Red line train stop at Mattapan (Boston, Cambridge: section 8, rent, insurance)

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by timberline742

We aren't talking about living there. We're talking about getting on a train there. I was at red line stops for basketball leagues for years down there, its not a big deal. I never felt "unsafe" because... why would I? What does that mean to people if it isn't "sketchy people" being about (usually a code for young male POC).

I would absolutely have lived there to if it had the amenities and transit to where I needed to work as well, but I worked on the orange line, so a very non-white section of East Somerville is where I mostly lived.

Somerville is 70% white. Although a good question would be what is white. Somerville has a huge Brazilian population, and i'd say that many of them look "white". Same with many Hispanics, many of them look "white".

Being "white" just has such an artificial culturally defined boundary, and that boundary changes over time. The white privileged class did not include Italians, Irish, and Jewish people 100 years ago. But today for the most part they do.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by timberline742

"sketchy people" being about (usually a code for young male POC).

ehh not sure about this. Presence of druggies also conjures up the sketch image. Druggies come from a variety of walks of life. Andrew Square for example can feel pretty sketchy sometimes. Not because of minorities though.

[pittsflyer]

So how do people making less than a quarter million a year live in Boston without living in Mattapan or similar areas? Do they just kind of drift around the nicer areas trying to rent rooms until that dries up and then they have to quit their job and leave state?

From what i could tell there was not alot of inbetween, there was mattapan and then massivly expensive housing (if you wanted to be on the non purple line subway system. Otherwise with the traffic it would just be a matter of time (short time) before you were fired for being constantly late to work, or is that the work culutre in Boston, you just kind of get to work when you get to work due to the extreme congestion if you have to drive?

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by pittsflyer

So how do people making less than a quarter million a year live in Boston without living in Mattapan or similar areas? Do they just kind of drift around the nicer areas trying to rent rooms until that dries up and then they have to quit their job and leave state?

From what i could tell there was not alot of inbetween, there was mattapan and then massivly expensive housing (if you wanted to be on the non purple line subway system. Otherwise with the traffic it would just be a matter of time (short time) before you were fired for being constantly late to work, or is that the work culutre in Boston, you just kind of get to work when you get to work due to the extreme congestion if you have to drive?

I don't make even close to 6 figures, let alone a quarter million. I don't know, I feel like I've had a pretty decent go of things in Brighton for the last 6 years. Some thrift, some thankfulness, and some desire to work will do a lot. Yes, I have roommates. No, I don't really want them. But they are fine and it's worth the savings. There are still areas where "normal" folks can live. Though yes there are some issues, like the commutes you mention. I think in general there is an understanding that the T sucks. Nobody will get angry with you for being on a Red line train that explodes at 8:30.

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I don't make even close to 6 figures, let alone a quarter million. I don't know, I feel like I've had a pretty decent go of things in Brighton for the last 6 years. Some thrift, some thankfulness, and some desire to work will do a lot. Yes, I have roommates. No, I don't really want them. But they are fine and it's worth the savings. There are still areas where "normal" folks can live. Though yes there are some issues, like the commutes you mention. I think in general there is an understanding that the T sucks. Nobody will get angry with you for being on a Red line train that explodes at 8:30.

Ok thats kind of what I was thinking. We stayed in a hotel on the purple line, thinking that was "the subway" once we realized that the purple line was basicly a full blown train and only came very seldom and had its own fee structure we just took an uber. We did take the purple line once and it took us almost 2 hours to get from Boston back to the hotel, between all the connections and stops, etc and then sitting and waiting for the purple rail to leave which was like over half hour.

If you live on the red, green or blue lines life would be pretty good but those seemed like the super expensive places (other than mattapan), then as soon as you leave those 3 rails things became a nightmare.

We were toursits on our honeymoon so we did not mind paying for the uber to get into boston to avoid the purple rail but I could not imagine trying to do that every single day, chewing up 1-2 hours in commuting each way, unless you only worked 6 hours a day or something or partially worked from home.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by pittsflyer

So how do people making less than a quarter million a year live in Boston without living in Mattapan or similar areas? Do they just kind of drift around the nicer areas trying to rent rooms until that dries up and then they have to quit their job and leave state?

From what i could tell there was not alot of inbetween, there was mattapan and then massivly expensive housing (if you wanted to be on the non purple line subway system. Otherwise with the traffic it would just be a matter of time (short time) before you were fired for being constantly late to work, or is that the work culutre in Boston, you just kind of get to work when you get to work due to the extreme congestion if you have to drive?

Easy. If you use a general rule of thumb (not perfect) of 30% of your pre tax income on housing. That means on say a 100k income, you can afford up to 30k a year on rent. Or 2,500 a month. You can afford most neighborhoods in Boston with that rent.

[rethcir]

Originally Posted by pittsflyer

Ok thats kind of what I was thinking. We stayed in a hotel on the purple line, thinking that was "the subway" once we realized that the purple line was basicly a full blown train and only came very seldom and had its own fee structure we just took an uber. We did take the purple line once and it took us almost 2 hours to get from Boston back to the hotel, between all the connections and stops, etc and then sitting and waiting for the purple rail to leave which was like over half hour.

If you live on the red, green or blue lines life would be pretty good but those seemed like the super expensive places (other than mattapan), then as soon as you leave those 3 rails things became a nightmare.

We were toursits on our honeymoon so we did not mind paying for the uber to get into boston to avoid the purple rail but I could not imagine trying to do that every single day, chewing up 1-2 hours in commuting each way, unless you only worked 6 hours a day or something or partially worked from home.

For future reference - it isn't called the Purple Line, it's called the Commuter Rail.

The Orange Line goes through some very nice areas (and some mediocre, and not nice areas)

A lot of people living in the suburbs work in the suburbs. There's a lot of offices along 495 and 128. Many adjust their commute time to make it work. I don't know the proportion of jobs in the suburbs to jobs in the city, but it's probably still pretty high.

More and more offices are open to work-from-home. Successful businesses understand that "ass in seat time" doesn't correlate to profitability in today's service economy.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by rethcir

More and more offices are open to work-from-home. Successful businesses understand that "ass in seat time" doesn't correlate to profitability in today's service economy.

Ehh, i'm not sure how true that is. Sure it was a fad a few years ago, but nothing beats face to face contact. Most managers want to see their employees on a regular basis.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

Ehh, i'm not sure how true that is. Sure it was a fad a few years ago, but nothing beats face to face contact. Most managers want to see their employees on a regular basis.

Lots of damning information coming out these days in work-from-home situations. Turns out people are lazy when nobody is looking.

In my opinion, there are some jobs that probably can benefit from this type of arrangement. But it's a very small number.

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

Easy. If you use a general rule of thumb (not perfect) of 30% of your pre tax income on housing. That means on say a 100k income, you can afford up to 30k a year on rent. Or 2,500 a month. You can afford most neighborhoods in Boston with that rent.

thats 100k net, that means you need to be grossing well over 100k. Also 30% on housing is pretty steep if you are trying to save for a lay off/emergency fund or to start a buisness, pay off student loans at an accelerated pace.

Jobs are like the wind so when you are making good money you cant afford to **** 2500 away in rent and expect to get ahead. 2500 is alot of money even if you are netting 100k. Unless you litterally have no other bills or debt.