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11. Living in Boston

Boston at a Glance

Living in Boston

Discovering Boston's past will be a treat for those with a soft spot for history.

If you were to believe the image portrayed by countless TV shows, living in Boston means experiencing a culture which is completely permeated by influences from the “Old Country”, i.e. Ireland. While this may be true to some extent – the number of people with Irish heritage living in Boston and other parts of New England is high – the various facets of living in Boston could hardly fit into one single category. Just like many other large cities in the United States, the influences of various ethnicities and cultures coming together will make the time you are living in Boston a highly varied and fascinating period of your life.

Life in Boston: Leisure

If you are a sports buff with particular interest in North American team sports, living in Boston will make your eyes gleam with childlike joy. The city has exceedingly successful teams in all four of the major sports leagues, which makes living in Boston one long fiesta for those interested in American athleticism. Living in Boston, you do not have to be a fan of the Bruins, Celtics, or Red Sox to enjoy this American pastime; your favorite team will play the locals sooner or later. Furthermore, New England’s largest city has earned an excellent reputation amongst music lovers of almost any genre.

We have already mentioned how the city’s eventful past permeates many aspects of living in Boston, even today. Those with a soft spot for history can surely fill many afternoons and weekends discovering what living in Boston used to be like and which historic events took place in and around the city. Anyone up for a nice walk through the city should go along the Freedom Trail, a walking tour along a red brick path leading to and by 16 important historic sites from the time of the American Revolution, including most of those in the city’s National Historical Park.

Living in Boston: Schools

As we have mentioned throughout the various articles on the city, education is one of the biggest assets of the area. Over 250,000 students are living in Boston and neighboring Cambridge, attending the many, many universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education.

But Boston’s academic strength does not only rely on higher education: Children living in Boston – this includes expat kids – are in the lucky position of enjoying the oldest and most successful public school system in the entire country. The standards of education are up to par with other industrialized nations. If your kid finishes their academic life in Boston with an above-average high school diploma and passes their SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), they should be free to attend colleges or universities almost anywhere in the world.

If, however, you should still opt against enrolling your child in a public school, consider yourself lucky you are living in Boston! The city is home to various international schools of different backgrounds (among them, for example, French and German), offering bilingual classes. Some also offer the nearly globally accepted International Baccalaureate diploma, ensuring that your child will not face any academic obstacles outside the USA just because you have been living in Boston for a while.

Life in Boston: Safety

Living in Boston is generally quite safe for a city of its size. Obviously you will be confronted with crime of some sort while living in Boston, even if only in the local news. But if you adhere to the usual safety measures for large cities, expat living in Boston should be very uneventful in this respect. At times, you might come across stereotypes about Boston being a generally violent city, but as with most stereotypes, those are highly exaggerated versions of reality, and you should not mind them too much.