Boston to Worcester daily commute? (Cambridge, Somerville: sublet, apartment, rent)

[Blitz2011]

Hey guys,

So I'm a British medical student at Univ. of Birmingham, and I'm doing a 2 month elective @ UMass (Worcester) in April and May.

I know its 6 months early, but I want to start looking for a decent place to live.

I'm 25, will be coming by myself.

I know living in Worcester would be the easier, convenient, smarter, cheaper option, but I'd much rather live in Boston...

I looked up the MBTA website, and saw that it takes 1hr20 min on the commuter rail (Back Bay to Worcester) or I could live halfway in a place like Framingham/Natick.

Monthly pass from Boston is $250 (8 zones).

What type of rent will I be looking at if I stayed in Back Bay area?

What type of rent will I be looking at if I stayed in Framingham/Natick area?

I dont want single bedroom. I'd live in a 3-4 bedroom place. Could I get something for $500-$600/month?

How far is the walk from Worcester rail station to the UMass medical center?

Will I realistically be able to commute everyday for 2 months from Boston->Worcester?

Cheers,

[kancamagus]

Originally Posted by Blitz2011

I know living in Worcester would be the easier, convenient, smarter, cheaper option, but I'd much rather live in Boston...

Monthly rent for a 3-4 bedroom apartment in Worcester is starts at $1000 for the third floor of a triple decker in a decent neighborhood. Most prices for first or second floors run about $1200-$1300 per month. You can definitely get a studio or one-bedroom apartment for much cheaper than this, probably within your $500-$600 per month.

If you want to hang out in downtown Boston, taking the T commuter rail is cheaper than Mass Pike tolls and Boston parking if you have over three people in your car. Since you're by yourself, it'll be cheaper to take the T. And since it wouldn't be for commuting, you wouldn't need the monthly pass (unless you plan on going to Boston everyday). There are like 12-13 round trip trains daily to Worcester, so they're somewhat convenient if you plan ahead. Maybe in another ten years we'll finally get the 20-30 daily round trip trains the politicians have been seeking, thus making spontaneous trips to Boston (without planning around train schedules) possible.

Originally Posted by Blitz2011

What type of rent will I be looking at if I stayed in Back Bay area?
...
I dont want single bedroom. I'd live in a 3-4 bedroom place. Could I get something for $500-$600/month?

A three bedroom apartment in Back Bay starts at $2500+ and can run over $20,000. Per month.

There are more affordable areas in the greater Boston area that still have easy access to Boston's wonderful downtown via the T, like Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Fenway, etc. You can get a studio apartment (or maybe a one-bedroom apartment) for the same price as a three bedroom apartment in Worcester. If your budget is capped at $500-$600 per month and you really want to live in greater Boston, you can most likely get a single room sublet of a larger multi-bedroom apartment for this price.

Originally Posted by Blitz2011

How far is the walk from Worcester rail station to the UMass medical center?

Over a mile, probably two kilometers.

Originally Posted by Blitz2011

Will I realistically be able to commute everyday for 2 months from Boston->Worcester?

If you consider two hours each way realistic, then yes. Point-to-point, it takes about two hours to travel between Worcester and Boston at rush hour, no matter if you take the T or drive on Mass Pike/Route 9/other parallel roads. But at least the T commuter trains have onboard Wifi, and you can browse the web or read a book instead of swearing at bad drivers.