Soon-to-be New Grad in Need of Advice!!

[MuddaMia]

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

[nuangel1, BSN, RN]

i have never worked in NH. but i have girlfriend who lived in nashua and now lives in manchester.Nashua is like any other good size city its lots of stores restaurants,businesses ,traffic etc .i don't know what its or manchesters school system is like she doesn't have kids.this is only a guess but i suspect nashua to boston is about 1 hr add 15 min for manchester.it would also depend on the day of week and time traffic is tough in am and early pm .NH would definitely pay less the Mass for nurses as well but depend on where you work ie directly in boston hospital or suburbs intown pays better.there are also suburbs in ma that are affordable and you could commute from .ie southshore like braintree stoughton avon to northshore.i don't know if that helps .

[nutella, MSN, RN]

Hi Mudda,

I don't know about NH , I live in the Boston area.

Houses are expensive especially when you want to move into a good school disrtict. Also communiting into Cambridge can be a pain, traffic is horrible so a place with a commuter rail would be good too.

Belmont MA has a good High School and in general people say that all the schools in Belmont are very good, perhaps you want to check that out, it is close to Cambridge, also Hospitals are not too far away ( Mount Auburn, Cambridge etc. Mc Leans if you are a psych.nurse).

Another very good little town to live in is about 25 miles from Boston ( Acton , MA) with terrific schools , house prices are high ( average 500000), has a commuter rail into boston.

There is a hospital nearby in Concord also easy access to the major routes like 495 , route 2.

I guess there are more good places to live it really depends if you wnat to go for good public schools and high house prices or lower prices and perhaps private school. Parents are very competetive here in this area, kids are doing a lot of sports and I think most families need two income.

Hope that helps a bit.

nutella

[nutella, MSN, RN]

Oh, I forgot something - I drive into Nashua NH for shopping all the time ( tax free) and when I enter Nashua they have a sign which says something like "Best place to live for families"

but the commute into boston is a big one!