Realism (Boston, Winthrop: apartments, skateboarding, renter)

OK,

So I have a Q for those who are in the know.

About a year ago my oldest childhood friend called me up and said she had just got back from a trip to Boston to see one of her buddies. She said she decided to move there upon her return. I was in awe because this was the first place she had ever traveled to outside of our hometown area. She is not a roadtripper nor does she like to go to far from home either on short stints. So this was surprising, but I also thought maybe she just got bit by the travel bug, and "moving there" was part of her needing to continue her new found travel adventures.

Then about 4 months ago around Xmas she told me she wanted to leave by March. In Feb it changed to "hopefully by the end of the year" that they just don't have enough money to make the move.
Then last week she said she has a firm move date of mid June and they will have 6 months of living expenses saved to go. She set the date for when her kiddo gets out of school.

I asked her
“So whats the plan for the move?”

She said
“We selling the car to pay the moving expenses and all flying to Boston and we are just going to wing it from there”. [Going to Wing a Coast to Coast move- Ehh?]

I said
“OK what do you plan on doing for work out there, are there many convalescent homes you can put your granny skills to work at?”
She said
“No I think Ill go for fast food or something general”

Background:
Our age group is about 40. (I am 39 I think I have 9 mo on her, but in that ball park.)

She has 1 15/16 yo son. She is moving with her partner (she says Boston is more Gay Friendly. Our families live outside Palm Springs so I dont know about that, PS is pretty GF) .

She has no more than HS diploma.(We both went to the same C-School I cant remember if she finished or not I had alot of friends drop out in the time period but lets just say she did finish)
[Boston is College Town, how will she compete with ANYONE for even the basic level service sector job if they all have or are attaining BA/MA/PHD's ect?]

She has been a caregiver for her aging grandmother for over ten years now being paid about 800$ mo by the state for her In Home Care (which I believe ends up as a 1099 at the end of the year). Her partner does not work due to health issues and gets 500$ mo SS.
[So 1300$ mo TI-now 500$ mo to move there and qualify on]

Her last W2 paid job was 2003? 2002? working for local gas fill station. So over ten years now wont be verifiable anymore.
[How will she compete with other applicants for a job with no current W2 job experience?]

Their housing is a family house in the area that is super cheap- I think between 50$-200$ for the house on 5 acres (I think its 3/2) passed down in the family after her great grandmothers death back in 1997.
[How will she be able to shift past 200$ mo at a high to 2K month rent?]

1997 was when she left the rental market. So she has not kept up with the rental requirements. Really in our area back then you didn't need to qualify for anything, have credit, have anything but the money and they gave you the keys. done.
[How will she Qual for 3X rent without a job to base that on to get approved for the housing application EVEN IF she can pay all the move in costs up front? No Co-Signer]

She works mostly on her phone for connect-ability (Sprint Network ) and turned off her home internet years ago due to affordability. Does not have any computer. It broke years ago(2008-2009?) and she never got another one.
[how does one fill out/print out apps without a computer]

They don't do CREDIT at all. Only debit cards, so she does not have anything recent on her profile for qualifying for a score or a qualify for NO DEPOSITs on Utilities (car loan I think like 10 years back but I'm pretty sure that would have aged off by now)
[How will she compete with other renter applicants without credit?]

They have a cat they are bringing.
[Pet Deposit and limiting her already complicated rental quest]

My thoughts,

In between, I have been reading on here trying to get an idea of the reality of things. And I just have this feeling she is going to end up homeless, stranded, and waiting for public housing and that vacation dream is going to crumble very soon upon arrival.

Her family is now going to sell the house she has been living in all these years after her move and so she will have no place to return to if/when this move crumbles. She will have no car and from what I can see no way to get another one again due to the cost of living she will face or fall from out there.

Her friend, she said- has done well for herself in a barber shop in Winthrop I believe, (they are aiming to be there with the friend), the friend has no kids and no attachments, rents I think they said for 800 mo 1b1b on the beach? (Sounds really cheap but who knows I don't live there) and has been there about 2 years now or so. I think this friend has done "so well" that they want to follow said person due what they perceive as her fortunate experience.

I think said friend is the exception to the rule, however I don't have a figure on which to base "so well" on so I cant do real numbers for that. I also don't think my friend has actually done any looking into the area at all for feasibility. I think it truly is “just wing it” happening here.

Even so, I don't think they should rely on this one persons experience as the general rule.

I have not said anything to crush my friends dreams. I have only ever asked her questions. I would like to know if my concerns are just more consevative or if they are on par for the area for what she is going to face for challenges.

Any thoughts from those who are in the know?

[Dm84]

I'll try to make this as simple as possible.

There are poor people everywhere and there are plenty of poor people in Boston. Do I think this plan is absolutely ridiculous? Yes. Does what I think matter? No.

[Space_League]

i hope you can talk them out of it. Boston already has too many folks on the dole we don't need any more

[CaseyB]

Not a smart idea to screw around with her son's life like that. Can't you at least talk her into waiting until the boy has graduated high school?

