Planning to Move North

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Graf James von Hegner on June 17, 2010 at 3:16am

The Boston Metro area (including Salem) would fit your criteria. There are active communities in the genre you mentioned, but you did not mention what type of work you might be looking for, and that would influence housing affordability.

Permalink Reply by Conrad Fletcher on June 17, 2010 at 5:48am

What Cairo said.

In addition, as someone who lived in Salem for years, it's amazing... for eight months out of the year. The other four months are abysmal. We're talking a special kind of hell abysmal. October in Salem is not cool despite what you might think. It's a drunken frat party extending from one end of the city full of gawkers come to point and stare at the freaks, queers, and witches. Driving, there's two ways into Salem (so there's only two ways out) so no matter what you're driving through that frat party.

You want to look in the Medford/Somerville/Cambridge, Jamaica Plain (make sure you're looking at the freak friendly side), South End, and Back Bay (more expensive) areas if you're looking at Massachusetts. If you really want to do Salem stay to Danvers, Peabody, or Beverly. They're all right next to Salem, but have better highway accessibility and see less of the tourist mess.

Permalink Reply by Whisper Merlot on June 17, 2010 at 1:54pm

oh em gee, yes please move north!

new england is beautiful, and there CAN be a strong gay community.

Rhode Island - just outside of providence RI is "warick" RI and that seems much more affordable. there are gaming stores and such there as well. and a small, loyal group of otaku, steampunks, and general geeks. it's also not too far from NYC by bus. their art scene can be really restrictive. there's not a lot of money being put forward for the arts these days, and so we dealt with a lot more negative and territorial artists and performers in RI than anywhere else. they are all, understandably, fighting for their inch of the art scene because there's not a lot available to keep funding going. RISD's area is really nice, and some cool stuff comes out of it. but if you're not in the college, or in with people in the scene for the past ten years, you will be cock blocked.

maine- while has some excellent people and portland me is one of the cities i would live in if it was near anything beyond itself... well it's about 2 1/2 hours from boston. and the gay community and otaku community is small- strong, but small. Anything more than an hour north of Portland- even though Augusta IS up there somewhere- is "Way the F*** Up, Maine" and all those jokes about yokels... are. not. jokes.

new hampshire- my personal favorite, just because i know it well, in Southern NH at least. not a terribly strong gay community, a growing otaku community, and close enough to boston if you're in Nashua NH that it's good for trips into the city for a nightclub or concert. Winters were not as bad in southern NH as they had been in other places- as it is in a warm pocket- and there is a good set-up for public transport within Nashua but that's about it. I'm not sure why New Hampshire has a huge pull on my heart, but I think it might do with way less taxes- if you're not owning a house- no insurance needed for health or cars, and no sales tax. When you're at the poverty level, those things really seem to count. Oh, yeah, and "Live Free or Die" is a great motto. NH is the only state, I think, that has actively come out and said "We will not take the OneID. And we actively encourage people to come live here to vote against it passing in our state." I love the strong back people have when it comes to personal freedoms there. You're also only about 1.5 hours from Providence, 2 hrs from Portland, about an hour from Boston. Anything more north than Manchester, NH and you're in no man's land. As amazing as the green mountains jutting straight up into forever can be, just visit.

Massachusetts- has a well established gay community, what with being the first state to legalize gay marriage. however, that's about as far as it goes, really. if you're not "part" of the boston group or someone gets bitchy about you, yer outta there. boston is a gorgeous city, smaller than philly or nyc obviously, but larger than portland and providence. 4 hours by bus to nyc. Salem is a nice place, but like someone already said: gets stupid in october. visit in late september, i promise you wont be disappointed. there's worcester, but it's an ugly city from what i've seen. Most of MA has a less than optimal public transport system set up. Unless you live IN the city or on one of the lines, you're not getting many places. There are commuter rails, but you could find yourself on a trip for 2 hours to get somewhere you could have driven to in less than 45 minutes by car. I spent most of my life in MA, and know it very well. The job scene is unbearable, or was a few years ago, and the taxation is terrible. You need to have health insurance or you get taxed; you need to have car insurance or you get fined. But the fall is lovely, even if winters can be harsh. There are some great Halloween parks around. (NH is starting to catch on, too; I call South NH "Little Massachusetts" heh) Western MA can be the same as Vermont- not a lot to do except in small pockets.

Connecticut- not affordable. has some nice people in the ren-scene, a few of my favorite steampunks, but not something two young gents would really be able to enjoy i think, having spent a few months living there. the whole state does not feel welcoming, from the law and government, despite that there are some extraordinarily nice folks there, and the view down by the ocean is lovely. not very far from NYC at all by train if you are in Southern CT. Jobs seems scarce even for the folks living there. The countryside is intensely amazing, but ...drive through it and you'll be fine. cap and i refer to this as "the great wall of new england" because f*** that s*** when trying to drive anywhere else.

vermont- while gorgeous and has a long history of being open to gay couples, it's just plain far from the action for two gents looking for some easy citylife access. visit her, though. especially in the summer.

