Relocating from Philadelphia to Marlborough

[Concepts]

Ok, that narrows it down quite a bit. You really may have to go to Worcester for $600 and under. Even with that, you'll need to be careful of the area. It's expensive to live here, yes.

My daughter was paying $1300 in Brighton for a small 1 bedroom, and parking in the winter is brutal. And that was cheap.

Newton will be out of the questions also - almost anything East of Worcester will be difficult. There are a couple in Marlboro but they are small. Would you be willing to go for a studio apartment? Or perhaps check out Craigslist for a room mate? - There are lots of multi families out this way - you might be able to find someone looking to share rent.

Hope I haven't been too discouraging but hate to have you waste your time researching areas that are way out of the price range you're looking for,.

[brightdoglover]

Oh, I didn't see the post about price range.
For what you're saying, I can only imagine a roommate situation, like a 2-bed townhouse or something.
Even a studio is unlikely at that price, or very few. Anyway, would it be so bad to have a roommate or two, being new in the area and wanting to meet people and learn about places to go?
In which case, I'd still suggest you live in towards the city and drive to work. Roommates, let's see, Newton might still be too expensive, but it's worth a look. Waltham, definitely.
I just think Worcester is a no-win for a young single prof. Maybe I'm biased, but I just think it's a dead end, living alone or not.
Certainly living alone would mean a studio, anywhere, but not close in towards the city. Housing cost is a problem here on every level, unlike Philly.

[redpanda]

I would definitely suggest roommates at that price point. I've paid around that, maybe a bit more, to live in 3bdrm's in the Boston area, so I'm sure it's do-able if you look. I don't have a lot of experience with marlborough, but I do second the suggestion of Waltham--it has a lot of cool stuff going on on Moody St. but should give you a jump on your commute.

You might want to check out craigslist to get a better idea of what rents run around here...sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I can't imagine an entire apartment renting anywhere around here for less than $900; even a studio.

[ogre]

Hmmm, yeah, regarding the cost of housing . . . welcome to Boston. Yikes! Boston has a lot of good points, but cost of living is not one of them. Many young people save money with roommates. The reality is that a roommate, or several roommates renting a house, is really about the only way you're going to have a chance of living in the city of Boston on the budget you're talking about, and even then it would be tight. As noted above, Brighton is an area to look at if you're okay with more of a student crowd than a young professional area.

My earlier suggestions were based on the idea of trying to get something as close as possible to a city experience while keeping the commuting down to at least a moderate degree. If a town with a basic downtown area would work for everyday living, with trips to the city on days off, I agree that Marlborough itself might be worth a look. I haven't actually been in M'borough in quite a few years, so I don't know details about neighborhoods, or what the town's character is like now. It used to be kind of plain in appearance, not decayed and crime-ridden, rather a little old and faded, yet a large enough town to have the basic amenities. And it does have the advantage of being close to commuter rail in Westoborough. If you don't mind somewhat of a long commute, Waltham is looking like a better and better possibility with your housing budget, though you'd be looking at a roommate arrangement with the housing costs that close to Boston.

Regarding other towns people have suggested, Concord has a more substantial downtown than some of the other exurban towns in its vicinity, and it has the commuter rail line, but it is exactly what I just said, exurban. Out in the country, with woods and fields and winding roads, so Concord would definitely be a town you'd live in only if you wanted a decent variety of local shopping, but were prepared to save the city atmosphere for trips in town on your free time.

Natick, hmmm, city living at a lower price? I dunno. More like suburban living with an attractive downtown that has some basic shopping, along with a lot of mall shopping. On a commuter rail line, so has good access to Boston, but another town where you'd have to get your real city atmosphere during trips in town on your free time.

One town in the vicinity of Concord I might suggest is Maynard. It's another town that has long been a bit faded and blue-collar, though in the last few years it has been discovered by young professional family people who are doing a bit of gentrifying in Maynard. A small town, but more densely populated, with more of a substantial downtown than many towns out in that space in the middle between Boston and Worcester.

A lot to think about with all the suggestions people have made here, but at least that's better than receiving no suggestions. Best of luck with your search.

[Concepts]

I always forget about Maynard....Your remembrance of Marlboro, ogre, is still fairly apt - there are some crummy sections and has a old feel to it (it was incorporated in 1660 so it's been around awhile!) but it does have restaurants, bars, and is close enough to Boston to get there easily.

I'm not pushing Marlboro but here's what I'm thinking.

OP is going to be working in Marlboro and likely doesn't know anyone here yet. Most of the friends he will make will be from work rather than where he lives. So if he lives in Boston (for instance), his friends will likely be more from the Central MA area and be hanging out closer to work; dinner, meet for drinks, etc. So the perk of living in the city may be negated by the fact that everyone he knows lives in Central MA anyway. This is all assuming he lives alone and doesn't go for the room mate idea. He could go for a month to month lease and look around more at other areas once he got here.

Just a thought.....

[gobetween]

All!

Excellent insight, really! Having a roommate is a good idea and it was something on the back of my mind b/c i'm not too keen on living by myself, at least not just yet. Definitely have been looking on craigslist and using an online tool, "padmapper." Boston is def. no joke when it comes to housing prices, I wish I could be more flexible with how much to spend for housing alone.

@brighdoglover i think we share a similar mindset in that... i'm not quite ready to live in a town setting just yet, i have definitely had a good portion of my life in that kind of setting.

But with all the suggestions and ideas... I won't judge a book by its cover. Will have to visit a few places to get a better idea. While it would seem nice, I don't think I will be living in downtown Boston (or too east into the city)... for the mere fact that I would not want to commute for 30 miles each way for work.

@ogre Population density...hm... now that you mention it a/b Maynard i think that will be something for me to consider b/c I would like to be able to run into a good amount of people on an everyday basis. So high population density will be a plus for me, of course relative to these towns.

[ogre]

Just to make sure you have the right picture of Maynard, when I talked about population density, I did not mean that the town has a large population, just that it's more densely built than the other towns in the vicinity, which are fairly rural. The area in general is orchard country. Maynard, having a history of being a blue-collar factory town, has a lot of older housing, a lot of single-family houses but with small yards. It also has a more substantial downtown than most other towns in that area, but it's still a small town. I don't want you to get the idea that you'd really have anything like city living there, only that the town would offer something more in the way of local shopping and dining than what you'd find in most places in that semi-rural area.

[jemberley]

you need to come to maynard the commuter rail is less than 10 minutes away and marlboro is 15 mins away plus it is centrally located near concord sudbury