Move up from Texas - central housing advice (Boston, Cambridge: apartments, rent)

[guillaumeAUS]

Hi there! I'm in the early stages of considering a move up from Texas (I pay rent in Dallas and effectively split time between there and Austin) late-Summer or early-Fall. As I figure through what the numbers would be like, I'd love some housing advice.

I'm single, in my mid-twenties, and I work in management consulting. My criteria are:
- Office would be in Back Bay and I'd probably work long-ish hours while there, but also travel a lot
- I'd like to be quite central: Back Bay itself, Beacon Hill, West End, and Downtown Crossing come to mind; but I'm willing to be persuaded on other neighborhoods meeting the criteria of a) a fair amount of young professionals and b) 20-ish minute commute to Back Bay by T (or walking)
- Looking for studio or, if possible, a one-bedroom
- $2.5K is definitely doable; $2.7K is doable if necessary
- Air conditioning feels necessary as a Texan used to sleeping in refrigerated air in the summer
- No car (love the idea of selling it)

Specific questions falling out of those criteria:
- Do these criteria feel reasonable on a $2.5K budget? A $2.7K budget? Searches on the internet seem to indicate 'yes', but I'm curious about the thoughts here
- Am I in studio territory or one-bedroom territory?
- How well-proliferated is AC in Boston? I can't tell if a lot of places have it. Not sure if Boston is more of a Seattle (many places don't have it) or a New York (it's all over now). Apologies if this is a silly question.
- What neighborhoods should I consider?

Thank you all!

[rethcir]

AC was not invented when most of Boston's houses were built. But you can throw in a cheap window unit usually.

I think for 2700 you can probably find a 1bed.

Also consider JP, the North End, Cambridge and Somerville.

[mwj119]

Former consultant. It will be a great move.. There are a TON of tech con/management con folks running around, largely because of the Bain/BCG headquarters as well as plenty of PwC/IBM/Accenture/Deloitte/Capgemini folks.

Depending on your lifestyle, mid-twenties and Back Bay/Beacon/Downtown Crossing really don't jive that well to be honest. Assuming you live between the bell curve of a traditional management consultant, you like to be around like minded folks, do some drinking on the weekend, etc. Back Bay/Beacon is not really conducive for that, though you're centrally located to some of the 'hot spots'. That's not to say living in Back Bay is a bad idea- coffee shops, front patios on newbury, some decent watering holes on Boylston, river front trails on the Charles. Just depends on your living preferences. BB/Beacon/DTX is going to be more lawyers, doctors, families with young kids, sporadic college students.

If it were me, and I were single and new to the city, I'd try and stretch that budget a bit and look for a studio in Seaport. Though it dies out in the winter, it's excellent 2/3 of the year. Built along the harbor, the area offers rooftops, luxury apartments, good eats, BofA Pavilion, more and more and more amenities by the second. A ton of building, and that's where the new GE Headquarters is located. Add to that the 5k jobs/new midrise Amazon is building, and things will continue to boom. Also, Southie runs parallel to the south of Seaport. A good majority of 24-32 year olds live in that exact neighborhood. Very residential, dense and saturated, with new bars and restaurants popping up all over the place.

Back Bay is the heart of the city during the week and on weekend days. If you do the Mon-Thurs travel thing, you'll miss a lot of that anyways. Pick a neighborhood with a bunch of people your age.

[MassVt]

Boston is expensive, but you can certainly find a 1BR in the Boston metro for much less than 2.3K. Let's not exaggerate here....

[Dm84]

You can find an apartment with your budget. You can buy a window A/C for $100 that will keep your apartment very cool in the summer. You probably won't find a place with central air. I'd say the vast majority of people at least have a window unit. Very few people really try to tough it out with no A/C.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Dm84

You can find an apartment with your budget. You can buy a window A/C for $100 that will keep your apartment very cool in the summer. You probably won't find a place with central air. I'd say the vast majority of people at least have a window unit. Very few people really try to tough it out with no A/C.

It may not be Texas in terms of heat, but you really don't want to be without a window unit in summer. It can be pretty hot and humid and unpleasant sleeping weather.