[xS☺B☺s]

Actually just due to the fact Boston has the high end schools leaves a lot more job openings at fast food and 7-11's. There's always help wanted signs for those. Winthrop 800 a month is a maybe. I've seen bargains there. Winthrop is kinda remote imo. Not far from town, but hard to get to.

Hey, maybe she's just tired of the same old scene and sees Boston as an interesting place worth having some life experience. If she works hard, Bostonians will take care of her. Bostonians respect hard work more than most places in the USA. And opportunities abound. Work hard in Boston - there's room for growth. I went from 8.50 an hour to 100K.

Sometimes people just need a new start. Worked for me when I was a kid. Was tired on WMass, went down to Miami in January - got a job and place same day and life just started! Can be done! :-)

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by xS☺B☺s

Actually just due to the fact Boston has the high end schools leaves a lot more job openings at fast food and 7-11's. There's always help wanted signs for those. Winthrop 800 a month is a maybe. I've seen bargains there. Winthrop is kinda remote imo. Not far from town, but hard to get to.

Hey, maybe she's just tired of the same old scene and sees Boston as an interesting place worth having some life experience. If she works hard, Bostonians will take care of her. Bostonians respect hard work more than most places in the USA. And opportunities abound. Work hard in Boston - there's room for growth. I went from 8.50 an hour to 100K.

Sometimes people just need a new start. Worked for me when I was a kid. Was tired on WMass, went down to Miami in January - got a job and place same day and life just started! Can be done! :-)

You haven't lived here in years and your previous fairy tale posts indicate you aren't familiar with the dramatic changes that have occurred in Boston in the past decade that make starting at the very bottom daunting. Telling someone with no skills that moving to Boston is an automatic ticket to a better life is foolish. Plenty of people work their assses off here and struggle financially. I'm glad it worked out for you.

FYI - Minimum wage in Massachusetts is now $9/hour and doesn't even come close to providing an adequate living.

[Bob Lanata]

Some people just need to go with it and find themselves. Hope she does well. I recommend wishing your friend well.

I have been supportive of her thoughts and ideas. I do not want to crush her ideas for change. I agree with change when one feels they need it. life is change. But then theres reality.

Her son really wants to go to Boston as well, the whole family is on board with this.

The fact is there are costs associated with urban living that rural living does face, as well as other costs that arise one does not anticipate even in the best laid plans.

At 9$ an hour if her rent ends up being 2K for a basic 2bed1ba and she makes 40hr work weeks she will gross 1440 mo. Which is still short 560$ for rent @ 2k mo. And thats not adding in any other costs. Assuming one does not eat the whole month or pay any bills, or use any public transportation or incur any other cost.

There are so many other factors in cost of living rent is just one, the main one- but there are other components that make the equation a whole.

I lived in a college town for quite a while and that was with only two schools a SU and a CC, and with only those two colleges there were NEVER any entry level jobs available unless it was summer. College kids were always given preference because they were the towns bread and butter.

I cant imagine it being ANY different in Boston, which is just a BIGGER version of my college town. Also all the leases were wound around a 9 month agreement, and specific housing not part of the university system was set aside for college kids and didn't even take families/working class because it was structured for college housing.

It made it harder to find working class housing than it would be if there was no college kids to compete with given there are no other encumbrances. I didn't have kids, was not married, and did not have any pets at that point- and with just me and 1 roommate it was still difficult to find anything for the working class person. Also costs were more because the COL was structured around the *expected* income based on the revenue generated by the State University System, which only went up every single year.

This is not the good old days, and as a general rule people pay more now and get less even with a higher wage. Under the best of circumstances there is always a possible undertow.

Our families live in a small town north of Palm Springs that has a 1220 population. Boston Pop is about 700,000. I think it is the Lure of the Excitement she saw when she left our little town for the first time ever in her life that has captured or drawn her.

I travel. I have been a traveler since I got my first car. Every weekend with my friends, concerts, road trips, snowboarding, skateboarding, hiking, camping, dirt boarding, ..whatever. My travels have taken me to so many places and my mother was a traveler before me, and my grandmother before her, great grandmother ect...

One thing that I know for sure is a Vacation is 180 degrees from day to day living. It is not the same at all. Vacationing is a one time expense. Day to Day living is a 24 / 7 expense, and the shortfall comes when one does not account for the day to day area prices and tries to base a move off of a vacation trip filled with good times.

[Dm84]

LOL. No way she can rent a 2 BR at $2k a month on $9/hour.

[charolastra00]

I suppose there might be a handful of apartments for $800 in Winthrop, but those are the exception, not the rule. Most apartments also do not have heat and hot water included. I live with other New Englanders and kept my heat at 62 when we were home and 58 when we weren't or at night all winter and our oil cost was over $1000. Electricity is sky high here - in the last few months, we've spent over $200 a month (though, granted, I live with 2 roommates and we all are in techy careers that require work from home).

For a financial picture - I'm a 27 year old professional whose only current debt is a car payment (though I have higher than average medical bills) and I live with roommates despite making almost 60K a year. I wouldn't feel comfortable with the dramatically reduced cushion I'd have living alone - and I'm single! What about saving for retirement, emergencies, her son's college? All are MUCH more expensive to achieve here.

People certainly do live here on a lot less, but often with family or with roommates.