Moving to Boston - commuting question about Greenline and Cambridge (Worcester: sublet, houses)

[Jack Sprat]

My wife and I are going to be moving to boston in april. I'll be working near the Galleria mall in Cambridge and my wife will likely be working downtown.

Find the advice on this forum very useful. The two neighborhoods that we are most interested in are south end and davis square in cambridge/somerville.

Was hoping that someone could help me out by telling me what the morning / evening commute is like riding the green line E train from symphony or prudential to lechmere? I've heard bad things about the green line, but this seems like it should be a pretty quick trip.

And also if someone out there has experience driving from Davis square area to near the Galleria mall in the morning / evening? Is this a 10 minute drive, 30 minute drive?

We're coming up in Feb. to do apt. hunting on a weekend, so I won't be able to get any sense of commuting times for weekdays. Any help much appreciated.

[holden125]

The E line ride is not so bad. The issues with the Green Line in general are that it's slow (patricularly the B and to a lesser extent the C, lots of stops, red lights) and crowded b/c small trolleys instead of underground subways. Prudential or Symphony are not as long a trek as places in Allston, Brookline, Newton on the other lines. The E will not have the Fenway hordes that make the other ones unbearable a lot of nights in the summer. The problem with the E is that 3 of 4 Green Lines that come are not the E and you can't take them home.

I never drove from Davis to Lechmere at rush hour but I did have jury duty once and took the T to Harvard and the 69 bus from there to Lechmere. At 8 AM the bus was about 15 min. across Cambridge, total trip under 30 min. I imagine that driving would be as fast or faster.

[redpanda]

FYI, depending on where you are in the South End, Symphony or Prudential might be quite a hike. You'll likely be taking a bus first just to get to the T. Really, really depends on where you are.

Red line to Park from Davis, green line to Lechmere shouldn't be too bad. The Park St. stop's pretty hot in the summer, though.

Curious about what has prompted you to look at 2 such very different areas? South End is much more upscale, Davis is a funkier neighborhoody kind of spot.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by redpanda

FYI, depending on where you are in the South End, Symphony or Prudential might be quite a hike. You'll likely be taking a bus first just to get to the T. Really, really depends on where you are.

Red line to Park from Davis, green line to Lechmere shouldn't be too bad. The Park St. stop's pretty hot in the summer, though.

Curious about what has prompted you to look at 2 such very different areas? South End is much more upscale, Davis is a funkier neighborhoody kind of spot.

True, I was thinking that you'd be looking in the part of the South End closer to Columbus Av. and the Green Line. But on the other end you could get the Silver Line up Washington St. and get the Green at Boylston or Park. I lived on Worcester Sq. a few years back and it was pretty good. From Davis it's maybe quicker to take the bus than to go to Park and change. There's the 88 bus that goes from Davis to Lechmere. I think it would be about 20-25 mins just to Park St, Park St. is a zoo in the morning, and then it's another 10+ from Park to Lechmere. The bus most days makes it in under 30 mins from Davis to Lechmere.

[Jack Sprat]

Hi and thanks for the info so far.

I'm a little confused though. When I first saw the routes of the green line I thought it would be a piece of cake to get to lechmere. But then I looked at the actual individual B,C,D and E line schedules. It looks to me like only the E train goes all the way to Lechmere and the rest stop short. But then the E goes to Lechmere directly from Copley, meaning that I couldn't change at Park. Is that right?

I found some info on another forum (railroad.net) that I thought confirmed my suspicions but I'm still not sure.

As for the interest in these two neighborhoods, well we're coming from center city philadelphia and a very urban environment. We love the urban setting, but want some more space, some outdoor space, a parking space, etc. All things being equal, we'd rather be in south end. But thus far it seems that for the price we can get much closer to everything we want in Davis square. Davis seems like it's the closest thing to urban that's also convenient for T for my wife and reasonably convenient for me to drive to work.

Am I missing some other possible neighborhoods? Central square I know, but we're 30 and not really looking for somewhere totally overrun with students. Few people told us they love charlestown, but that seems really suburban, much more so than davis square (which seems to have more going on than porter square too).

