Moving to Boston - commuting question about Greenline and Cambridge (school, college)

[holden125]

I second (or third) that the bus is good from Davis to Lechmere, and that Central is not overrun with students. I think that it's for the most part fine on both sides of Mass. Av. and that there are pockets that are dicey, if you'd even call it that, on each side. I myself lived on Inman St. near Harvard St. and never had any problems, but I know people who live on the Cambridgeport side and they have no problems either.

[Jack Sprat]

That's good news about central square. It would be a nice option for us too in terms of commuting and public transportation access. Which areas are good and not so good? Most of the properties I"ve seen on CL lie between western ave and brookline st. south of mass ave. Can we go wrong in there?

I know that meaning of "safe at night" means very different things for different people. We're coming from philly so we're not naive about crime issues in the city. But what are these areas like at night? Are there people out and walking around or is it completely silent by 9:00? To me, silent = scary...how about davis square and south end.

Is Davis square quieter but further removed from bad areas?

Is south end closer to bad areas but has more people on the streets at night?

I really appreciate the help on this board. It's so hard to pick an area and an apt. when you can't visit during the times that you'd most like to know about...

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Jack Sprat

Is Davis square quieter but further removed from bad areas?

Is south end closer to bad areas but has more people on the streets at night?

Others may disagree, but it seems to me that in a sense this is the reverse.

At least close to the actual square, Davis Sq. is not quiet. There are a lot of people about. While I'd hesitate to call areas near it "bad" there have been some issues in North Cambridge west of Mass Av. That said, I'd feel perfectly safe in the Davis area.

I lived in the South End, and while I didn't feel like I was in particular danger, it was amazing to me how dark and quiet some of the side streets are. I remember walking on Worcester St. around Tremont one night in the summer. I didn't see anyone for 10 or 15 minutes and it was so dark I couldn't really see the cracks in the brick sidewalk around the tree roots and almost fell. I think the city of Boston generally, compared to many other cities, is dark at night. The skyline's not as bright and the streets are not as lit. The South End, though a beautiful neighborhood for walking in and full of restaurants and such, to me does not really have a great pedestrian strip where foot traffic is heavy in the evening. Columbus, Tremont, and Washington St have never struck me as avenues where large numbers of pedestrians are strolling at 10PM.

Maybe others see it differently

[redpanda]

I agree w/holden. While I won't say I've ever necessarily felt "unsafe" in the South End, there are often more people about in other areas. The thing to remember about Davis is that it's a college square, so there are likely to usually be students around at all hours while classes are in session.

The thing with both the South End and Davis is that you won't necessarily be living on the "main drag" in either area. A few streets over in the South End can be a bit scarier, a few streets over in Davis can be more suburban. Or scarier, depending.

And why can't you visit at night? See the apartment during the day, visit the area at night and walk around. I always do that before living somewhere.

[Jack Sprat]

well, not what i was expecting but at least there's a bit of consensus. RP, we're restricted in that we have one weekend in Feb. where we'll come up friday night, look at apts. saturday and sunday and then sign a lease.

I think it's a great idea to go back to a place at night before choosing to live there, but the weekend nights that we'll be there might not be representative of the typical weeknight. that's why your input is so valuable. Thanks again.

[lavieestbelle]

Davis Sq is never deserted at 9. It's a great area to hang out at night and definitely not scary. There are a lot of nice restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc. The movie theatre there is great, too, and in the summer months everyone is always out eating ice cream from JP Licks. Good times indeed!

Have you considered other areas in Boston? Beacon Hill is lovely and would be a short commute to Lechmere and downtown (Charles MGH red line one stop from Park St. or you could just walk to Park St.) Parking would be a pain in this area, I imagine, but isn't parking a pain in the South End, as well?

[septimus]

[quote=Jack Sprat;2550342]That's good news about central square. It would be a nice option for us too in terms of commuting and public transportation access. Which areas are good and not so good? Most of the properties I"ve seen on CL lie between western ave and brookline st. south of mass ave. Can we go wrong in there?

Western Ave itself is pretty busy and not the "best", but not bad. as you head east towards Brookline it is nicer (Cambridgeport is a great neighborhood). I would basically avoid the part of Cambridge known as Area 4 which north of Mass Ave and east of Prospect towards Main St.

[charolastra00]

[quote=septimus;2562724]

Originally Posted by Jack Sprat

That's good news about central square. It would be a nice option for us too in terms of commuting and public transportation access. Which areas are good and not so good? Most of the properties I"ve seen on CL lie between western ave and brookline st. south of mass ave. Can we go wrong in there?

Western Ave itself is pretty busy and not the "best", but not bad. as you head east towards Brookline it is nicer (Cambridgeport is a great neighborhood). I would basically avoid the part of Cambridge known as Area 4 which north of Mass Ave and east of Prospect towards Main St.

