Which coastal towns close to Boston are most reasonable? (Cambridge: apartments, renters)

[floridadreamer]

I'm thinking of moving to the Boston area for family reasons - I have two small kids and their dad lives in Cambridge. I'd really like to live closer to the water and am looking for a coastal area that isn't too outrageously priced, but is "nice". I've seen a lot of winter rentals, and that's tempting but I really don't want to have to choose between moving in May, or handing over my savings account.

[SouthShoreDad]

Are you looking to rent or buy?

[floridadreamer]

I would be renting, but I can't pay $1200 for a two bedroom. That was even for a winter rental, am I asking too much? I'd like to keep it under that if possible.

[SouthShoreDad]

$1200 for a 2 bedroom is def. a possibility in some of our coastal towns.

South of Boston might be worth thinking about as far as renting and being on the coast. I did a quick search...Hingham, Hull, Scituate right down to Plymouth there are 2bed rentals around $1200......some with waterviews.

Traffic is a concern heading into the city/or home from at rush hour(morning and afternoon) if you had to do that everyday for work.

[bryan6]

I would suggest the Kingston/Duxbury area...great area as well as great schools for you kids.

[floridadreamer]

Originally Posted by SouthShoreDad

$1200 for a 2 bedroom is def. a possibility in some of our coastal towns.

South of Boston might be worth thinking about as far as renting and being on the coast. I did a quick search...Hingham, Hull, Scituate right down to Plymouth there are 2bed rentals around $1200......some with waterviews.

Traffic is a concern heading into the city/or home from at rush hour(morning and afternoon) if you had to do that everyday for work.

I'd really prefer to keep it under $1200. My income will be about $2700/mo which means by most peoples standards, I should only spend around $900 right? I'm starting to think a coastal town isn't realistic.

[SouthShoreDad]

It will be somewhat difficult getting in a 2 bed for $900 - $1000 along the coast abd have it be in a halfway decent complex/building. Certainly not impossible.

I know everyone preaches the third-third-third method in regards to your income. I can say most renters in my area usually go up to about 40% of their income. Renting is a little different compared to home owning because your rent and whatever utilities are a fixed expense(utilities will vary slightly). Youre not resposible for the maintenance/upkeep/repair of the rental as you would be as a homeowner. So that does free up more money as you don't have to budget for emergencies or regular maintenance.
Alot depends on your other bills as well. Would your rental (when you find one)include any utilities? Do you have a car payment? Credit card debt?..but staying at 40% or under would be best.

[floridadreamer]

Originally Posted by SouthShoreDad

It will be somewhat difficult getting in a 2 bed for $900 - $1000 along the coast abd have it be in a halfway decent complex/building. Certainly not impossible.

I know everyone preaches the third-third-third method in regards to your income. I can say most renters in my area usually go up to about 40% of their income. Renting is a little different compared to home owning because your rent and whatever utilities are a fixed expense(utilities will vary slightly). Youre not resposible for the maintenance/upkeep/repair of the rental as you would be as a homeowner. So that does free up more money as you don't have to budget for emergencies or regular maintenance.
Alot depends on your other bills as well. Would your rental (when you find one)include any utilities? Do you have a car payment? Credit card debt?..but staying at 40% or under would be best.

Just a car payment at the moment. I have a store cc but it's paid down. Their dad just seems so concerned that I can't afford it, I'm not sure it'll happen. Even more than that, I'm not sure it makes sense to live in the Boston area when it would be so hard to get over to Cambridge. He said traffic and crazy drivers are pretty bad there. I might be better living north of Boston in a smaller area close to US! or I95.

[CityGirl52]

Hey I saw 2 apartments for rent (by owners) on Craigslist, right in Winthrop at the beach, it's a hidden secret to live down there, believe me. They have the MBTA bus that would bring you to the subway in no time to connect to get over to Cambridge. Just a thought for you, just a thought. One of them is a 1 bedroom for $875 with a private deck, near the bus and around the corner from the beach, the beauty of it is it includes HEAT, that's a biggie. You take Moore St. at Shore Drive to get to it.

There's another one on Craigslist too, it was a 2 bedroom that includes HEAT, another good one I bet, near the Park you take Walden Street at Lincoln to get to it. This one is on Craigslist for $1000 a month, not bad....They're out there, you just have to decide where you want to live and if you want to do this move or not. That's the part that you'll have to decide on and YES, it's definitely a big decision coming up from beautiful Florida. Are you going to be okay with the winters in New England? You'll have to change the way you dress and try to stay up here for at least 2 years to give it a try.

There's another one bedroom in Salem, MA. heading further north from Winthrop and the Revere area. It's at Hawthorne Commons located at 205 Highland Ave., it's got huge walk in closets, a pool, private washer and dryer with garage parking going for roughly $1058 to 1320 a month. The next place looks interesting too! It's another 1 bedroom going for $901 a month, now see that? That's under a grand a month right in Salem at Loring Towers, you should call them to see what they can do for you, you never know, it could be that they're waiting for you to rent it!

