorm, drive over to the nearest school parking lot and drive around a bit. Get used to counter-steering when you skid and pumping the breaks (if you don't have ABS) when stopping. Make sure you have either all-weather or winter tires (summer tires will make for scarey nights).
 
i worked with 2 guys from arlington and they loved it there. 1 had a house, the other rented an apartment just off of mass. ave. i would definitely consider moving there myself.
 
JohnnyMCE said:
I am checking regarding just merely owning in a home certain knives but here is the law

(b) Whoever, except as provided by law, carries on his person, or carries on his person or under his control in a vehicle, any stiletto, dagger or a device or case which enables a knife with a locking blade to be drawn at a locked position, any ballistic knife, or any knife with a detachable blade capable of being propelled by any mechanism, dirk knife, any knife having a double-edged blade, or a switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which the blade is released from the handle, having a blade of over one and one-half inches, or a slung shot, blowgun, blackjack, metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles, nunchaku, zoobow, also known as klackers or kung fu sticks, or any similar weapon consisting of two sticks of wood, plastic or metal connected at one end by a length of rope, chain, wire or leather, a shuriken or any similar pointed starlike object intended to injure a person when thrown, or any armband, made with leather which has metallic spikes, points or studs or any similar device made from any other substance or a cestus or similar material weighted with metal or other substance and worn on the hand, or a manrikigusari or similar length of chain having weighted ends; or whoever, when arrested upon a warrant for an alleged crime, or when arrested while committing a breach or disturbance of the public peace, is armed with or has on his person, or has on his person or under his control in a vehicle, a billy or other dangerous weapon other than those herein mentioned and those mentioned in paragraph (a), shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years in the state prison, or for not less than six months nor more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction, except that, if the court finds that the defendant has not been previously convicted of a felony, he may be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction.
basically switchs, butterfly, double sided's are all illegal.
Click to expand...

See bolded. I'm pretty sure, by English, my bolded text makes an effective sentence, and translates out as nothing more than 1.5" in length. Which is obviously nuts. Haven't these people heard of run-on sentences, and paragraphs?

In practical terms, I've been carrying a 4" body, 3" blade, assisted opening knife with a visible clip on my pocket for years, and I don't think it's ever even been noticed.
 
crashtestdummy said:
Good advice. I'll add:

When fall/winter hit, think layers. Temperatures will fluctuate 30+ degrees in a single day, and it becomes easy to either overheat or freeze if you don't bring the right stuff. That said, you get used to it pretty quick. The most frustrating things will be the black ice and slush (the snow melts partially during the day, and freezes again at night). I usually have a comical spill at least once a winter on the black ice.

As for driving, I recommend that after (or during, if you can) the first major snowstorm, drive over to the nearest school parking lot and drive around a bit. Get used to counter-steering when you skid and pumping the breaks (if you don't have ABS) when stopping. Make sure you have either all-weather or winter tires (summer tires will make for scarey nights).
Click to expand...

Doh, should've mentioned the winter tires. Biggest difference you'll see really, my summer A&S tires sucked in snow, dedicated winter tires make life tolerable. If a car doesn't have ABS, just leave it at home as a summer toy. Been there, done that, no fucking fun at all.

Burlington Mall should give him a nice snowy playground though. 😀
 
Btw Davis is more or less mix of young couples and college kids. I think it is one of the better areas west of the river (I live in Boston myself; but I like the waterfront). It takes a bit of effort to find non-college housing around Davis and it is not cheap.

It really depends on your life style; if your married and want things quiet then you can find better (cheaper/higher quality) accommodations a bit outside the city (and closer to work). If you are single and looking to mingle I would make the effort to deal with the commute (and not so wonderful housing) and live near Arlington or Davis Square.
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Winter: As noted above we do get lots of snow (not so much ice as; big difference I noticed between here and when I lived in tenn; in Tenn tons of ice). However they do plow here and it does not get bitter cold. Nothing like the midwest (milwaukee, minn, chicago) where the temp can be sub zero for extended periods.
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You might check how close your office is to the commuter rail; I suspect not very if it is in Burlington proper; but if outside it might be near enough to drive your housing decision.
 
