moving to boston - south end - in august

[ebezera]

I tried using the MBTA's trip planner (MBTA.com > Official Website for Greater Boston's Public Transportation System), Rider Tools, to plot a trip from the corner of Union Park St & Washington St to the BU East stop. The defaults are minimize transfers, use all services, and walking distance 1/2 mile. That produced two itineraries that look identical to me but are listed at 48 minutes and 55 minutes. Both include an 11-minute walk to the #47 bus, the bus ride, and an 11-minute walk from the bus. The schedule shows the bus running every 20-30 minutes most of the day; less often after 7:30 pm.

The trip planner has produced some extremely wacky trips for people, but this one looks fairly straightforward - at least there are no weird transfers - but I've never ridden that bus, so I can't say how on-time it tends to be or how pleasant/unpleasant it is.

A second itinerary, produced using 'minimize travel time,' has you walking 9 minutes to catch the #9 bus and riding it to Copley on the Green Line, then taking the B Green Line to BU East. That itinerary is timed at 38-39 minutes for a weekday morning. As far as I'm concerned, minimizing your time on a bus is a good thing, but having to transfer is a pain.

Hope this helps some!

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by sds4387

i haven't signed a lease yet, one of my roommates who is in boston this summer is in the process of doing that.

i won't have a car most likely...i thought about bringing one, but when i visited, i realized how useless and costly it would actually be.

we aren't completely set on the south end...we are also looking in brookline. but we would like to be in the south end more than anywhere else, and we are very interested in this place on union park street, about a block south of washington. i am the only one studying at BU, my other roommate will be working at braun brothers in the financial district, and our third roommate will be a student at boston architectural, which is off of newbury street in the back bay. so our jobs/schools are kind of spread out all over the city, so in my opinion, no one location was exactly "central" for all of us. i'm willing to deal with a 30 minute commute...is that what it would be like approximately? because it is farther, i would probably not study extremely late at BU, and rather go somewhere closer to home or just study at home late.

it is kind of unnerving that you mention someone was recently shot at washington and union park, but i also read many positive things about the "SoWa" area becoming a much more attractive loft district. driving around there when i visited, it seemed like it was burgeoning with activity and it appeared relatively safe.

i just want to make the right decision. but so far, from what most of you have said, it might be better for me to focus on brookline. i guess i'll have to talk to my roommates...

It is relatively safe ... I didn't mean to scare you about the shooting. As long as there is a lot of pedestrian traffic at night, you should be safe. Sometimes neighborhoods look completely different in the day and at night, so be careful about that. Also, you guys do seem to be somewhat centrally located -- at least all accessible to the green line as long as you stick on the B line somewhere between Allston/Brighton to the Govt. center area. Of course, that whole stretch can be very pricey w/the exception of Allston/Brighton.

As for doing the commute in 30 minutes, I don't think your apartment is really that close to any t lines. If you're willing to walk about a mile to Copley, it would be another 15 min from there to BU Central which is where the law school is. I guess it's up to you -- walk/train can take around 30-35 min or you can wait around for a bus and take 45+ min. If those travel times don't sound appealing and you're priced out of the downtown/theatre district area, then the Kenmore area might be another place you can look at for a closer commute for the 3 of you (I'm assuming you want nothing to do w/Allston which is too noisy for a law student and a professional in finance).

[doublea21]

I don't know if you have already signed a lease but I thought I would let you know that at the location you mentioned in the south end it is not a far walk to the BU medical school. From there, you can take the BUS that travels between the 2 campuses every half hour. It is the most convenient way to travel from the south end to the BU main campus.