Moving to Boston from the Midwest
Posted December 1, 2025 by Laura Kiely
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I moved from Iowa to Massachusetts to attend Simmons University SLIS. It was quite the change! I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, then attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, for my undergraduate degree. The transition from a medium-sized city to a town of 9,000 people was a bit rocky, as I had to get used to small-town living. To then move from Grinnell, Iowa to Boston, Massachusetts was a culture shock, but not necessarily like you’d expect! It was more of a lifestyle shock to me. The first, most obvious differences were that everything was more expensive, but also everything was easier to access. I will elaborate.
As I was planning on moving to Boston, I looked around at apartments to get an idea of how much I should spend on rent. I rented a room in a house in Grinnell a few years ago, where I lived with four other people. Our rent was about $300 a month! Needless to say, Boston is more expensive as a city. My main budget lines are rent and utilities, followed by groceries and food. Interestingly, my grocery budget is equivalent or even lower here in Boston. Grinnell is a town that requires extra time for shipping, and that costs more money, which is reflected in the price of food items. It’s easier in Grinnell to access food from farms, but the farm stands are mainly available in the summer, so in the winter groceries are more expensive.
I had a car from age 16 to when I graduated from college. I needed that car to get to school every day, then drive to grocery stores or to the bigger cities in Iowa from Grinnell. There were occasional buses, but Iowa is entirely car-centric as a culture. The parking lots in Iowa would take entire city squares here in Boston, but with how flat and forgiving the land is, the urban planners allowed for significant suburban sprawl. Car-centric construction allowed for less population density in the city center, and a lack of public transit means I would get in my car and drive everywhere I needed to be. That meant that I got to know intersections and landmarks well, but not shops and people in my community. Here in Boston, I take the train or the bus everywhere other than Costco. While it does tend to take longer, I can’t meet a random dog on the bus when I’m driving! There are significant benefits to walking more and taking public transit everywhere. I am more active, I know more of the local small businesses near where I live, and I interact more with people on a daily basis. I really enjoy public transit. The unfortunate part is that it often takes about 40 minutes to get anywhere, but I think that’s better than sitting in Boston traffic or paying for parking!
The rest of the culture shock (different lexicon, walking speed, and Midwest Nice versus Boston Brusque) I got used to rather quickly. As much as the United States has a variety of subcultures, I find that actively seeking further information on the differences is effective for figuring out how to succeed in my new cultural context. I can call pop soda, I can walk faster, and I can say goodbye quickly instead of lingering by the door. All of these small differences add up, but in general we are all similar in the United States. My advice for people moving to Boston is to learn how the public transit works quickly, explore your neighborhood, and be ready to embrace differences in how people speak to you! Just because someone’s attitude or way of speaking seems harsher than you’re used to doesn’t mean they’re unpleasant, you just need to get through people’s tough exterior here in Boston.