If I'm right about the E being the only train I could take in the morning it really restricts the apt. search if I want to keep the commute to a minimum.

[holden125]

You are correct that these days only the E runs to Lechmere, but it is not correct that it goes express from Copley to Lechmere. The T website lists it very confusingly, but the top listing ("the Green Line" without B,C,D, or E) lists all the stops. The B,C,D individual listings on the website, like the E listing, skips downtown stops that are actually made. So the E stops at Symphony, Prudential, Copley, Arlington, Boylston, Park, Gov't Center, Haymarket, North Sta., Science Park, and Lechmere. Thus you could change at Park St (though I don't really recommend it) and, though it adds a couple of minutes, you could live by one of the other Green Lines and transfer to the E as well.

You seem to be considering both the T and driving to work. Do you definitely have parking over there? If you did want to drive, I'd say the drive from Davis would be easier than coming from the South End.

I have a number of close friends in their early to mid-30s living near Central. though it's located between two large universities I've never considered it a student ghetto like Allston.

There are apts in the South End that have parking spots behind the houses and either roof decks or back decks. Actual yards are hard to come by. It's true that Davis will give you more space and a better chance to have parking and outdoor space at an affordable price than the South End.

I'm not sure I'd call Charlestown suburban but Davis probably has more to do.

[redpanda]

I kind of agree with you re: Charlestown being a bit suburban, but it is RIGHT next to the North End.

I don't think Central is too student-y, definitely not more so than Davis. Davis really is chock full of Tufts students when classes are in session. But that doesn't mean that you'd feel out of place there at 30, I'm 32 and am there all the time. Central is a great location, as are many in Cambridge (Porter's good, Inman's great but a bit harder as far as transit goes...)

I would recommend Brookline and JP as some places to look into. You'll want to avoid Allston (yep, total student ghetto) and Brighton (bit too far out). I've lived in both Brookline and JP and loved them both...JP offers a bit more in the way of green space.

Driving to Science Park is going to be kind of a PITA, though. I'd T or bus in if at all possible.

My husband and I are half-heartedly tossing around the idea of relocating to philly. Maybe we can compare notes.

[Jack Sprat]

Thanks for the clarification on the green line. It makes sense now, and that makes it more convenient if my wife could take it to all of those intervening stops.

I'm not sure if I have a preference on driving from davis vs. T from south end. Either way seems not too bad as long as the walk to the T in south end isn't so far.

I spent a year in DC and did a 45 minute driving commute to get to a fantastic sublet in the heart of downtown. just wasn't worth it. some people seem to not mind so much, but i'm definitely not one of those people. Other than that one year in DC I've spent the last 10 years in philly biking or walking or taking the bus/train to work and never took me more than 30 minutes. Looking to continue that in Boston.

Philly is an absolutely fantastic city with an abundance of great neighborhoods and just elected a very promising new mayor to replace a rather mediocre-at-best mayor that we've had for the last eight years. Just be aware, you should come with a job in hand b/c there aren't all that many to be had here (depending on what you do, of course, but it's the rule not the exception). Jobs are what bring us to Boston. Looking forward to a change of scenery though.

[lavieestbelle]

If you are worried about driving from Davis to Lechmere, keep in mind that the 88 and 87 pass right through Davis and go to Lechmere. Not a bad ride at all...maybe 20-25 minutes? Boston's public transportation system is really nice. A monthly bus/T pass is $55. I lived between Union and Porter (the two major "squares" after Davis on the way to Lechmere) and it was a 15 min ride for me. Personally I prefer the bus to the T.

The 69 bus that passes through Harvard also goes out Lechmere.

All the green lines pass through Park St., but you're right that only the E goes out to Lechmere, which is kinda annoying if you are coming into town from another line and have to make the switch at Goverment Center/Park St. to get to the end of the line.

Good luck with your move and less us know if you have any further questions. Boston is a great city.

[septimus]

buses will actually be faster from Davis to lechmere, especially if you are on the tufts side of Davis.

As for central sq. it isn't overrun with students. It is mostly young professionals and families (and some housing projects), just be careful which side of Mass Ave you are on.