Cambrigde, MA - How is it like? (Boston, Cambridge: apartments, rental)

[RTomoum]

Hi all,

I tried looking for data on Cambridge, MA - but not the kind of statistics data - but as in, how is it like? Is it nice? Are people friendly? What's the weather like? Are there green areas, and nice natural scenery? Does it snow?? Just how is life there ???

Can anyone tell me ??
Thanks

[shiver]

Cambridge is it's own city, but many people lump it in with Boston when discussing the area (you can walk to Cambridge from Boston). The area is very progressive, liberal and diverse and very much urban/city living. It's home to MIT and Harvard so you have lots of students (both grad and undergrad) around. The cost of living is on the high side (it's on par with Boston).

Weather wise, it's New England. Same weather as Boston - 4 seasons. Cold and somewhat snowy winters, humid summers, rainy springs and beautiful falls (my personal favorite season).

Since it's city living, I don't know about tons of natural scenery in Cambridge proper, but you don't have to go too far for nature (heck, Walden Pond isn't too far away). Although the Harvard campus is really pretty and you can run/walk by the Charles River. I think it's a nice area, but that's a subjective term and depends on what you consider "nice."

[KathyMA]

There are also paths around Fresh Pond for walking/jogging, as well as Mount Auburn cemetary, with stunning views of Boston. Cambridge is pretty upscale these days, and doesn't really warrant its 'People's Republic' image anymore. There are tons of restaurants, serving a variety of ethnic food, as well as many well-known trendy restaurants.

It is a great and convenient place to live if you like an urban setting. It is densely populated and the local traffic can be a headache. But it is very well served by public transportation (Red and Green Line, Commuter Rail and many bus lines) and extremely walkable. Housing is very expensive on par with the nicer areas of Boston.

[DoctorRain]

Cambridge is real nice, but beware of the cost of living and high tax hikes.

[KathyMA]

Originally Posted by DoctorRain

Cambridge is real nice, but beware of the cost of living and high tax hikes.

Cambridge has relatively low property taxes due to the commercial tax base (Novartis, Genzyme, Biogen etc). What do you base this on? I own two properties here.

[brightdoglover]

Cambridge is a wonderful, genuinely urban place (I think roughly 100,000 residents) and right across the river from the nice part of Boston- Charles Street, the Common, the State House. You can walk across the bridge or take a short train ride.
I can't say if "the people are friendly." There a many communities- it's not a singlular college town, although there are a ot of college students (and professionals and grad students.) There are older Portuguese/Italian/Haitian neighborhoods (East Cambrige), old money people along Brattle Street, single-person apartments all over Harvard/Central/Porter Square (and other neighborhoods). Many ethnic and interesting restaurants. Not much live music (rents got too high) and the shops in Harvard Square might as well be in a mall- chain, chain, chain. Some great bookstores (although fewer than in the past).
I always preferred the area between Harvard and Porter Squares, also known as the Radcliffe area, because of the relatively large number of trees, tree-lined streets, and lack of apartment blocks, at least not many high-rises with vacant plazas.
Housing is expensive for rental or purchase. If you have a car, in most neighborhoods it's a really good idea to nail down parking. If not, public transport is fine.
Crime is low for a "real city." In my favorite neighborhood, stealing Honda Accords is the major problem. There are relatively significant drugs around housing projects, mostly in Central Square and the big ones down Rindge Ave. neare Alwife train station.
People come from all over the world to live there. Just sitting in a coffee shop, you hear so many interesting accents and conversations. Of course, with MIT and Harvard there, a lot of high-powered people are there to lecture, study, live. A great place for a life of the mind.
It's a very urban and urbane place with a low snob quotient (at least by my rigid standards). Conspicuous displays of money are frowned on, as is so often the case in New England ("We are not Dallas!")
Oh, and fine museums and libraries, plus easy access to same in Boston.
I think the biggest issue is being able to afford a place to live that suits you. If you nail that, you can have a great time living there.
Best wishes. Keep us posted?
(Disclaimer- I lived in and around Cambridge for 18 years, mostly as a renter. I left when I realized I wasn't going to change profession/go back to school, was working nights and trying to keep the city out, rather than take it in, friends were all leaving the area (a hazard in one's 30s, I think) and I wanted more nature, dogs, and financial control/ownership of my living space.

[chalcedony]

I would agree with just about everything brightdoglover says with the exception of the "low snob quotient". By no means is everyone in Cambridge snobby, or even most people, but there is a certain cultural elitism that comes with having two of the world's finest universities within one's city limits. Like most places that boast of their tolerance, Cambridge is only tolerant of the demographic groups that fit within its university town standards. It's diverse in terms of nationalities and ethnicies--not so diverse in terms of overall ways of thinking. Most everyone there is politically aligned--far more uniform than you would probably see even in small towns. Still, it does have a lot to offer, most of it close at hand because the city is compact and densely populated. As everyone else has said, housing costs are outrageous. At this point, you can often find a place in Somerville (the suburb immediately to the north) for 20 to 30% less than Cambridge, yet you will still be within walking distance of most of Cambridge's amenities--while Somerville has quite a few amenities of its own.

[brightdoglover]

Ah, yes, I forgot about the Volvo Çousteau-sticker "Free Tibet" quotient.
I was in the Army Reserve Medical during Gulf I, and my downstairs neighbor (who won a MacArthur grant for something about lesbian literature in 14th-century Norway... or something) met me on the stairs with her "No Blood for Oil" button.
I do remember during the nasty rent control wars (no rent control now) how "diverse" Cambridge was. Not. I was wearing a "Vote No on 9" button (or whatever it was) at a local place and two women struck up a conversation, saying with contempt, "You must be a property owner," and I said, "Last time I looked, that wasn't a crime."
I did think that the end of rent control and the general rise of everything in cost might have gotten rid of the some of the loony lefto stances. Nothing like a liberal with a huge mortgage. (In 1984, I was relieved when I voted- there was a referendum or something that Cambridge voted to stay out of El Salvador. No troops massing on the Cambridge Common!)
Again, I thought some measure of that ended with the higher and higher costs of living there. Hope so.