Any suggestions for lodging (Boston, Worcester: where to stay, sublets, rent)

[Coldjensens]

Our son is invited to row with Riverside Rowing club in Cambridge for the summer and he is very honored to have been accepted there. The big problem is where to stay. He has almost no money. Riverside has a job lined up for him with a moving company, but it will not likely cover the costs. I thought they had a place for him to stay, but either not, or it is too expensive, not sure. We can give him some money, but that runs out about the time he arrives in Boston. His sister set up a go fund me site for him, currently about $700. In short he needs a really cheap place to stay within a reasonable distance of Cambridge. There are some state campgrounds not too far away, but they limit you to 14 days cumulative stay. Still is costs over $600 a month just to camp. There are two state campgrounds, so he might cover 28 days and extend that by checking out when they go away to competitions. However it seems there must be some better option. I looked at Air B & B, and it is about $1000 plus for a month. My wife is exploring her contacts (she grew up in Wayland), but I thought I would poke around here and see if anyone has any ideas/suggestions.


Thank you.

[timberline742]

Craigslist summer sublets by students looking to fill their rooms, look for a place with 4-5 roommates and you should be less than a thousand easily, some people really discount so they don't eat the full rent

[gentlearts]

How about some other kids in the same boat? Are some local, and able to let him bunk in? I would contact whomever is in charge and see if they have a pool of kids who want to stay together. Boston is an expensive place.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

How about some other kids in the same boat? Are some local, and able to let him bunk in? I would contact whomever is in charge and see if they have a pool of kids who want to stay together. Boston is an expensive place.

Most of the others appear to be form Yale, so it seems like they would need a place too. Maybe theya re all wealthy.

[gentlearts]

If I'm a mom in the area, I would gladly make room for a kid who was in the program, at worst on the couch.

[MMS02760]

I went to school in Worcester and one of the cheap summer housing options were the fraternities at WPI. They were officially lodging houses. Some of them rented out rooms by the week to raise some money to cover operating expenses. The demand for housing was much reduced as most students left for the summer. Most of those that lived in the frats during the summer were of college age. The frats were mostly furnished and had a kitchen, cable tv, wifi, pool tables/fooseball. etc. I would think some of the frats at MIT might do something similar.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by MMS02760

I went to school in Worcester and one of the cheap summer housing options were the fraternities at WPI. They were officially lodging houses. Some of them rented out rooms by the week to raise some money to cover operating expenses. The demand for housing was much reduced as most students left for the summer. Most of those that lived in the frats during the summer were of college age. The frats were mostly furnished and had a kitchen, cable tv, wifi, pool tables/fooseball. etc. I would think some of the frats at MIT might do something similar.

It's hard to compare Worcester to Cambridge. Worcester is dirt cheap by comparison.

[robr2]

Go to boston.craigslist.org/search/hhh and search for:

sublet Somerville
sublet Cambridge
sublet Medford
sublet Everett

I found these in Medford:

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/sub/6127215400.html
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/sub/6134562477.html
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/sub/6130754846.html

I'm guessing Tufts students on internship or going home for the summer.

But there are plenty of sublets available.

[charolastra00]

Subletting is very common in the Boston area over the summer when students leave or take on internships elsewhere. I don't know what's affordable to your son with his moving job, but I would consider a "very cheap" sublet to be anything under $700 with utilities included. He could potentially double up with one of his rower buddies in one of these locations if someone brought an air mattress, depending on how the existing roommates in the house feel. Then again, not all of the rooms will be large enough for an air mattress on the floor.

Does the rowing club have suggestions based on previous summers?

[Coldjensens]

Thank you for your suggestions. The idea proved spot on. At the last regatta (in Georgia) the last day of the college season (about ten days before he needed to be in Boston), he met some guys from the Boston College Rowing team and discussed his problem with them. One of them knew someone looking to sublet. Still expensive, but by sharing the bedroom with another guy on his team, they were able to make it affordable.

He is loving Boston. He and his friend bought bicycles and are exploring the city while looking for a job between training sessions. The pinnacle of his Boston exploration so far? "Dad, I pooped at Harvard!" They also had a burger at the Cheers bar, but i guess that was not as exciting an accomplishment.

They are looking for free things to do and see if there are suggestions. Since my wife grew up in Wayland, she has given them some of the obvious/basics (Common, Fenway, North Church, Faneiul Hall, etc), however she has been to the City maybe twice in the last 30 or more years.

There is some post apocalyptic video games set in Boston he has played a lot. The game is laid out using real street names and some real locations, so he kind of knows his way around from playing the game. At least the major locations that are included in the game.