Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-20-2016, 11:20 AM
 
2 posts, read 2,925 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

We are new to Boston and not sure where to look. We are looking for a two bedroom and our max budget is about $1800/month total, but would of course love something closer to $1500-$1600

Me (22M): will be working near Back Bay Station, would love a shortish commute (less than an hour - ideally 30-40 mins!!!) by bus/T/walk

Roommate (28M) will be *driving* to Lowell to work, but still wants to live in/around Boston. So maybe something slightly north.

We are fine with extremely small apartments or any with weird layouts, few windows etc. Not picky and not expecting a ton for our budget.

We both would like to be near-ish to nightlife, restaurants etc but this is less of a concern (and we don't mind a 20 minute walk)

Would love somewhere safe of course, but we are open to all neighborhoods

Any suggestions would be great! If it helps, my initial thoughts include Somerville, Malden, East Boston, Chelsea/Revere/Winthrop, South End...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-20-2016, 11:33 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,759,907 times
Reputation: 40634
I've seen two bedrooms in Malden, Melrose, etc and a few in Winter Hill/ East Somerville for the $1800 mark. You just need to start looking and be prepared to write a check for the deposit as soon as you view the place.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 11:34 AM
 
18,647 posts, read 33,216,650 times
Reputation: 36998
My first thought was Lowell itself.
Trust me, you do NOT want to have a car in the South End. No place to put it, no way out. It's also no good thing in Somerville, East Boston... Revere is not so well located and Winthrop is truly out of place unless you want to work/get to the airport.

I'd live in a great loft apartment in Lowell, walkable to the restaurants and all there, and you could take commuter rail into Boston very easily, for Back Bay station or anywhere else. Nightlife isn't restricted to Boston, especially not by Back Bay station (unless you have more money than I think!). Neat and funky restaurants are more likely in Lowell than downtown Boston, plus you'd have parking, and there are bars everywhere that might interest you.
I wouldn't consider Chelsea for anything.

I just don't see having a car closer into Boston if you're willing to spend that amount of time commuting by train. It's just not worth it.

Best wishes. Keep us posted!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 12:10 PM
 
2 posts, read 2,925 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by brightdoglover View Post
My first thought was Lowell itself.
Trust me, you do NOT want to have a car in the South End. No place to put it, no way out. It's also no good thing in Somerville, East Boston... Revere is not so well located and Winthrop is truly out of place unless you want to work/get to the airport.

I'd live in a great loft apartment in Lowell, walkable to the restaurants and all there, and you could take commuter rail into Boston very easily, for Back Bay station or anywhere else. Nightlife isn't restricted to Boston, especially not by Back Bay station (unless you have more money than I think!). Neat and funky restaurants are more likely in Lowell than downtown Boston, plus you'd have parking, and there are bars everywhere that might interest you.
I wouldn't consider Chelsea for anything.

I just don't see having a car closer into Boston if you're willing to spend that amount of time commuting by train. It's just not worth it.

Best wishes. Keep us posted!

Thank you so much for your help!

Living in Lowell will definitely have to be something we consider.

I guess one of our biggest considerations in the Boston area would be where we could find parking for one car. What about places like Roslindale or even Dorchester? I feel like I know nothing about the neighborhoods west and south of "Boston proper" and I'm not sure how accurate their reputations are. It seems the commute to back bay wouldn't be very long from there.

Also, if we bumped our budget up slightly, would that open us up to places where it's easier to keep a car, perhaps outskirts of Cambridge? My brother lives on the Cambridge/Arlington line and hasn't had a problem keeping a car there.

Thanks again!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 12:28 PM
 
Location: New England
2,190 posts, read 2,214,865 times
Reputation: 1968
The Lowell commuter rail line goes into north station. From there you would need to transfer to the orange line in order to get to the Back Bay station. It would be well over an hour to commute to Lowell by both car and by train.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 12:28 PM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,759,907 times
Reputation: 40634
I wouldn't want to be in Roslindale or Dorchester then have to drive to Lowell. Keep on the other side of the city.

