Incidentally, in response to the remark about Boston being "crowded" - last time I checked, we had fewer than 600,000 residents IN TOTAL. I think it would be fair to characterize Boston as being one of the smallest (most walkable, livable, etc.) "big" cities in the country.

Just this morning, an article in the Boston Globe described that just the public school system in NYC has more than 1 million students! Eeegads, but that is big. Our own public system, where I am a high school teacher and my 3 kids are happily enrolled, has fewer than 60,000 students.

Anyway, best of luck with your move, should it happen. My personal experience of Burlington is that it features a very large Mall. Hope others will chime in with more.

Best wishes!

Boston is not crowded. There is the downtown area, which has a few highrises and a lot of brownstone-type buildings and apartment building. The further from downtown the larger the lots get and the less urban it is unless you are near another Mass city (and they are not large by city standards).

I grew up a few towns north of Burlington, in a town that is a little more rural. Route 3 north takes you to NH, 128 and then 93 takes you to Boston. I personally wouldn't want to drive Route 3 from NH everyday if I could avoid it, pretty bad traffic. But there are a lot of nice towns within easy commuting distance. There are a lot of companies on the 128 belt. Burlington has a big shopping mall and a lot of other shopping centers.

It's not something I would panic about. It's going to be far less urban than Philly. There is a wide variety of towns and homes within a short commute of Burlington.

If you like the city you can live in Boston or Cambridge. Concord is beautiful, but expensive (same with Lexington). Carlisle is pretty rural. Tewksbury and Burlington have a mix of homes (newer and larger, older and smaller), as does Bedford. It gets more rural the more north or west you go.

What are you looking for in a house? What is your ideal town like?

I don't know Phily really well, but I've been there a few times. I suspect you'd find it kind of similar. There's an urban core (Boston) and then a bunch of suburbs, some nicer than others. Boston has a lot of educated people, but also a lot of working class folks, and most communities have some of each (althoughobviously it varies).

I woudl consider takign the job, but not buying right away. See if you like it.

There's more snow here, but cities and towns are better equipped to handle it. The public transportation is a bit better than Philly, in my opinion.

There is a lot of traffic. I would highly recommend finding out where your job would be and looking for a place to live based on the commute and how you plan to get there, either driving or by public transportation.

Boston, like Philly, has lots to do, museums, theaters, sports, you name it. Because of the high concentration of colleges and universities in the area, there is always plenty going on. Lots of good historical sites, too, just like Philly.

I'm biased towards Boston because my family is originally from here. Both Boston and Philly strike me as "livable" cities, big enough to have lots going on, small enough to be able to walk around. New York, on the other hand, always makes me feel as though I hit the ground running and have to keep running just to keep up, sort of like being on a treadmill that's just a bit too fast.

What I like about Arlington, which is about a 30 minute drive from Burlington, is that I can live on a quiet city residential street, but only have to walk to the end of the block to be on Mass Ave, the commercial center of the town. From there, I can pick up a bus to Cambridge. I can walk to the other end of my street and get on a Rails-to-Trails bike/walk way that takes me to the subway in about 12 minutes. Arlington, which is officially a town, is more urban than Burlington.

You can probably get more house for the money in NH, but check out the commute carefully. There are buses that run from Portsmouth, NH to Boston for commuters who don't want to drive. I suspect there are buses from other cities as well. But you are looking at a long commute from NH.

My brother just found out that the MBTA Commuter Rail offers free rides to veterans. He is now saving over $200 a month on his daily commute into Boston from Billerica.

But if you want a small town Burlington isn't it. Burlington is on two highways and is sort of the line between the more urban and less urban northwest suburbs. I grew up north of Burlington and considered it much more city-ish when I was growing up. In Mass. they don't really speak of "Boston suburbs" unless you are in the towns just west of Boston (generally called "Metro West"). Burlington is northwest. You will also here reference to the North Shore, South Shore, Merrimack Valley, etc.

Knowing exactly where in Burlington the office is will help you pin down which direction you may want to look. Carlisle is a small town (they heavily restrict growth) near Burlington, but it is very expensive and there is a certain aspect of "keeping up with the Jones'" when you are in Carlisle, Concord, Lincoln and Lexington.

Based on what you described in Phil., consider Westford, Reading, or Bedford for living. Good schools, nice communities, newer housing stock/decent lot size with plenty of garages.

Winchester is very nice, excellent schools, but more expensive.

I live in Melrose--very "Victorian", old houses, charm, etc., but I'd say only 50% of houses have garages. Lot sizes here are small.

Originally from the Midwest...Lived practically all over the US.

I must make a comment about "people". Keep in mind that I am generalizing. Not all people fall into the same basket, but many do. I am drawing my comments from personal experiences.

Terrig 2007- I have experienced nice & not so nice people everywhere I lived. But lets address the Northerners & the Southerners. The stark difference between the Northerners & the Southerners is that the Northerner tell you how it is. They walk fast. They are succinct. They talk fast & are efficient. You may take that as unfriendly. Religion is a personal belief up here. Nobody bothers you about it. They mind their own business, unless you wish to tell them yours. Now that may not be your style.

The Southereners are very nice to your face. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?... They invite you over for dinner. The next day they stab you in the back. The phone rings practically daily to join someones church...Just my experience...

So choose your style ;)

I only visited Philly & Boston. I love the fact that both have a lot of history. However, Ma is much prettier than Pa. Just my 2 cents.

Spunky ma z6- No matter how bad the schools are in the NE, they are still much better than in Pa or the South ;)

I grew up in Massachusetts (south shore), and now live in Atlanta. I also went to school in Pittsburgh and have lived in Asia and Europe.

What I have found in my experience is that there are pockets of "regional behavior", as I call it, that are only found in very isolated spots-the closer you get to any sort of culture or mass transportation, the more "globalized" people become. So, yes, there are some tiny towns all over the planet where you can find bible thumping, fast walking unfriendly backstabbers (amalgamation for humorous purposes only, here), but in general, if you seek out neighborhoods and towns that tend to attract educated people, you're going to find a mix of every human quality, good and bad, regardless of location.

Oh, and there are schools in the south that are better than schools in the north. Another gross generalization. Again, look for the people that value education highly, and you'll find that those neighborhood schools are also high performing, as well.

Find your "tribe", and you'll be fine, no matter where in the world you are.

tribe=people with a similar socio-economic, educational and core value system. (note, this does not mean ethnicity.)

Hey Spunky-neighbor... Melrosian here too!