Monday, December 19, 2005

Why, You Ask?

to answer Michele's question about why we decided to move to Minneapolis, there are three major reasons:

1) the housing market in boston and massachusetts is unreal. right now, phillip and i live in a "upscale" neighborhood (that's a laugh) and pay $1,100 a month for a 200 square foot studio. ok, let's be generous and say it's 250 square feet. i think you get my point - it's teeny. unless you want to have three or four roommates, what we pay is pretty cheap. and they are raising the rent $50 in february, and some jackass will pay it, too! when i lived in allston i paid what i'm paying now ($550/my half) and i lived with three other guys. our rent was $2,600 split 4 ways, depending on the size of the room we had, with no utilities included. it wasn't a bad situation because the guys i lived with were cool, but many times people aren't so lucky. if you don't believe me about apartment prices, just click here. my boston friends say "why don't you just live in (enter suburb name here)?" and my answer is ALWAYS "no way. we're not suburb people." plus, we don't own a car and there's very little (if any) public transportation out those parts. but let's say for the sake of argument there is. that factors in an enormous commute with bus and train passes costing upwards of $35 a month, which leads me to my next point.

2) quality of life. life in boston is no longer fun, stress free, or bearable for us. everything is too expensive. rent is too much, food is too much, and entertainment (what's left of it) is too costly. yes, there are MANY free things to do in boston, but to be honest, we've either done them or we're not interested (read: fun family and kid friendly crap). the scene we used to love has gone down the toilet. the clubs we used to frequent have closed and there's not many other choices for "our type" of people. yes, we can go out and see live bands every day of the week, but that's $10-15 a person. it's just no fun when you have to shell out $50 a night to have some drinks and see a show. i know that it will be cheaper in other parts of the country, namely Mpls because boston is the most expensive city in the US at this point. and we're just falling deeper into the debt hole every day that we live here. this makes us depressed and stressed and our quality of life takes a big, fat, nosedive.

3) the job market and opportunities are in the toilet. at my job, there's a wage, hiring, and promotion freeze. that means that i will not be advancing in my position anytime soon, if ever. so why stay with a company (that happens to be run by the government) if i'm going to be making the same (tiny) wage in 5 years that i'm making now, all while the cost of EVERYTHING rises? no way. i can't do it. sure, you're saying i can just find another job that pays more in boston and make that move. i suggest you go back and read the first sentence. and then read it again. and check statistics if you're still not sure if i'm being truthful. the job market in the twin cities is flourishing and i'm looking forward to taking advantage of it. that will allow me to save more money to do the things that we would like to do. seriously, i get all excited thinking about how i'll be able to afford my rent even if i have a retail job! here in boston, i can barely pay my rent and i make "good money". hell, i was contemplating about picking up a retail job just to make ends meet. instead, i opted to work 7 days a week at my regular job. and that is sucking the life right out of me. it's a catch 22. and i can't win.

so in summary, the reason to move to Minneapolis is simple. there are jobs that allows career advancement and a paycheck that will allow us to save for the future. with this job and a city that has reasonable rents, we will be pretty much guaranteed a higher quality of life than we have in boston right now. and that, my friends, is what's most important. if we stay in boston one more year we'll be in financial ruin and probably divorced. and neither of us want that.

i'm sure you don't want that for us either.

6 comments:

halloweenlover said...

How did I miss this!!!

Awwww, Boston is losing two fantastic people, but I hope you love your new home. I agree that financial stability and not having to kill yourself is KEY. We have discussed moving elsewhere, but we're stuck for the time being at least. Good luck in all the planning and moving. I'm really happy for the two of you!

Honey Bunny said...

yeah, we're looking forward to it. paying as much as bostonians do for rent should be criminal. it's so hard to get ahead in this city unless you make upwards of $75K, which we don't.

we've got everything pretty much planned out. we just have to reserve our moving date and then buy plane tickets, since we're shipping all our stuff out there. i'll be writing more about it as i can. :)

Lucas said...

HB- As someone who moved to MN 4 years ago, I think you have made a fine choice! The Twin Cities area is really fabulous, there's tons to do and see and it's consistantly rated as one of the top areas for quality of life. I lived in a loft in downtown St. Paul and paid $1,300.00 a month. The loft was close to 1000 sq. feet! I now live in a house in St. Paul in a real live neighborhood where people say hello to eachother and watch out for eachother. It's awesome. I'm sure you'll be able to find a fabulous space that is much bigger and much cheaper than what you had. Space. Ahhhh. So good for the soul. The people here are really decent and all these wonderful aspects of the area help make up for the long, cold winters. But despite the temps, there's ALWAYS something going on here. Remember to check in with your blogger pals when you get here. Looking forward to meeting you at the next Lit 6 Project which should be taking place in Jan or Feb. Check out Captain Geoff's blog for a preview. Take care and happy moving!

Voix said...

Sounds like some brilliant reasoning to me. Looking forward to meeting you. And you'll be paying a lot less in rent, I guarantee it.

Anonymous said...

Living in Minneapolis isn't all that it's cracked up to be. The rent isn't that cheap. People here are two-faced. Sure, they'll say high to you, but then they'll be nasty behind your back. Also, good luck making friends since everyone is born here and stays here, it is hard to break into social cliques. I live in Minneapolis, and I can't wait to move.

Honey Bunny said...

dear anonymous:

i think you're assuming that i didn't do extensive research before deciding to move to Mpls. and it's quite obvious you didn't even click the link that shows you that it's impossible to find an apartment in boston for under $1K a month. and i think you missed the part about how i'm paying $1,200 right now for A 200 sq ft STUDIO. so don't come telling me that rent in Mpls/StP "isn't cheap". we found a 1 br near lake clahoun for HALF of what we're paying here. so maybe $600/mo for a one br isn't cheap for you. sorry to hear that, but coming from living in the most expensive city in the US, that's a motherfucking bargain.

and again, there isn't a place on earth more snooty, pretentious, stuck up, or back stabby than boston. i've lived here for 10 years...i know.

i'm also a woman who knows how to make friends. i'm sorry you're not.

and lastly, if you hate Mpls so much...



MOVE THE FUCK OUT and stop whining about how much it sucks.



there...i feel better now.