Moving to Boston with a 3 yr old / HELP (Brookline, Malden: apartment, rental)

[eroman224]

My husband was offered a job in a hotel in Downtown Boston and he has already started working. My son & I are still in NY and will be joining him soon. However, I am doing a lot of research prior to our initial visit to Boston. Given, that my husband is in hospitality he will work at odd times so we would like to ensure we are close to public transportation (T Line), safe neighborhood, good schools and great places for my son to have a part in age appropriate activities. I tele-commute and work only in the mornings so hopefully a good daycare service close by. We are of hispanic background and would enjoy a diverse neighborhood, as well.

Rent expectations are between $1300 - $1500/month. Would this be doable anywhere close to the T?

Thanks!

[eroman224]

So, I have been looking on craigslist for places that might be easier for my husband to commute to from the green line T. What are you thoughts on Brookline and Dorchester? My husband also heard that maybe we should also look at Malden, but I have not heard much of that part of town. I am not familiar with the school system in Boston and hope some of these places have good standing. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[MikePRU]

Brookline is a great area with a great school system. The more expensive parts have a little more of a suburban feel but a lot of the city has that close in, very dense, urban-suburb feel. My only question is could you find something you'd like within your budget?

[eroman224]

Thanks for your reply Mike! I guess I am not being realistic in terms of budget, huh? Well, at least I have an understanding now and will have to work out my budget again to increase it. I am just soooo overwhelmed with moving and with a child it is a lot more difficult.

[MikePRU]

The cheapest rental in Brookline with 2 bedrooms currently on MLS is $1700/month, but that's in the Chestnut Hill area which is at the western edge of Brookline.

Really, whether your budget is realistic or not depends on your personal priorities. What's your expectation for your new home? (i.e. how big? how many bedrooms/bath?) Also, in Brookline you have to think about parking. They don't allow overnight parking on the street and not every rental comes with parking. Parking spaces can be rented as well, but I would expect to pay $100 or more per month for a space.

[G-fused]

We live in Brookline...been here for 3 yrs. Moved from NY too and our son was 2 so I empathize with the difficulty. We also had a house to sell...what a pain. But we're still alive and you will be too when it's all over.

We looked a lot on line and then took 2 trips tot eh area to drive around by ourselves and with a realtor. We liked the feel of Brookline and rented first to make sure we liked the area. We did so we bought a place. Yes, it is expensive but there is a good reason for that. Personally, I think it's worth it as we love the area but I'm sure there are other areas that are nice as well. We're in Coolidge Corner, which is the most buzzing and lively of the Brookline areas, but it's still quiet if you are a couple blocks from the main area. Coolidge corner is the most expensive neighborhood too. Chestnut hill is much more suburban and is hardly worth the cost, but it is because of the schools. All of the Brookline public schools are great, just look at the test scores on line - you'll see they are high. Brookline has 1 High School, it's big and also has high test scores.

There are many families with yuong children, tons of parks, and kid friendly shops and restaurants, really good public libraries (there are 2), etc. It's a good place for a family. We also like it because there are many college students from top universities and we think that'll influence our son to do well. If he sees bright young kids walking around and going to college, that'll be the norm for him adn it'll be les of a question. And, many of the people we are friends with are professors from Harvard, MIT, BC, BU, etc. That's just becuase many live in the neighborhood becuase it's so close to the schools and is a nice town.

Biggest thing with Brookline is that it's in demand and that makes it expensive. Parking is a bit of a pain but you get used to it. I wish I could say it was a very diverse place but it's not really. There is definitely some but it's still mostly caucasion and mostly middle to upper middle class. Yes, there is some diversity but I would like to see more. The nice thing about Brookline when it comes to diversity though is that the community is very liberal and welcoming of other cultures and lifestyles. And although the residents aren't super diverse, we get a lot of people from other areas that come here to shop, eat, work, have fun, etc., who are diverse. So it's not bad.

Daycare is very expensive but there are many options. My wife drops our boy off at daycare and I pick him uip. I take the T from Downtown Boston, walk 1 block to the daycare and then walk 5 blocks home with him...eazy peazy (except when he's cranky - then it's a horror show).

I think what you should do is pick a few areas you think may work (depending on location since you want to be close to the T, amount of rent, etc) and then drive around those towns and get a feel for them. Just so you know, Brookline can be a big pain to drive in - it's much more of a walking/biking town.

Best of luck.

[eroman224]

Wow, you guys have really been a wealth of information. My husband is working in Downtown Boston (Green Line T), so it would be ideal for us to be close to the area. He has already been around Brookline but I have yet to see. I was supposed to head out there again this weekend but given this imminent blizzard heading our way, the trip has been canceled.

We do not own a car and doubt that we will get one for a while. Where we live here in NY finding parking was way too much of a hassle too and to think about going through the same thing, just drives me nuts. If public transportation in Boston is as good as I have heard, then we should be fine. In regards to diversity, it worries me that my son might feel a bit "different" but if it is such a welcoming place (as opposed to other towns in Boston, that I heard are not) then it eases my worries a bit more. It sounds like rent in Brookline is just about what we pay around here. We were trying to reduce the costs a bit, but if it cannot be that way, then so be it.

Ideally, a 2 bedroom and 1 bath is fine for us - We don't have lots of stuff to move around with so, we do not need a big place to start off with. Unfortunately, he only has a week to find a place for him to stay at so for now, we will look for something for him that is temporary until we can move in with him in an apartment.

Thanks so much for the advise - YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE THIS!!!

[tickybox]

I was going to suggest Malden/Melrose, but if you need the green line, perhaps not. Still, if you do decide to look at Malden (orange line) push a little further out and look at Melrose as well. The Orange line ends right at the Malden-Melrose border, and there are three commuter rail stops in Melrose. There are nice green spaces there, a nice downtown, and the budget you proposed is not impossible in either city. Malden is going to be more crowded, a little more urban, a bit higher crime rate, but also easier to get to the T. Melrose is going to add more time to your commute, but give you more parks and a nicer downtown.

[eroman224]

Tickybox,

Someone suggested Malden to my husband but I had not heard of Melrose...hhmmm, worth looking into. Is it too difficult to transfer from the orange line over to the green? I love the fact that there are green spaces - I like that feel and if it would be quieter, even better. Would we require a car to live around there?

[tickybox]

It's definitely harder to live in Melrose without a car then it would be in Malden. The city has four bus lines that connect to the end of the Orange line. Some of the lines shut down sort of early at night, however (the 132's last run is at 7pm, for example.) There are also the three commuter rail stops through the center of town, but not all three stops go all evening, and they become much more infrequent the later it gets.

Melrose, as you can probably tell by the fact that some of the buses stop at 7pm, tends to head to bed early. It's got a very pretty downtown that's a few blocks long, that includes things like a Shaw's supermarket, a Starbucks, a very nice bakery, hardware store, CVS, YMCA, Farmer's market nearby in the summer once a week, etc. It borders the Fells, which has hiking trails.

The Orange line intersects with the Green line in two locations -- North Station, and Haymarket. So, you can transfer, but how much time this will add to your commute will depend on which stop you are trying to get to on the Green line. The MBTA trip page will give you the times if you go in and give it a start and end point.

Malden -- more diverse than Melrose, easier to get to the T, if you are someone who occasionally uses Zip Car or would like that option, lots of locations with zip cars to make life easier. A bit more crime, but it's also a a larger area, with a lot more people in it.

On the other end of the Green line, a friend has suggested you look at Allston-Brighton as a contender.