Arlington/Arlington Heights - safe (Boston, Cambridge: apartments, lease, townhouse)

[CoVtFlVa]

Moving to Boston and looking at some places online in this area. Yes, I will be coming to town to view before signing a lease but I will have minimum time. Please tell me about this area, is it safe, just some general information, It sure would be convenient for me. Thanks

[holden125]

Yes, it's very sfe.

Arlington is generally suburban, though some parts of town (generally east of Spy Pond) are a bit denser, with two family houses predominating on many blocks. The same is true somewhat along Mass. Av. The Arlington Heights area is residential suburban and a nice part of town.

25 years ago Arlington had more of a blue-collar-mixed-with-white-collar feel. Today it's become a preferred town for a lot of young professional families who are priced out of Cambridge or don't like the schools, but don't want to go too far. The restaurant scene has grown significantly in recent years as a result. The old-time residents are not all gone, though.

The center has a nice strip of shops and there are a couple of theatres showing vintage movies. That said, it's a quiet suburban town where the sidewalks roll up at 8 pm. No nightlife. It's largely a dry town (and once was through and through): few restaurants have a liquor license and, as far as I know, there's one package store - of recent vintage - in the whole town.

The only other real drawback is you'd need to take the bus to connect to the Red Line subway, which can add no small amount of delay to a daily commute if you have to get to Boston.

[goyguy]

The restaurant scene has grown because the "blue laws" were loosened enough to allow them to have bars and serve alcohol with meals. Dry towns are box-office poison to restaurateurs because of the pure profit derived from booze sales. Once customers could sip while they supped the dining scene blew up. Now a war of attrition is going on in Arlington Center, where there's no way five sushi joints can all stay open. One has already closed, and another has changed hands and name. The latest addition is a "Mexican bistro," high up on my to-try list. The days of Arlington's only having pizza/sub shops and subpar Chinese take-out places will never return.

Most of the apartments in town are either in roomy duplexes from the WWI era, or in "brick box" buildings mostly along Mass. Ave which are 2-10 stories tall and could date back as far as the '30s or as recently as the '70s. There's also a large recent apartment/townhouse complex "right at" the center of town which has units available at higher-end rents, and some other more sizeable "rental communities" along Broadway (not the major thoroughfare implied by the name) and a few additional side streets off the main drag.

The town is home to a surprisingly active Historical Society as well as a long-running drama group. High school sports boosterism is somewhat stronger than in Cambridge or Somerville or many of the surrounding suburbs. People - not just high school kids - can often be spotted wearing a shirt or jacket representing a team, and stickers/decals are fairly common on vehicles. State championships don't occur very often and no one seems to care all that much. They just like supporting the athletics programs. Arlington remains "small-towny" like that.

[amagod121]

Arlington is safe and nice. Also conveniently located to mass transportation. Small towny feel but nice amenities.