Is Boston a stressful city to live in? (Salem: apartment, rental)

[sobo16]

Originally Posted by BHboston

Boston IMO is a lot more manageable than New York. Everytime I've been to New York (Manhattan in particular) I feel like I'm coming home to a small town, and I can finally breathe again.

On the other hand, Boston does have its own challenges. Traffic can be pretty horrible on weekdays and parking downtown is, as mentioned above, almost prohibitively expensive. I definitely recommend taking the train downtown whenever possible.

I'm not too up on real estate prices, but I think $300k might still get you a reasonably nice (small) condo somewhere in the city. $1500 for a modern 1br in a nice area seems like a stretch, but you could most likely find a nice studio in that range. (Then again I'm not sure what areas you are thinking of - many outlying neighborhoods and bordering cities are much cheaper than areas close to downtown).

This post is spot on.

Also, regarding stress, there will probably be some things about living in Boston that are stressful, like some traffic and sometimes the snowy weather. But you find ways to balance it out. Like in the summer, I think it is very peaceful to relax on Boston Common or to walk/bike along the Esplanade.

[SoFresh99]

Boston is an inherently stressful city, most big(ish) cities are. Itis expensive and crowded and everyone is in a hurry to be exactly the same place that you are. I discovered that Boston life was just not compatible with my temperament. I want a city where I can just go to work- not drive/fight in grueling traffic or walk in the rain to wait for trains that are late. Much is often made of how much culture and lifestyle Boston offers for the toll it demands and for me that just was not the case, the price was too high.

However I loved the beauty of New England and the liberal attitudes. If it had been tenable for my family (or I were young and single) I would look into living in Northampton or Amherst and get the liberal, gay-friendly beauty of Mass without the stress and expense of Boston.

[Cliff Clavin]

Originally Posted by nep321

Well, I just ran through my calculations and made a mistake. Instead, the max rental I would be able to afford would be $1,325. I want a nice modern/renovated 1 br apt in a decent neighborhood with parking and laundry nearby.

I have been playing around with Google Maps public transit commute times and am quite disappointed at how long it may take to get from home to work (assuming work is in or near downtown).

I mean, all of this will depend on how much of a salary I can get for a job and the location of the job itself. But it seems more likely than not that I will be disappointed with the selection of housing for $1,325 and still have a short commute to work. Ugh.

$1,325 is doable, but to get what you're looking for, you'd have to increase your budget by at least $1,000.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by Cliff Clavin

$1,325 is doable, but to get what you're looking for, you'd have to increase your budget by at least $1,000.

Well then I guess I will either have to accept a lower standard of living or forget about Boston altogether.

[missionhill]

The heavy-rail subways can get you into the city center in 15-20 minutes not including time to walk to/from the station. Unlikely to have parking included in your price range. However, most of these areas reserve on-street spaces for neighborhood residents as long as you register your car in Mass. Red line, for example, serves decent South Boston and Dorchester neighborhoods where you might find something in the $1500 range; and at the other end takes you to Cambridge and Somerville. You might find something good in Medford or Malden along the orange line, or at the other end in Roxbury or Jamaica Plain. A lot of the apartments in these areas have two or three bedrooms (sharing is cost-effective) making a studio or one-bedroom harder to find (lots of those intown but prices there are even higher and forget about parking.) The green line serves some of the best areas in the city for youngish transplants (guess you're a transplant even if only from Hartford) but being a streetcar, the green has slower service, and parking is much harder in green line districts with the exception of the Newton stops along the D branch. Boston is not Charlotte-easy but it's much more interesting. More like Hartford if Hartford were much bigger and walkable. The sequence of Bushnell Park-State House-Downtown office district has its parallel in Boston Common-State House-Downtown office district.

[massnative71]

Keep in mind that many of the jobs in the Boston area are not in the city itself. They are in Waltham, Braintree, Burlington, Framingham, Marlborough, etc. Commuting/driving should be much easier to those locales.

Don't listen to the people claiming that you have to spend $2000/month for an apartment. There are many decent apartments in the 1000-1200 range all over the Boston area, maybe just not in the trendy neighborhoods that some on here seem unable to see beyond.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Keep in mind that many of the jobs in the Boston area are not in the city itself. They are in Waltham, Braintree, Burlington, Framingham, Marlborough, etc. Commuting/driving should be much easier to those locales.

Don't listen to the people claiming that you have to spend $2000/month for an apartment. There are many decent apartments in the 1000-1200 range all over the Boston area, maybe just not in the trendy neighborhoods that some on here seem unable to see beyond.

Well, I'm not interested in living in sketchy areas like Dorchester, Revere or Jamaica Plain. I am interested in living in areas like Brighton, South End, Cambridge and Somerville, however. After looking on Craiglist, it seems very challenging to find a nice renovated, clean, modern 1 br apartment for no more than $1,325 in any of those areas and still be a short commute to downtown Boston. But you are right that it depends on where exactly the job is located. I've been searching for jobs in the area for 2 weeks now and haven't landed a single interview (and i'm well qualified), so I'm getting worried.

[Verseau]

Not all parts of Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Revere are "sketchy." Similarly, not all parts of Brighton, Cambridge, Somerville, and the South End are peachy keen.

[emathias]

Do you drive a VW Jetta?

[Maroon197]

Boston is absolutely stressful. Come for the culture and the opportunities, or choose some place cheaper, more laid back, and where driving doesn't feel like being part of a mad max movie.