Non-New England:

nyc- i've had reviews of the city on all sides. some people love it, some people leave it thinking its a rat infested hell hole that sucks your life and creativity from you. but they all pretty much agree: its f****** EXPENSIVE to live there. and if it's not, you're in the slums. and you dont feel safe. it can be a lot nicer living about an hour and a half north by train, but you'd need to end up in a commune for to have anything remotely comfortable for living. i've seen way too many friends move to nyc to follow their dreams, having steady jobs, and then end up just so damn tired by the end of the day that they just want to stay in on nights and weekends because the idea of heading back into the city is so abysmal.

new jersey- has some areas that really remind me of new england, and some areas that (the turnpike) are horrible to think about. if you find the right place, and people, it can be affordable and fully of beautiful summer nights and thick snowfalls that melt away a lot faster than anything in new england. fall has leaves change, though not as drastically as vermont or maine might. there is a great public transport system available; where you were in mid-nj from SPWF, you were only about an hour from nyc or an hour and a half from philly by train. i will say that, surprisingly, jersey has THE most friendly communities of geeks, freaks, GLBT (and holy hell, so many trans folks!), gamers, i've run into. i'm heading to AnimeNEXT this weekend so i'll report back on the otaku community then. ^_^ and as you met a bunch of people at SPWF, you may have found as i did: the NJ steampunks tend to also be very excited and very friendly. but thats pretty par for the course of steampunks (just tread careful in the NYC steamscene when you get into the more neo-victorian groups, because there seem to be remnants of the more negative sides of the goth scene poking around.) i'm not sure about the job market. i know the job market in general up north is pretty miserable, because it costs more to live here than most other places in the States. so while, example, you might be making $8.50/hr in MA, you're also paying $1400 a month for your apartment in Brookline way at the end of the Green Line out of Boston. Jersey is full of "wuv" and that concept is confusing and enraging! :P But seriously, the communities are incredibly solid and inviting. I've been impressed, having been driving all over the place, to find that NJ has ...so much to offer, I guess? It's weird. It's not perfect, but when you peel back the Turnpike, Jersey is "it's own best kept secret."

Philadelphia- I've heard really good things about Philly's scenes and night life. There seems to be a lot of things to do there, but without the anger and in-fighting of NYC. There are geeks and steampunks that I know of, and a good GLBT crowd. The city itself I've heard it beautiful. I know plenty of people who live at the edges or just outside the edges of the city who make like nothing and still manage to scrape by and have some fun. The only thing is, it can be very expensive to get around from Philly to anywhere else more north for events and such. And driving in or out of Philly can be f****** stupid unless it's like 2-4 in the morning. That said, I know you would find yourself welcome in Philly and with chances to expand your music with gigs. I would help get you guys in contact with some people around there if you wanted, same goes for NJ. Oh, beware the homeless. Cap has never encountered more aggressive or zombie-like homeless in any other city. Brotherly Love? Eh.

Well I hope that run down helps out. There are places where you can be in cities, just out of cities, and still have access to all the things you want. Jobs are the tough one for me to gauge.

~Whisper

Permalink Reply by Captain Jason Redbeard on June 17, 2010 at 5:02pm

Middletown Ct. is midway between N.Y. City and Boston, and midway between New Haven and Hartford. Not far from either Rhode Island or Mass., and a few hours from Vermont and New Hampshire. Rents are not bad for studio apartments and the social attitude for all is realistic. There are numerous art societies and Joey Marsoci, Dr. Grymm of Steampunk fame resides here as do, Captain Jason Redbeard. We have a steampunk exhibit coming up the first part of July at Artspace in Hartford with visitors coming in from England and other places in the states. Contact Dr. Grymm for more info.

Permalink Reply by Prof. H.M. Pangloss on June 19, 2010 at 4:26pm

Thank you to everyone for your replies thus far. You're all giving such good advice.
Another thing to ask would be places to avoid; shady, sketchy, or downright unpleasant places. Also places where crime is a major problem.
I am torn between the hometown feel and the big city feel. But I suppose in the north you can balance both quite well.

Permalink Reply by Friya Ann Archer on October 14, 2010 at 8:18pm

I'm terribly sorry it took me so long to respond, life sometimes gets in the way. New england is a lovely area, as the seasons are very much a part of our daily lives. I love driving around at this time of the year. The trees are beautiful, the apple & pumpkin picking is wonderful & there is nothing like walking around Salem during Oct. I have also lived in PA & did enjoy my time there. The history & sites are amazing. I myself live in the next town over from Salem currenly. I get the best of living near enough to enjoy the history, without the hassel of the traffic. RI is also beautiful, with providence & surrounding areas being very tolerent of the many differences of its residence. I live near the local art college & its many outing & venues. There are many wonderful places to live in the areas you have chosen. Just be cautious as to what areas you are looking at. There are many nice places in Salem & the surrounding areas, but there are also some not so beautiful areas. The same goes for PA & RI. If you have an area within the state & city you are looking at I could advise if I am familiar with the area.

Permalink Reply by Friya Ann Archer on October 14, 2010 at 8:33pm

Beverly, MA, my current residence has bus, train & cabs readily available. The main draw back to living "up north" is the weather. Snow is always unpredictably, but also hurricanes & flooding rain. Hurricanes mostly miss here. The rule of thumb is "If you dont like the weather, wait a minute". If you do deside to move this way or to come up to look around, feel free to contact me.