Advice needed... NH or MA? (new grad)

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Hi there

I am currently in NE Florida and will be graduating with a BSN in May. My husband and I need to move, we can't take the heat--and we have never really found a "niche" since moving here from the Pacific Northwest 4 years ago.

His company has offices in Cambridge,MA and in Manchester,NH. He could relocate to either of these. We also have four elementary age girls, so schools are a very important factor in where we go.

What I am looking for is:

Good schools

Good (okay--great?) pay

Nice home in a family orientated neighborhood

A home we can afford..(LOL--I know, I know)

Shortest commute possible still holding to the above factors

What is the area of Nashua,NH like? Is the commute to Boston horrid (even if I work midnights?) Otherwise, is the NH pay insulting?

Are there any suburbs of Boston that a family can live comfortably on? My hubbys salary is about 75k--that coupled with whatever I can make as a RN would be what to base this question on.

Any and all inputs/advice would be welcomed!!

Thanks

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Specializes in Maternity, quality.

I see you got some responses on the MA forum. As they stated, cost of living and commuting are two big issues here. I live near Manchester and work in Boston (not as a nurse, though).

Boston area will pay much better for nursing salaries. But housing is more expensive the closer you get to Boston/Cambridge. Here is a link to some community profiles that might help you learn more about housing in MA:

http://www.boston.com/realestate/communities/profiles/

NH is less congested. There are still a fair number of small towns with a more rural feel. One thing to be aware of in NH, however, are the property taxes. Since we do not have income or sales taxes we make up for it with high property taxes. So you'll want to take that into account. Nashua is okay. The commute to Boston from there wouldn't be too bad at night, though it will be pretty terrible during normal rush hours.

Here's another link for you that compares cost of living from one area to another. I think Monster.com also has similar tools that might be helpful to you. Good luck!

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html

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Specializes in Ortho/Neurosurgical.

Hey there.....I'll say it again.....live in NH (border town) and work in MA.....you won't regret it. Something amazing about picking a pumpkin with your kids bundled in sweaters and actually being cold on Halloween and seeing snow on Christmas (or last year it was Thanksgiving).....I'll say it again...I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE BACK.

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Specializes in Ortho/Neurosurgical.

Oh and one other thing. The education system there rocks....so being that you have 4 kids, private school won't have to be a given (that tuition would kill you).....and your kids will have a great education and you're hubby makes 75k, that alone with your salary you'll be just fine.

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hello!

I am from the midwest and recolcated to NH about 8 yrs ago. The cost of living in the NE is very high. However, it is very beautiful here and especially with children, safe. I just took my children last week to the Nashua area and went to a petting farm and the area is so beautiful. Lots of little lakes and small towns. Just keep in mind that housing is now what you have been use to and keep and open mind and have some vision. good luck!

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Specializes in Ortho/Neurosurgical.

MUDD-

What did you finally decide on. You know, the closer the fall gets (my FAVORITE SEASON) I get more and more homesick. My question is, for all your nurses out there, how do you handle family life....I mean here in Florida we have 24 hour daycares, so my daughter can sleep at the daycare if I work midnight shift or be at school if I do the morning shift, but regardless I have options, in NH do you know of any daycare options there? Does the licensing allow it for daycare providers? Anyhow, my husband and I cannot wait to reestablish our lives there. He visited with me once and fell in love with the area, but sadly, did face a bit of racism. Which upsets me and my daughter when we went to the mall,....was the only dark skinned girl. Of course she is the best looking too (no bias, it's for real, just kidding). So we'll see.

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MUDD-

What did you finally decide on. You know, the closer the fall gets (my FAVORITE SEASON) I get more and more homesick.

Hi there!

Well, we havent totally decided...but I am leaning towards Nashua.Fall is my fav season also--and I can't wait to be there for it! Maybe a year from now I will be there! It's complicated (isnt everything?). My hubby knows he can get a job, and his company even has offices in Manchester, Cambridge, and Providence. We don't know if he will stay with the same company or put himself out there. We are now checking into the very complicated laws surrounding professional engineering licensure. Each state is different and DH has to contact the licensing board to be sure he qualifies to sit for the exam in said state. Once that hurdle is accomplished we will have a clearer picture. He cannot let on like he is going to leave his job now, it would hurt his career.

So for now..I am about to jump back into school and will continue to research behind the scenes.

I did call a nurse recruiter and Brigham in Boston and am hoping to hear back. Some of the other posts I have read is that new grads are having a difficult time finding work in the area. I need to KNOW I can work if we are going to do this.

I have an off topic question...sort of. Do differentials pile on top of each other? I mean..if I work nights and get a diff--will I still get a weekend diff if a weekend night--AND if I do not need benefits, will I then get a higher rate of pay before they add the diffs?

Patty

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Specializes in Ortho/Neurosurgical.

Yes, that is how it works. For example, my hospital offers 2.25 on the evening shift (3-11, which is why I am working right now) and on the weekends, only a $1 more....so a total of 3.25 more per hour. And it does add up, I worked a bunch of midnight shifts last two weeks and my paycheck was literally 250 more than it normally is. Needless to say, they don't seem as painful when you take that into consideration. I understand the research aspect. When I am done with school, my husband will start, so at that point I will have 2 years of experience and should have no problem getting a position up there. Additionally, we are going to start out as travellers that way we can house hunt on our own and not worry about paying out of our pockets for rent/housing all at the same time and can literally make the change when WE are ready. I can't wait. I really can't wait. I miss home so much, Florida is great, if you're single...but I hardly think (and don't flame me people) it is an appropriate place to raise children and expect them to be able to perform well in college due to the crappy education system here. I want more for my daughter.

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Where are you again? My girls are actually in a really good school system (Clay County). I am happy with that aspect. I am SURE to get flamed for this one though...why I WANT to get my kids out of here is the right wing conservative, chauvinistic ,racist culture. I am afraid if we don't run now..they will grow up to marry someone named "Bubba" or "Slick" . Sorry...its not meant to offend. It is just not who we are (liberal, bleeding hearts who want to raise our girls around like minded ppl)

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By the way. I read something online the other day about housing in Nashua. It said that house prices are stable...but they anticipate that if the commuter rail is ever to actually happen (2009 ,I think is latest eta)--that house prices will go way up. It sure would be nice (for once) to buy before that happened.

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Specializes in Maternity, quality.

Pardon my Yankee cynicism, but I wouldn't worry about the commuter rail issue too much. It's a constant source of discussion, but it's not on the MBTA list of future projects (and judging from the speed with which they're moving on the current projects, even if it DOES go on their list it would take more than two or three years to get it up and running). There's a lot of talk about wanting to put the commuter rail up here, but for every advocate there is someone saying that it's just not economically feasible. So don't let that stress you out too much. It may happen someday, but I highly doubt it will happen by '08 or '09.

Um, and just so you know... NH is regarded as being a pretty conservative state and as NRSNFL stated, diversity isn't our strong suit. MA, especially the closer you are to Cambridge/Boston (and the universities) is regarded as more liberal.

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thanks for your post...no worries though. I am not "stressed" over the nashua/lowell commuter line. As far as "conservative"--I have lived in many areas of the US. New England may have pockets that are more conservative than others, but the religious right that permeates the northern florida culture and the backwards "good ole'boy" mentality is a much more extreme position then this "yankee" can handle.

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