LOL...we've lived our entire lives in the upper midwest (Wisconsin and Minnesota) so are very familiar with the cold (actually you guys get warmer weather than we do, at least in the winter). Main reason we're looking out east is we have family in New Hampshire (but we prefer to be closer to a larger city). Like I said, not that we're wanting to stay directly in Boston, but more the towns north of there.

I've been scouting on Apartments.com and can find quite a few places in the $3500 range, some with and without a pool (although that's not as big of a deal)...