Well, I’m thinking about applying for a promotion (which I undobtedly won’t get! :p), but ya might as well toss your hat in the ring.
Besides my office (Chicago), there are vacancies in:
Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Kansas City, Missouri
For all I know they may have people in mind for any/all of these positions, but I was wondering what you might have to say good or bad about these various cities.
The only ones I’d probably knock out of the box would be Atlanta and Dallas. My front runners would likely be Boston, Seattle, and SF.
I just left the KC area and if you end up considering the town more seriously, feel free to drop me a PM and I’ll answer your questions. I lived on both sides of the state line as well as in Lawrence, KS so I am thoroughly familiar with the area.
Don’t let it being located in fly over country fool you; KC actually has great museums, dining and of course really cheap real estate. I still miss our mortgage payment there.
I found it pretty convenient to travel since you are never all that far by plane from anywhere in the US.
On the downside, the Chiefs suck, the Royals suck more and there’s no hockey.
Ok, we’ve done this before. I’m not going to get all excited that you’d be moving to Boston just to have you not move! 
Just kidding.
First, let me say, Dinsdale - your attitude stinks - though I understand from your previous posts it is most likely well founded. But still, positive! Think positive!
If you have never lived near water other than the lake, Boston or Seattle. Fun towns, liberal, tons to do, ocean lifestyle - and most importantly a CHANGE!
I hope you can put some positive energy into the promotion, and I hope the family stuff works out in both your favors, most importantly though I hope it works out for numero uno! Boston has much better weather than Seattle BTW. Eastern Timezone has it’s advantages as well.
One thing that is weird is, although the job would have location pay adjustments, they really don’t cover the different costs for different areas. In other words, if I moved to KC I’d be living like a lord!
We’re really thinking, tho, if we are going to even consider a major move - away from what little family and friends we have (or care about) - it would have to be to somewhere that really jazzed us. Things don’t completely suck for us here, so it isn’t as tho we need to move just to move. And I don’t think the pay raise would make up for much hassle. In other words, I’d rather stay where I am in the job I have, than move somewhere that doesn’t thrill me just for a bit more coin.
The weather in Seattle is a big strike. My wife and I are both MAJOR fans of sunlight. I’m not sure we could handle 3-4 months of overcast/drizzle, no matter what the other amenities. And being honest, I think at heart we are more east coast liberals than west coast.
One thing we need to check out is the impact on college tuition. We have 2 kids in-state, and our 3d is considering it as well. Not sure what we’d need to do to establish residency for the 3 of them if we moved out of state.
As of now I’m thinking it is most likely that I will apply to Chi and Boston. Phil, you know not taking those other jobs wasn’t my choice. They made it perfectly clear that they didn’t want me! So exactly how far from Boston are you? Because you sure make your lifestyle sound appealing. I assume I would be pretty much tied to one of the spokes of the commuter rail.
As far as an attitude change - well, we’ll see what I care to do in that department. 
20+ years in to the same employer, with limited raise/promotion opportunities/desires, my willingness to dance is next to nonexistent. Instead, I just do my job extremely well. Some folks - both above and below me - appreciate that. But it undoubtedly will not be enough to get these jobs. So I have to decide how much I am willing to act to get them. Not sure I want them enough to work too hard at it.
Well, now that my wife and I moved into Rhode Island, we’re about 45min from Boston - easily get there for dinner and a show. We see a lot more sun than the left coast, and we have true seasons here in my opinion. We are both quite tied to the ocean, so much of our activities center around that.
The ‘T’ opens up parts of Massachussetts that are absolutely beautiful and are located very close to Boston. The commuter rail runs all over eastern MA, see the map here. I know several people who live in Westin, MA - that is a beautiful area. Or you can go east to be closer to the shore. I’d assume you’d sell your place in Chicago and buy here, the market is ripe for it, and will be for probably another year and a half.
P.S. Happy to hear you saying “we”.
Ooh, come join us in New York! It is the most wonderful of cities, I promise!
When we visited a couple of years ago, we stayed in Concord, and in Salem. Both seemed very nice, as well as very convenient to the train/downtown.
If it comes any closer, I’ll certainly pick your brain. Anu is also from the area - grew up west of town.
Hell, if I head out there to interview, I’ll shoot you a PM and see if we might be able to hook up.
But you know how these things go. As far as I know, they already have folks selected for most of these positions, and the posting is only a required formality. Sounds cynical, but I’ve seen it over and over again.
NYC has a couple of things against it. One, I’m not sure that it might not require a double commute - bus/subway after the train. To live in an area we like, I’d be looking at a LONG train ride. We’ve been in and around a big city these past 20 years. While I’ve got no problem working in one, we’d like a tad more space around our home. And there are some specific issues that make that particular office less desirable to me. The money is not enough for me to make a move that is going to make my daly worklife less pleasant (or more unpleasant!)
Definitely PM me if you come out. Put it out there that they don’t already have someone picked out for the position, imagine yourself flying out and interviewing for the position. It helps