It depended, and still depends on the company. In tech, 2 days was tolerated with occasional 3 remote days allowed for top performers but the expectation was that you'd be in office a minimum of 2, preferably 4 days a week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were and are still the most popular days to go to the office to have extended weekends.

Commute times on the other hand were much looser. People always used to come and go way past 9 or way before 5 to try and beat the commute which now turned into an all day rush hour during office days that seem to be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for most.

OP, glad you're safe. In future, please rethink giving the middle finger to anyone anywhere. There are a lot of mentally ill people who are not supposed to drive but are on the road anyways. One time a woman driver showed me what looked like a 7 inch knife because I honked when she didn't turn right after lights turned green and it's been a few seconds she's been sitting. That was on Newbury St. These days it's best to keep your head down and ignore unless someone directly attacks you, no guarantee anyone will show up on time to protect you. Better safe not engaging psychos out there

Somerville is mostly 30s no kids who don't care about the school system and West Medford is mostly upper middle class with young kids that are mostly preschool. Same can be said for East Watertown with new buyers. Often both groups will either move to Belmont, Lexington or Newton for both more space but also better ranked schools - if they can afford it, which for people who bought the past 2 years I doubt so anytime soon unless household income is $400K+.

Personally, I'd do Everett or Brighton 10 times before even considering Somerville. Way too dense, and not in a nice way. Medford was a hidden gem that's discovered and property values there will keep going up for years to come. Malden will absorb the cash from those that are now priced out of Medford but still looking for somewhat similar access to the city although the orange line is a huge bonus for sure

Land space wise mostly just a park, probably with a small retail shop attached with a dog park as well.

Brazilians are spread literally everywhere all over Mass. Seems to have a big cluster in Framingham, much larger than other cities but you may find a small community in other towns like Cambridge and Everett as well. As for how much income, depends on where you live and lifestyle but for a family of 4 to be 'comfortable' I'd say $200K if you can minimize unnecessary splurges and want to save some money as well

It sounds like a proud aspect of being a New Englander is being in menopause. Pass