MotF Bane said:
Doh, should've mentioned the winter tires. Biggest difference you'll see really, my summer A&S tires sucked in snow, dedicated winter tires make life tolerable. If a car doesn't have ABS, just leave it at home as a summer toy. Been there, done that, no fucking fun at all.

Burlington Mall should give him a nice snowy playground though. 😀
Click to expand...


I disagree there. I've had abs-less cars, and survived just fine. The key is to be practiced enough that you don't freak out and keep pushing the break pedal harder so you keep skidding. After a while you learn to brake a little, release, break a little, release, etc. I will agree that your learning curve will be quicker if you have ABS, though.
 
First, renting in the Boston area is horribly expensive. My one bed/1 bath which was $1300 (plus utilities!) a couple years back is now going for $1600+, and this is in North Reading!

My advice is to rent from an owner as opposed to a big complex with guaranteed rental increases every year. Tons of people are looking to rent their condos, etc since they aren't selling very well (or they are underwater).

Next, places inside of the 95/128 loop are generally more expensive than outside. Outside of 495 is cheaper yet, so you can look into Chelmsford or Billerica. I have friends who live in Woburn, its nice enough, but it really depends on what you're looking for.

Cambridge and Somerville are essentially college towns and have a younger demographic and tons of stuff to do every night. Commuting out of that area is horrible though, even if you have a reverse commute since its basically back roads to the highway, just FYI. If you can take the T/Commuter rail to your office then that would alleviate that particular issue.

Winters are too bad, I would invest in a small shovel for your car for when you get snowed/plowed in and a good set of gloves, but other than that you should be fine. I moved up from Houston TX and have been fine.

I know nothing about the weapons laws around here.
 
definitely agree on the winter comment. Spend a couple extra bucks and invest in some nice warm clothing. REI can be pricey but some of their stuff is amazing at keeping in body heat! Also you want to keep a small winter emergency kit in your car (rock salt, medium size shovel, blankets, ice scraper, windshield washer fluid, food and liquids, rope, basic emergency stuff, portable jump start kit) in case your car stalls out or you get stuck in a spot at work.

As for the knives policies i completely agree that it is ridiculous, but it's good to have this information if i cop really wants to get strict they can enforce this (I used to carry a knife every day for work when i worked for a moving company). Basically you can buy this stuff just don't get caught taking it home.
 
crashtestdummy said:
I disagree there. I've had abs-less cars, and survived just fine. The key is to be practiced enough that you don't freak out and keep pushing the break pedal harder so you keep skidding. After a while you learn to brake a little, release, break a little, release, etc. I will agree that your learning curve will be quicker if you have ABS, though.
Click to expand...

The best way to learn about driving in snow and ice is wait for a big storm and find a large empty parking lot that is iced over. Then just go nuts. slam on the brakes, tap the breaks, do some donuts, just to learn how you and your car reacts to the loss of control. I had some great times doing this when i was 17.
 
JohnnyMCE said:
The best way to learn about driving in snow and ice is wait for a big storm and find a large empty parking lot that is iced over. Then just go nuts. slam on the brakes, tap the breaks, do some donuts, just to learn how you and your car reacts to the loss of control. I had some great times doing this when i was 17.
Click to expand...

I did the same, just make sure the parking lot doesn't have those little cement/concrete dividers in between each spot (which would prevent a pull through). I scoped out idea lots prior to the snow just to make sure, cause if there is 4-6" you wont be able to tell!
 
if you can hook me up with a job, i will help you 😉

The only thing i can say is good luck with the traffic. 95 is a parking lot where it hits Burlington because it intersects with 93.

easy access to Boston... Woburn comes to mind. Just look at the mbta website and see where the train goes by.
 
Gibson486 said:
if you can hook me up with a job, i will help you 😉

The only thing i can say is good luck with the traffic. 95 is a parking lot where it hits Burlington because it intersects with 93.

easy access to Boston... Woburn comes to mind. Just look at the mbta website and see where the train goes by.
Click to expand...

And 95 makes a mess of 93 too.

Get rid of 128, it's the cure!

😛
 
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