a year in Pittsburgh or Boston?

[syd]

My dh has the possibility of taking a posting in Pittsburgh Penn or there's a permanent position in Boston Mass although he'd have nothing to come back to when we came home from this second one. Does anyone have any experience of moving to the US with a 6 year old and a 3 year old, the places, any pitfalls or things to think about before we make a decision. I don't even have a grasp as to what salaries are like and what we should be asking for as we'll have to rent - feel a bit like a fish out of water and I don't think we'll get much guidance from his firm. We'll rent out our house here hopefully but all our furniture would have to go into storage.

Any suggestions, tips, horror stories gratefully received!

Pittsburgh a dump - Boston lovely

There would be no choice in my mind

BOSTON BOSTON BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wins hands up - we lived in Washington DC for three years and travelled widely while we were there - it was the place we would like to live out of the whole of the States

Went out with a 4 and one year old to New York also for three years, after Washington - school starting ages are different but its 6 so your eldest will be fine - and go into Kindergarten (same as Reception). Then they go into the Grade Levels (First Grade etc). American children get loads of homework - starts in First Grade, my dd had 2 hours a night!

The best bit of advice we had was not to think that because they speak English it will be like the UK but warmer! You are going to a foreign country, and they are very different to us. Salaries are very high - much higher than the UK hence everything like rents and utilities and any service industry charges are high. All said and done we would move back like a shot

Agree that Cape Cod is totally wonderful and your two children will love it - as will you

Go enjoy and have a fantastic experience - my two still ask when are we going to go back (ds says 'back home'! as he was one when we went. Dd wants to live there when she is older (she was born out there on our first posting and has a American passport so theres hope!)

Ops - meant hands down

Must get to bed

Please let me know if you have any specific queries - we rented and put our things into storage like you. Companies exist there that will rent a whole house of furniture to you for a monthly fee, you just visit their warehouse, pick what you like and they work out the monthly fee. It may be cheaper to buy though, and if you are staying there it would be more economic

I am so !!!

Would love to spend some serious time in Boston, its a great city and has loads to offer the family.

Have never been to Pittsburgh, but I think its quite a grim industrial place, probably because its where the pretend Nanny in Goodfellas got the drugs from!

Boston would be close to the top of my list of 'great places to live'

Boston no question.

Only visited myself but loved it. Lovely compact city, which "felt" nice.

Dh lived near Boston for a few years before I knew him (in Nashua) and says Boston is his second favourite city in the whole world (after Glasgow ). He'd love to go back.

Is your dh fairly "marketable"? Is he confident that he's be able to find something when you came back? Is it a case of "if" you come back, as you say it is a permanent position?

Definitely Boston. Pittsburgh is not what one would call a major city. The cost of living is higher in Boston, but that is because Boston is just all around a much nicer place to live, more cosmopolitan, more to do, etc. Not many people move to Pittsburgh if they are not from there or if they have no choice. Boston, however, draws many people from everywhere. This is really basic info. I have never lived in either place, but have visited both numerous times and have friends in both places. You will feel more a sense of community in Boston - whereas, my sense is that it is difficult to make friends in Pittsburgh, although obviously there are pockets of communities here and there. Sorry if this is a bit vague. Good luck with your decision.

Thanks for all this. No news yet but work has started on our upstairs - did I say we have no bathroom or ever even decorated top floor so have to get it all sorted just in case.

Don't know how it would be when we came back. Pittsburgh posting would have a time set on it but they say, whilst being high profile, they wouldn't guarantee a post back here. Boston they classify as permanent so.....

Anyway dh came back from work on Friday saying the whole structure is being changed in the uk and his job is going to change so he feels this lends even more weight to the going to US thing. Felt a bit weird about that on Fri night - but having read your messages today feel a bit more okay about it all. But there again, it has to be Boston doesn't it!?

I think really he doesn't want to go on doing what he's doing - packaging design - as where we live in Yorkshire it's totally focussed on teh print industry and he's from a multi media background and feels constrained design-wise here. They just don't value design per se here. Although moving north was the right thing from a family view I think he always thinks about what it's done to his career - he had an approach from Saatchis the week he left which doesn't help even though it's 6 years ago now. So to cut my rambling short, what I'm saying is I don't know that he is immediately thinking about what he'd come back to. Another plumber in the making if the truth be told!

Syd

Also Boston felt quite British (even a Next there in 1993!) compaired to other US cities - near to Canada too if you want to get your Brit fix (they have M&S's!)