Swiss People Moving to Boston (Quincy, Malden: apartments, rentals, car insurance)

[mirrorstade]

Hello Boston!

I might get a job in Boston which would pay between 30000 and 35000. My wife can't work right away because she is Swiss so this salary will have to do for both of us.

My budget for an apartment would be somewhere around a maximum of $1000. Can someone tell me what part of the city has good public transportation and is QUIET. When I say quiet, I am not worried about rush hour traffic at my window or road works and the like, I am more worried about Frat Parties til 3 in the morning or someone practicing their guitar all night. Maybe this isn't a problem in Boston, but in Switzerland, you can hear your neighbor eating their breakfast, so thin are the walls; so quiet neighbors is a must.

Any thoughts?

[smarty]

Boston is not an easy place to get around; it can take 40-60 minutes to go 5 miles. Since we do not know which area you will be working, I suggest looking at the public transportation site. It will help you decide how long of a commute is acceptable.
MBTA.com > Official Website for Greater Boston's Public Transportation System

Also, in terms of looking for an apartment, I suggest looking at Craigslist. It will give you some idea of the rental price and their conditions.
classifieds - craigslist

As to who your neighbour will be, I would wait and find out as you come visit. Most apartments are fairly well insulated.

[mirrorstade]

Thanks Smarty. I would be working near the airport, and I would most likely try to use public transport since I have heard about the traffic and also car insurance prices in Boston.

Most likely I will try to stay near the city. It is good to hear about the insulation though. That was/is a huge worry.

[ksubramz]

Since you'll be working near the airport look for apartments north of airport *along the blue line*. The apartments in Boston are expensive and as you move further you'll get reasonable deals. Stay within the reach of T because they are a better alternative than driving in Boston.

Malden ( orange line ) might also be a good place.

[Cliff Clavin]

Look into the Beachmont area of Revere. Decent area with lots of rentals. No college kids. It's right on the Blue line, and only a few stops from Airport T station. And Beachmont Roast Beef makes one of the best roast beef sandwhiches around.

Another neighborhood you might want to look into would be Orient Heights in East Boston, althought that might be a little more $$ than Beachmont. It's also on the Blue, and 2 stops from Airport.

Malden Center, as someone mentioned, would be perfect on your budget, but you'd have to change lines (Orange inbound to Blue out) and would probably add 15-20 minutes to the cummute. Worth looking into never the less.

[jayrandom]

You could also consider Winthrop...

[holden125]

Winthrop's nice but it's hard to beat Beachmont for convenience to Logan.

[Jscohen]

Since you're working around the airport, take a look at Revere, Malden and Melrose; all of them have good access to the blue or orange line T. If you're driving, you could live in Everett or Winthrop (the latter is very nice, you might even get an ocean view) on your budget.

[Jscohen]

Don't live in East Boston; noise is an enormous problem there. Between the two major highways, the airport and the T line, Eastie is one of Boston's noisiest neighborhoods. Not a place you'd like to be if noise is an issue. In addition, much of the housing stock in Eastie is in bad shape adn there are reports of increasing crime. Although, if these things aren't a problem to you, you could definately live closest to the airport of all of the towns mentioned here for a very reasonable price.

[ConceivedinKY51]

Originally Posted by mirrorstade

Hello Boston!

I might get a job in Boston which would pay between 30000 and 35000. My wife can't work right away because she is Swiss so this salary will have to do for both of us.

My budget for an apartment would be somewhere around a maximum of $1000. Can someone tell me what part of the city has good public transportation and is QUIET. When I say quiet, I am not worried about rush hour traffic at my window or road works and the like, I am more worried about Frat Parties til 3 in the morning or someone practicing their guitar all night. Maybe this isn't a problem in Boston, but in Switzerland, you can hear your neighbor eating their breakfast, so thin are the walls; so quiet neighbors is a must.

Any thoughts?

Stay away from the "student neighborhoods" if you want quiet. Like Brighton and Allston. Lots of apartment buildings in Boston - and in the suburbs - are divided houses (clapboard types) and you can generally hear someone blow their nose next to you in those. Look for brick buildings; they have better sound-proofing.

Quincy is a nice, basically safe (especially around the Wollaston stop on the Red Line subway) close in suburb. If you're looking only for a one bedroom $1,000 "might" work. But that's the low end of a place in Boston and the close by suburbs. Boston is NOT a cheap place to live. And, by the way, if you live in the city itself or somewhere (like Quincy) that's close to a subway stop it is NOT hard to get around. If you decide to live further out, driving is difficult and not very pleasant (especially in the winter).