Hoping To Move To Boston (Cambridge, Quincy: sublet, apartments, rentals)

[shant]

I'm 25 and looking to move to a more up-beat city. I'm trying to figure out where in Boston I should go. Can I get some ideas?

[goyguy]

Few places in Florida, save for perhaps SoBe and the wealthier or more "happening" sections of Miami or Tampa, have housing expenses anywhere near like they are here. Good luck finding even so much as a studio ("efficiency") apartment for under $1k a month. The way to go in Boston is to double, triple, or even quadruple-up on rent with a house/apt share.

Lease Day in Beantown will be declared an actual state holiday one of these days, lol. Nearly every rental property is contracted according to a 9/1 - 8/31 calendar since so many tenants are associated with our scads of colleges in some way. What might work for you would be to troll Craigslist (especially) for sublet listings. A lot of people leave for the summer, some never to return, but can't or won't break their lease arrangement. That way you could at least have a place to rest your head and stash your goods for a month or two while you get your bearings. Of course the down side to this would be if you get along famously with the housemates and decide you love it here - then you have the 9/1 frenzy to look forward to. Although we're less than two weeks into June, it's actually on the late side for securing a domicile for a September move-in btw.

You need to, realistically, have no less than three if not four months' rent ready to plunk down at a lease signing: first and last months' rents, plus security deposit, plus broker's fee if you go that route. It's getting harder to find pet-friendly apartments or households too (no one consulted me on this), with many places requiring extra $$$ each month in exchange for letting Fido or Fluffy move in with you.

Here, then, are some neighborhood "snapshots" to work with:

South End: Probably has the most overpriced, cutting-edge, to-be-seen-in restaurants in the region. During the early gentrification days of the mid-70s to mid-80s, it was heavily populated by Gay men but is now also home to lots of yuppies, as well as more than a few students, of all kinds. SoWa (South of Washington St), the "last frontier" of neighborhood makeovers, is where you'll find lofts to live and work in, while the remainder of the area is almost entirely made up of turn-of-the-20th-century brick row houses. It's an easy walk or T ride to the Back Bay, downtown, and more. While there are few signs of the South End's former incarnation as a jazz haven, the Beehive (on Tremont St) and Wally's (on Mass. Ave) keep that faith alive. Barely 1/4 of a mile toward Cambridge along Mass. Ave is where you'll find Symphony Hall, and the Boston Center for the Arts and its new "black box" theaters on the downtown end of Tremont are growing in popularity. The main drawbacks of the neighborhood are persistent crime problems due to the proximity of Roxbury and the presence of several low-income "housing developments," and relatively poor access to necessity shopping except for convenience stores. You don't have far to go when you run out of organic dog biscuits or tear a toenail, but a schlep to Prudential Center is in order when it's time to tackle the grocery list.

Allston/Brighton: Known for decades as a "student slum," now becoming more like a slum in every sense of the word with each passing year. Scads of condo rentals and apartments in crumbling brick buildings and "sided" multifamily houses. Litter everywhere. Brawls after the bars close almost every night. Highest crime rate in the city. But people love it there just the same. I like it too. Unless you're a fan of McSportsBars like Game On or Champions, except for some joints around Fenway Park or the Garden the best place in town to knock back a few and eat tasty junk food and watch a game is the Sports Depot on Cambridge St. If you enjoy shooting pool there are several spots in Allston where you can get your hustle on. Harper's Ferry is a personal favorite for indie and blues concerts. Sunset Grill on Brighton Ave is famed for its late-night chowdowns and 110 beers on tap. Decent eating places for everything from Brazilian to Greek to Korean are there. Etc etc etc. Public transpo is good but not great, offering easy connections to BU and downtown as well as to Brookline, Cambridge, and Watertown.

Dorchester: Boston's largest neighborhood in geographic area with a total of 17 sections. Some areas are to be avoided at all costs, but others are awesome. In particular, Savin Hill (especially its "over the bridge" sector, east of the Red Line station) and Ashmont (also east of the subway line) are well worth investigating. The spacious "three decker" apartment houses were built there by the hundreds, as were lots of rambling Victorians, both of which are now being "rediscovered" and oftentimes rented out with the landlord/lady in residence. UMass-Boston, and its nearness to downtown as well as to Quincy and the South Shore, are making "Dot" hot. The remnant Irish-American population has now been joined by a substantial Southeast Asian immigrant community, while at the same time West Indian and African-American households are being welcomed where not long ago they feared to tread. Add to that mix a goodly number of "transplanted" students and yuppies and you have a dynamic living situation.

Jamaica Plain: Less affordable than once was true, but still feasible if you go with a house-share. While definitely trendy, not in as frantic a way as the South End; the requisite Irish bars and Indian and Thai bistros are there but so are funky Cuban restaurants and "unreconstructed" neighborhood hangouts. Home to Jamaica Pond and the gorgeous Arnold Arboretum, and a quick ride from Back Bay and downtown via the Orange Line or a less-quick trip via the Harvard Medical Area and Northeastern on the 39 bus. Lots of quiet, and safe, tree-lined streets with all sorts of housing styles - buzzwords in rental ads are "pondside" and "monument," the latter being a WWI statue at a focal crossroads between the commercial district and the arboretum and the Forest Hills transit terminal.

Other parts of the city worth checking out: Roslindale ("the new JP"), and Mission Hill.

Outside the Boston city limits, but close by and popular, are Somerville (the Union Square area is the latest part of town to "take off"), Brookline (wonderful town but mostly with costs to match), and Cambridge (pricy but not so bad when you dig around a bit.)

Let me/us know of any more particulars we can put our two cents in on. Enjoy being away from hurricanes!