Working for Harvard

[Cantabridgienne]

Honestly, I don't see how you'll be able to afford to live here *without* a roommate. Assume that $40K will be more like $27K after taxes. Divided by 12, that's about $2300 per month. If you want to spend 50% of your take home pay on rent, you *might* find a small studio for $1150, but that's on the lower scale. Again, having roommates is just what most people in your age range do in Boston, precisely because they are just starting their careers and don't have a ton to spend on rent. I'd reconsider if it I were you.

[Bostonian08]

Oh dogs! Oh that complicates things - a lot .... Tell me your dog is under 25 pounds....

[Luthien26]

Well....I don't have the dog yet-I really wanted to have a Chihuahua. I found this listing on Craigslist that allows pets, what do you think? It seems pretty tiny, but I figured it'd be better to start out too small rather than too big. And since I'm not sure what'd be affordable, the price seemed right, too...

Brookline Village STUDIO-AVAILABLE NOV 1

[clevedark]

I live in Brookline Village--it's really nice and super close to Longwood. You would be able to walk to work.

[Bostonian08]

Originally Posted by Luthien26

Well....I don't have the dog yet-I really wanted to have a Chihuahua. I found this listing on Craigslist that allows pets, what do you think? It seems pretty tiny, but I figured it'd be better to start out too small rather than too big. And since I'm not sure what'd be affordable, the price seemed right, too...

Brookline Village STUDIO-AVAILABLE NOV 1

Yeah, that's more like it Lu. Like Cleve says - Brookline is sweet - a real girls' town. Find out exactly where it is and goggle the distance to your workplace. It says near Brookline Village and Coolidge Corner. CC is a rather longish walk to Longwood. There's no convenient train service from there to longwood, the trains go downtown. But a bicycle would work.

Your definitely on the right track now!

BTW, apts rent very quickly in BOS. That may go off the market fast.

[Cantabridgienne]

A real girls' town? What is that, exactly? How is it different than "a real boys' town"?

Luthien, will you have a car? Something to keep in mind about Brookline is that overnight street parking is not allowed; you have to pay for a parking space (and find one near your apartment in the first place). Figure on anywhere from $100-$200/month for that.

If you will need a car only occasionally, you should look into Zipcar.

[ogre]

Yeah, Brookline Village would be a good area for a young person getting started professionally. One note about Brookline, though, is that they don't allow parking on the street at night, so if you were to keep your car, you would need a place that included parking, which would only add to the expense. Nice area though, if you find an affordable place. Brookline Village and the Coolidge Corner neighborhood are especially convenient for neighborhood shopping and for transit to Longwood and into downtown.

Also, check out Holden's suggestion of Newton. One note on that train to Back Bay station is that, for some reason I have yet to comprehend, the commuter rail skips the stops in Newton for large gaps of time in the afternoon and evening. It occurs to me that your schedule at a hospital might not be bankers' hours, in which case if you lived in Newton you would be better off being near the green line trolley stations in areas such as Newton Centre or maybe Chestnut Hill.

By the way, there is commuter rail service to Woburn. It's just not marked as "Woburn" on the map at the MBTA website. The Woburn stops are the ones named "Anderson" and "Mishawum." However, via driving or public transit Woburn would be enough of a commute that you probably want to live in the city and commute out to Woburn that one day a week you'll need to be there, rather than live in Woburn and commute into town all the other days.

I tend to agree with those suggesting that you aim to go car-free, AS LONG AS your workplace in Woburn is close to the commuter rail station. You want to check on whether the workplace is near the Anderson station, which gets full service, while many trains do not stop at Mishawum, and Mishawum has no weekend service. The question of losing the car also depends on how much time you'd like to spend taking drives around the countryside, going to lakes or mountains, and the like, but unless these activities would be something you'd want to pursue very frequently you might well be better off renting a car for the occasional trip out of the metro area, so long as you could get to the Woburn workplace from the train station there without a car.

And, as others have suggested, definitely consider finding a roommate. At least be open to the possibility, as it would increase your options for affordable housing.

And a couple of more things: Welcome to Boston, and congratulations on the new job!

[redpanda]

Another option if you have your heart set on dog-friendly is Jamaica Plain (or JP in local parlance!). There seem to always be a lot of pet-friendly apartments there, and it's quite close to Longwood. You would be taking a bus rather than the T, though. I lived in JP and loved it--plenty of green space, a nice community feel, and affordable rent (well, comparatively speaking).

Glad you eliminated Woburn! That would be a pain.

[shiver]

I live in Brookline as well. Great area, but definitely about no overnight parking and needing to rent an off street spot. A small dog is good, but unless you absolutely have your heart set on a dog right now, you may want to hold off. It will eliminate lots of your apartment options.

I live alone now, but I bought a condo. I'm 30 now, but in my 20s, I lived with more roommates than I can count and most of them were strangers off of Craigslist. It's definitely a crap shoot, but none of my roommates were bad. Some were better than others, but no terrible experiences.

40K is probably in the salary range of what most of your age counterparts make around here. I wouldn't spend more than 1K on rent (make sure it includes heat/hot water - many places do). Remember, you need to save some money and you want some sort of entertainment budget. Even if you're a homebody, you'll want to take advantage of some of the restaurants/concerts/shows/nightlife and not be stuck at home because you're broke.

Don't forget to factor in electric and cable/internet (if you choose to get it) to your housing expenses. Another plug for roommates; the bills are much less painful if you can divide it between a few people.

[haberstroh]

As somebody mentioned before it depends if the 40000 are before or after tax. If you have the full amount then I'd say it is enough money for a single person. While my husband was at business school we lived with that amount, had a small child and I was a stay-at-home mom. Our rent was $1800 a month plus utilities (except cable, the apartment complex magically came with it ;-)) in Cambridge. We even had a car with street parking. We were very poor but did not really suffer, there were so many things to do and see, we were never bored.
Now if you still have to pay taxes from your income then it will be tide. You might have to get room mate. I'd say pick the best location, try to walk, and just enjoy all the cool things Boston has to offer to a young person. You will love it!
Have you looked at Cambridge, there are a few neighborhoods further away from Harvard and MIT that might be a little lower in rent. I believe ours was called Riverside.