Yet, Quincy would be ideal too, you could just hop on the MBTA red line and stay right on that train for Cambridge and be there in a few minutes, it's that convenient believe it or not, even though Quincy is south of Boston and Cambridge is right over the Charles River from Boston? Taking this red line MBTA there would be ideal for you. You'd like it a lot I bet. You'd be able to take it to either Kendall Square, Central or Harvard Square or if you had to go further than that you could, just view the mbta site to see what I mean, you'd click on subway for the map of the "T" stops:

www.mbta.com

At Avalon Summit right in Quincy, they have a heated outdoor pool here, with views of the Boston skyline. A 1 bedroom is going for 1158 to 1192. They're located at 150 Quarry Street. Not bad huh? Now wouldn't that beau of yours be surprised if you found such a beautiful, sweet deal like one of these mentioned here!

You also could check out Presidential Estates in Quincy, I know some one that lived there, they loved it here. They have beautiful landscaping here, a clubhouse, a pool, tennis and huge closets as well here. They're located at 1020 Southern Artery in Quincy and a 1 bedroom here is going for between $995 - $1085 a month, not a bad deal here either.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll make up your mind one way or another soon enough. It IS a huge decision that only you can make right now. Hope this helps, BEST WISHES no matter where you decide to live!

[DreamworksSKG]

I would say try Wakefield , Arlington, Watertown, Medford on the north shore, and on the south shore try Quincy, Plymouth, or Kingston, possibly Weymouth as well.

Wakefield is a beautiful town that is quite affordable in the current market.
has "T" access to the city - via commuter rail and is only about a 40 min drive from Salisbury-Hampton Beach NH beaches- and only about 30 min from Cape Ann beaches.- Wakefield also has a great ice cream shop - Cravings Ice Cream, a woods - Breakheart reservation with a swimming pond, and hiking trails, a lake people walk around (Lake Quannapowitt) lots of nice shops and restaurants downtown and Jordan's Furniture with the Imax theater nearby. Comvenient to route 93 and 128/95

Beverly might be another option as well.
You'd be close to the beach, and there are services downtown and in nearby Danvers-Peabody. You'd be right out on cape ann. Also there are a couple commuter rail stops in town and you could get a resident beach sticker for Beverly beaches

Ipswich could be another option for you
it is a smaller town but right in the middle of everything on the north shore.
You could use the ipswich beaches be close to the NH seacoast and Cape Ann- and still have commuter service into Boston when you wanted.
lots of nice shops and restaurants in town in Ipswich as well

Medford Might be another option for affordability.
It has good bus routes, "T" service , and commuter rail service.
Good shops in the center and services. Parks, - the Mystic River, and more service sand shops in Davis Square - in Somerville right nearby
Also Tufts University campus is nice area --as well.

Arlington would be a good choice, though its not a coastal town .
It has a nice bike-path through the center of town, easy access via bus or (driving to the Alewife "T" station) to get into Boston
You would also be right next door to Cambridge.
Paul Revere's Ride went through Arlington as well.
Nice downtown with plenty of services.

Watertown could be another affordable choice for you. Simialr to Belmont/Arlington has good transportation-
right on the mass pike and close to Cambridge/Boston.
Very Suburban though

I think you guys would really enjoy Newburyport. You';d be a bit more of a drive to Cambridge, - but you'd be right on the Merrimack River - in the heart of the beach country. - you'd have access to Newburyport Beaches- and would be right next to Salisbury and Hampton Beach NH.
And only about 30 min from Cape Ann/Ipswich/Rockport/Gloucester/Etc.
There's commuter rail to Boston as well.
Many nice shops and a very walkable downtown as well as the Maudslay State park reservation with miles of hiking trails along the Merrimack River.
Gramms' Ice Cream is awesome as well as many great seafood and american restaurants around the downtown as well as an interesting toy shop (the Dragons Nest) and other interesting shops downtown.
Newburyport has a nice harborwalk along the merrimack river for about a mile or so.

South of town the options would be Quincy which has "T" MBTA subway access, a good mix of culture, and lots of services downtown. Nice Parks like Squantum point park, and Quincy Shore Drive --as well as Nut Island --make Quincy a nice place to live.

Weymouth is another more affordable south shore community with parks and inlets. marshlands.
There is commuter rail to Weymouth now thanks to the new Greenbush line.

Kingston and Plymouth are a bit further south but have a lot of beach access and plymouth has all the historical stuff to do such as Plimoth Plantation, and the Mayflower Ship as well as Plymouth rock. Lots of Seafood restaurants as well. Kingston and Plymouth both have resident beach stickers, and commuter rail access to Boston. You'd also be a hop skip and jump from Cape Cod for Day-trips, weekend trips. Would be a bit further drive to Quincy though you could take commuter rail and subway to Cambridge when you needed.

These are the towns I'd Suggest for you