What about the places you already mentioned? Malden, etc etc. I've never had a problem parking in Somerville and I've lived in most parts of Somerville, its not a big deal except in dense areas during snow emergencies, but your budget won't get you alot there if you can find a place. Parking isn't that hard. If you're looking at like Malden its a non issue.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 06:20 PM
 
187 posts, read 215,507 times
Reputation: 224
Quote:
Originally Posted by brightdoglover View Post
My first thought was Lowell itself.
Trust me, you do NOT want to have a car in the South End. No place to put it, no way out. It's also no good thing in Somerville, East Boston... Revere is not so well located and Winthrop is truly out of place unless you want to work/get to the airport.

I'd live in a great loft apartment in Lowell, walkable to the restaurants and all there, and you could take commuter rail into Boston very easily, for Back Bay station or anywhere else. Nightlife isn't restricted to Boston, especially not by Back Bay station (unless you have more money than I think!). Neat and funky restaurants are more likely in Lowell than downtown Boston, plus you'd have parking, and there are bars everywhere that might interest you.
I wouldn't consider Chelsea for anything.

I just don't see having a car closer into Boston if you're willing to spend that amount of time commuting by train. It's just not worth it.

Best wishes. Keep us posted!
Um, if you are working in Boston...live in Boston! Enough said!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 08:56 PM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,759,907 times
Reputation: 40634
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peabody99 View Post
Um, if you are working in Boston...live in Boston! Enough said!

Not on their budget, and not when one is driving to Lowell for work .
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 09:33 PM
 
Location: New England
2,190 posts, read 2,214,865 times
Reputation: 1968
You're in a tough situation since the easiest commute to the back bay is from the southern suburbs where a commute to Lowell would be challenging. I would recommend looking on the framingham commuter rail line or on the northern end of the orange line in Malden/Melrose.

Last edited by tysmith95; 07-20-2016 at 10:07 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-25-2016, 01:02 PM
 
288 posts, read 631,756 times
Reputation: 549
I live in Roslindale and I used to drive through Dedham to get to Wellesley/Natick. I passed by the 95 on-ramp every day. I can't say what it's like on the highway itself, but surface traffic on Washington St toward Dedham is ok in the morning because you are doing a reverse commute. In some parts of Washington St, you can hit 40mph. As for commuting from Roslindale, your roommate might get a "meh" commute but then you would get a fabulous commute. The commuter rail station in Roslindale Village to Back Bay is just two stops and takes under 15 minutes. If you miss the commuter rail, you hop on a bus and just switch to the Orange Line. It's a ridiculously easy commute and that's why the homes in Roslindale around the commuter rail station and village square have always sold fast.

Roslindale is semi-suburban and mostly residential. The demographics tend to be older--people in their 30s and 40s with young children. But then those parents flock to Roslindale because it's considered very safe and you can still buy a beautiful single family with a yard on a tree-lined street for under $600K. There's usually on street parking or people have private driveways. I do know several single guys living in Roslindale and they enjoy the area, but they already had a group of friends in Boston. There is some nightlife in Roslindale because of the restaurants clustered around Roslindale Village, but it still is relatively quiet in the evenings. But I don't think that should make you feel isolated from the rest of the city. I think in the last ten days alone, I've eaten in Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, Chinatown, and a couple times in Roslindale Village. I've walked through the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain and Boston Public Garden in Downtown. I've seen a movie near Boston Common, a concert at the Pavilion in the Seaport, and a play in the South End (ooh, and there was an after party). We were out and about fairly late on all these days. I'm saying just because you live in a quiet residential area like Roslindale or somewhere else, it doesn't mean you can't participate in everything else happening in the city core. So you got to ask yourself if you were in the suburbs, would you bother coming into the city again? All these things happening were 15-30 minutes drive from us in Roslindale. But then if I were your roommate, I wouldn't be thrilled with the daily work commute to Lowell.

Anyway, there are actually a lot of good restaurants in Roslindale, and it's definitely trying to be more like Jamaica Plain. A South Boston coffee chain opened a new storefront in Roslindale and a popular Allston-Brighton coffee place opened one in Roslindale. The people who run Delfino's (which I swear serves some of the best pasta in Boston) is opening a new restaurant across to street. Other people are also open a microbrewery and a new restaurant in an old substation next to all the new condos. Everyone also is excited that Exodus Bagels is choosing to open their first shop in Roslindale.

Last edited by sharencare; 07-25-2016 at 01:28 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top