Area 4 isn't even that bad. I worked off of Harvard Street and often visited a friend on Washington Street and walked to both locations at all hours of the day and night from Beacon and Kirkland... it never struck me as bad. It's not the *nicest* neighborhood but even as a 19 year old female from the suburbs, it wasn't any more scary to me than walking around most anywhere in Cambridge at night.

I love the whole of Central Square though. Lots of great restaurants, a great organic coop grocery store (and Whole Foods as well), and a short walk from either Harvard or MIT and all the things offered in either location. Weather permitting, you could probably easily walk to the mall area. I did it from Kirkland and Beacon all the time in the heat of the summer. At the very least, if you bike, it's flat the whole way there and there are bike lanes on most busy Cambridge roads.

[jpschutt]

Jack Sprat, just to back up a quick moment. You said your wife is going to be working in downtown. What part of Boston are you considering downtown? And you are speaking of the Symphony/Prudential going to Lechmere and I am not sure why. is it for that quick shot to Lechmere?

If you live in the South End you would be close to the Orange Line, Mass Ave or Back Bay, just try to stay in the St Botolph neighborhood or off of the Southwest Corridor Park. It would be a pretty hefty walk over to the Green Line depending on which part of the South End you are in. I have always found the E line to be slow personally, not many trains. You can take the orange to the green switching at at Downtown Crossing or Haymarket and then out to Lechmere. Or if you are in Davis you can take the Red Line to Kendall and then it is a 10-15 minute walk to the Galleria Mall. If your wife is on the Financial District she can take pretty much any line there and if she is in the Back Bay area for work she has access to the Green and Orange. When I was in Davis it was an easy commute to Back Bay and Financial District.

Keep in mind also that when you get here and start learning all of the back roads you might just find it easier to drive from Davis if you have a parking spot at work. Check out the trip planner at MBTA.com > Official Website for Greater Boston's Public Transportation System. Great tool.

[DreamworksSKG]

its not bad people say the green line sucks but i think its efficient if you learn the system

basically
what you would do is take the E line all the way to North Station unless it was a Government Center Car, but I think a lot of E line trains originate from North Station or Lechemere so you might luck out and get a north station train or lechemere.

Anyway - regardless you have a couple options. You can get off at Govt Center and wait for a lechemere train (which usually is no more than 10-15 min wait) usually much quicker. more like 5 min.- between trains. Or you can go to the north station if its a north station car and get off there, wait for the next Lechemere car. I'm not sure if lechemere cars come from E line......

it usually doesnt take longer than 30 min on the Green line from Symphony/Prudential to lechemere.
at least from my experience.

Another option might be to go to Sullivan Square from there...and park at Sullivan square parking is about $3.50 ---$6 in the overflow lot so always have $6 cash in hand just in case.
(orange line into Downtown Crossing, take the tunnel underground to park st. Green line and hop on the E train there. or take any green line car B,C,D,E, to Copley and get off at Copley and then wait for the E to get to Symphony/Prudential.

Either way its close to where you are. - quick in and out of the city

As for where to live - I might suggest Davis Square.
its a great place to live, lots of culture close to the highways and close to the suburbs too back roads to get away from it all, its not a far drive to the middlesex fells reservation or the arlington bike way (Minuteman bike path) for recreation or mystic lakes...

Davis Square is a hip college area and i think you'd like it.

Also - FYI

There's an 87 bus line that runs quite often from Davis Square to lechemere so you wouldn't even have to take the T you could just take the bus its about 30-35 bus ride into Lechemere T station -

Also if you go into town in the evening you could park around the courthouse area near lechemere t station...after 6 pm meters are free, .sundays its free all the time. - so you can come at 4pm pay $2 and stay the rest of the evening.

Also you might look into becoming members of the museum of science. the museum is not far from lechemere, and is fun...and the garage has better deals than some of the downtown parking garages. - after 5pm i think its only $5..too.

Also being in Somerville you'd be close to red line parking garage at Alewife
you could park there take the red line into Park st. and change to Green line there take any BCDE train to Copley BCD get off at Copley wait for E or E go striaght to symphony/Pru.

Just some ideas for you!!!!!!

Somerville has tons of busses and subways nearby so you'll be fine, they are also planning on eventually building a green line up to tufts....university, west medford through somerville so it might be a good place to be living. Slated to be done by 2015....

As for the commute from Davis Sq to lechemere, it'd be relatively simple!
more like 10 min maybe 15 if traffic lights.

A simple suggestion (look at mapquest for the route)
would be to go down Summer St. from Davis Square
Left on School St. -
Right on Highland Ave. you'd come out at a 3 way intersection with a White Bridge and go straight onto route 28 south
there'd be a road going off to the right (Washington St. exit) do not take that one.
you'd keep going up the left ramp on 28 south you'll see the courthouse in the distance and the skyline of Boston.

From there its a straight shot with few lights down to lechemere.

Another route could be Elm St. - to Somerville Ave -
to Mcgrath highway either way about 10 min or so 12-15 with red lights if any

-jeff
Winchester, MA

Hope this helps




-jeff
Winchester, MA