Best areas for non-students, such as professionals in their 30's? (Boston: middle-class, apartment)

[Scal2010]

I've been reading through a lot of threads and noticing a lot of places are student-oriented. So I'm just wondering what are the best places for single people in their 30's. I don't mean places with clubs or pick-up joints. I mean nice, clean, safe areas for single women who just like a peaceful place but with an easy commute to the city. A place you can walk after work, etc.

[Cantabridgienne]

You really can't entirely avoid students in Boston. They are a fact of life. That said, here are a few neighborhoods that aren't saturated with students and provide what you describe:

Boston: Back Bay, Beacon Hill, South End

Cambridge: Huron Village, Porter Square, Inman Square

Brookline

[Cliff Clavin]

South Boston is a gentrified neighborhood (although not as refined as the South End) full of professional folks in their late 20's and 30's. I find the rents reasonable. There are a couple red Line stops. The #9 bus runs down Broadway to Copley Sq.

Oh yeah...and there's a beach!

[gf2020]

Charlestown and the North End

[proudestmonkey]

Originally Posted by Cantabridgienne

You really can't entirely avoid students in Boston. They are a fact of life. That said, here are a few neighborhoods that aren't saturated with students and provide what you describe:

Boston: Back Bay, Beacon Hill, South End

Cambridge: Huron Village, Porter Square, Inman Square

Brookline

In Brookline the closer you get to the BU campus and Allston/Brighton the more students there will be, so try to avoid that. I know, I went to BU

[ogre]

A few additions to the list:

Jamaica Plain: Find out as much as you can about the particular neighborhood. I don't know that area well enough to give you the lowdown on each neighborhood, but it's widely known that JP's character varies by neighborhood, sometimes even from street to street. Some neighborhoods and streets are gritty, some have young professionals, and some have families.

Newton: Mainly a family kind of town. If you want to take the green line in for your commute, you might be especially interested in the area around Newton Centre, which has more local neighborhood shopping and dining options than such places farther out on the green line as Waban and Woodland. The best area depends on your housing budget. Newton overall is an expensive town, but it's large enough to have a variety of housing options, so it's worth a look on a modest (for Boston) or moderately high budget, though probably not a low-budget town.

Arlington: Mix of urban and suburban. Some young professionals, though not a young professionals mecca. Lots of families, including younger families. Commute by public transit is workable, though it does involve a couple of transfers (going by your older thread where you stated that your workplace is in Back Bay).

Waltham: Somewhat urban mix of young professionals and immigrants around downtown, and broadly middle-class (mix of professional and blue-collar) fairly generic suburbia elsewhere. Public transit commute involves one transfer (commuter rail from downtown Waltham to North Station, then a transfer to green line), with a likely long stop and change of trains on the green line at the Govt. Center station, and commuter rail is more expensive than the subway, and does not run as often.

Watertown: Like Waltham, is a bit on the urban side around downtown, more or less suburban elsewhere. Unlike Waltham, has more of an older inner-suburban look away from downtown, while Waltham on the north and west sides looks more like '50's suburbia. Not so much of a young professional population in Watertown, but word going around is that this is beginning to change. Still, at this time there's not as much in the way of businesses that attract young professionals in Watertown as in Waltham (which has a pretty active restaurant scene downtown). Commute by public transit would involve some transfers. Either bus from Watertown Sq. to Cambridge, transfer to red line, red line to Park St., transfer to green line, or from the far north side you can get to Waverly Sq. in Belmont and take the same commuter train that serves Waltham, with the same transfer, and likely delay at Govt. Ctr., involved.

[HenryAlan]

I'd add Roslindale and parts of Dorchester, too. There really are quite a few areas in Boston that are quiet and bucolic but still close to downtown.

[shiver]

Lots of great suggestions so far. I'm in my early 30s and a single female and I live in Brookline. Love it. Someone mentioned to stay away because there are a lot of students; true to a point, but it's really concentrated to a small area near Commonwealth Ave.

You have a lot of choices. We'll be able to guide you better if you let us know where you'll be working, if you'll be driving or needing to take public transportation, whether you want to have a very city experience or a little more residential and very important - your budget and what kind of place you're looking for? For example, $1000 in Back Bay will get you a tiny basement studio, whereas in Arlington you'll find a normal 1 bedroom for that price.

[Scal2010]

Thanks for all the input!

I really should head over to see Newton. I haven't been there yet. I think I'm ruling out Roslindale because I viewed a place yesterday and it took 45 minutes on train and that's not even including buses. Plus I really hate the orange train. Since I've been here I've been telling everyone in NY how much nicer the subways are here because I've really had only good experiences on the red and green trains. But then on the orange trains wow all the psychos came out yesterday.

To answer the questions, I'm working on Boylston but it's just a temp job so I really don't know how long it will last so that makes it tough to pick an apartment. I would love to work in this area. I have a car and the building has parking, so I would like to have parking with my apartment so I can drive.

I just started looking at rentals on Brookline and the range seems to be $1600-1900. I have a place to view tomorrow near work that will be $1200, which would be great but I have a feeling it's a hell hole. My main priorities are just a safe place where I can walk to shops or restaurants, or even parks, but where I don't feel claustrophobic.

[Cantabridgienne]

Just know that Brookline doesn't allow overnight street parking, so your apartment either needs to come with a parking space if you're keeping the car or you need to rent one.

How long is your temp gig?