USA11B

Having grown up in MI all I ever knew was Meijer, the first Wal-Mart didn't appear until after I had already moved away. I moved to the South, which is of course where Wal-Mart is King. Honestly I never really gave Meijer a second thought until after having moved away and realizing how good Meijer's really is after having to have to shop at Wally World. Wal-Mart sucks plain and simple. The stores are nasty, the workers are horrible and if your lucky they speak English, the areas where they open seem to go downhill after Wally World opens there, they cater to illegals...I could go on. Like somebody else here mentioned, their chi-com merchandise is garbage, I have no idea if Meijer's uses third-world child labor to the extent Wal-Mart does, but either way, I have noticed a big difference in the quality of the merchandise. Even before we stopped shopping at Wally World, I quit buying any non-food related items because it just seemed like one after another clothing, toys, houseware, etc. it was all junk, in the trash after a few days-few weeks. Even somewhat known brands it almost seemed like it would be worse if it was from Wal-Mart. Before you jump on the 'it's capitalism the free market will decide' bandwagon realize what Wal-Mart will do to an area. Then after it's too late and your stuck w/ONLY them, then you will really rethink the 'it's capitalism...' crap.

Responding to the couple replies I had when this was posted under a diff topic. Basically I won't be able to find a house for a family for under 200k. From a little searching I've found some places in Western Mass (Brookfield I think was one of the areas), Rhode Island, a few in Maine, and further north New Hampshire like Concord and Manchester that are in the range we can afford. BUT..they are far and few in between, although R.I. seemed to have the most. Can I assume even though they are in our price range, they are probably dumps and/or in bad areas? They seemed to look decent enough, but granted a realtor can make aa Shed look beautiful on their website. Just trying to get some idea, of what to realistically expect. Currently I live about 30 miles from work and it usually takes about 1-2hrs ea. way everyday for commute. So I figure I'm willing to commute at least up to about 60miles. Is that far out from Beantown still going to be unaffordable? Or will traffic make that more like a 2-3hr commute? My job would be in and around the Boston area, so I'm not beholden to having to be right near Boston proper, but at the same time I have to be somewhere where access to Boston regularly is reasonable. Any opinions, suggestions appreciated!

Sorry meant to post this as a new topic... I know this has been beaten like a deadhorse...and yes I have read the previous posts covering this topic. But we are in a different position than most of the previous topics seemed geared towards. Here's the deal...Married, w/4 children, I have a possible opportunity to relocate to Boston for work. I would be travelling to sites in/around Boston for work. But mainly working in Boston. What we want; a big enough house for our family and hopefully decent amount of land. What we can afford; probably about 180k max for a house. For the time being figure probably about 70k/yr income. Looking for opinions from anyone...Should we even consider moving or are we going to be in the poor house trying to move up there? What areas can we resonably afford that are in commuting distance? How bad will commuting distance be? Just basic research I think we can do it and find decent affordable places if we look at moving to Maine, New Hampshire north of Manchester, maybe a little further Western Mass, Rhode Island...Are these reasonable assumptions? Or will taxes, and other unavoidable expenses make it very difficult to afford? Would give anything to move up there and settle down, but realistically I can't uproot my family from where we are and are doing well to struggle making ends meet living in a 2bd apt. because that's all we can afford. Any opinions, suggestions, etc. are appreciated! Thanks!

I know this has been beaten like a deadhorse...and yes I have read the previous posts covering this topic. But we are in a different position than most of the previous topics seemed geared towards. Here's the deal...Married, w/4 children, I have a possible opportunity to relocate to Boston for work. I would be travelling to sites in/around Boston for work. But mainly working in Boston. What we want; a big enough house for our family and hopefully decent amount of land. What we can afford; probably about 180k max for a house. For the time being figure probably about 70k/yr income. Looking for opinions from anyone...Should we even consider moving or are we going to be in the poor house trying to move up there? What areas can we resonably afford that are in commuting distance? How bad will commuting distance be? Just basic research I think we can do it and find decent affordable places if we look at moving to Maine, New Hampshire north of Manchester, maybe a little further Western Mass, Rhode Island...Are these reasonable assumptions? Or will taxes, and other unavoidable expenses make it very difficult to afford? Would give anything to move up there and settle down, but realistically I can't uproot my family from where we are and are doing well to struggle making ends meet living in a 2bd apt. because that's all we can afford. Any opinions, suggestions, etc. are appreciated! Thanks!