Apartment pricing in the Lowell area... wow! (Boston, Worcester: sales, apartments)

[jmsst2]

Hello everyone,

I am currently living in Harrisburg, PA. I have a few interviews in MA, specifically the Lowell area. It's pretty tough finding jobs in my field in the New England area (Biology), but there are a few potential offerings. I checked out the area via the internet and I was a little surprised about the pricing of apartments. I am looking for a one room place. I assumed that the Boston area would be really expensive, but even when I searched the outskirts and smaller communities I found the prices to be a bit more than I expected. Now, I'm not sure how much my pay scale would increase (from PA to MA) so I'm not in a total panic just yet, but I am a little concerned. I'm used to finding places in PA for about 450-550 a month (decent little apartments. The places I found in MA (Lowell area) were from about 950-1200 a month. I don't have any real specific questions, as I am still looking into things in more detail, but I was wondering if anyone has any encouraging words of advice or insight. Thanks a lot!

By the way, I have a B.S. in Biology/Environmental Biology... just incase anyone whom reads this is familiar with the sort of pay range I could expect.

Thanks!

[Parsec]

Yup, Lowell rents are one of the cheapest around and even that is pretty expensive if you're on a non-corporate entry-level salary. I had a friend living in Lowell who was doing lab research after getting her B.S. in Biology. She got sick of it and moved to Westchester, NY where she was able to find a much higher salary in her line of work.

[dmoss79]

I am surprised you said it is hard to get a bio job in MA. There are a ton! 4 people I know all have really good jobs in the field, working in Worcester and Boston. Try UMASS Medical School in Worcester they hire all the time. Try getting a teaching job in the state!

[ogre]

Depending on the kind of community you want to live in, you could look at towns in MA west of Lowell. It gets cheaper the farther from Boston you get. As you get west of Lowell, you begin to really get out into the country, however. Aside from the question of whether that's the kind of area where you'd like to live, there will also be fewer apartments, as opposed to single-family houses. Might at least be worth a look, however.

If you do find yourself working in Lowell, your best bet may well be to head north for a place to live, and cross the border into NH. Exeter and Salem, maybe also Derry, are somewhat larger towns (by NH standards) where you may have an easier time finding an apartment than you would in the more rural towns. Also, about half an hour's drive from Lowell is the small city of Nashua, NH.

Living in NH, besides the general trend toward lower rents as you get farther from Boston, also has the advantage that there's no general sales tax. There's also no tax on earned income. This wouldn't help you avoid the MA tax on your income earned in Lowell, but at least would save you the hassle of dealing with inter-state income tax arrangements.

Best of luck.

[momto4spadas]

What about Dracut or Salem/Hudson,NH? I'm originally from Lowell and can't believe how expensive it's gotten. I'd suggest coming down and looking in the Belvidere section and the Upper Highlands. It's really pretty w/ lots of old mansions that have been converted into apartments. Most of them will only have for rent signs in their windows. Also, check out the Lowell Sun's classified ads. IMO, I'd skip anything in the Acre, most of the Lower Highlands, Centerville, and South Lowell. I know that Mass Mills was a nice place and they had studio apt's. They're right in downtown next to Kerouac Park and across the street from Arthur's-home of the AWESOME Boott Mill sandwich. Lowell is a very diverse city with many ethnic groups: a very large SE Asian community, Irish, French-Canadian and to a lesser extent, Hispanic. There're museums and some cool pubs to go to as well as farm-team baseball (Lowell Spinners), hockey and UMass. Good luck w/ your search!

[effie77]

What size apartment are you looking for? You definitely can't get a one-bedroom apartment for 450-550/month, but there are plenty of place under $800 with utilities included. Dracut rents are comparable or a bit higher, but keep in mind that your car insurance will be much cheaper if you have a Dracut address vs. a Lowell address.

[remember-voltaire]

even if you live NH then there's the added cost of fuel which can only go up it seems.

I would suggest you look into the local papers, the area's and judge for yourself

I'm sorry but I should have asked have you actually been to massachusetts and new hampshire to see if you like it too.

I know sometimes that a place may appear to be nice, the apt may be nice, cost of living maybe more(very important) but when you get there and live there then it's totally different to how you thought it would be.

remember the grass is always greener