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You can probably wrangle something in Allston-Brighton for that. Won't be fancy, but it'll check your other boxes.
So Allston and Brighton seem close by in terms of commute to East Bay, and the apartments in both these towns seem to be at the $2000 price range for a 2 bedroom.
How is the neighborhood? How would you describe it in terms of safety, feel, any other relevant factors, etc.?
Also, do you have any recommendation in terms of an apartment building or a house? A good amount of listings, for Alston and for other towns, seem to be in houses. How does that work (is this a Boston thing)? I am not completely familiar with this, it might be a Boston thing. And would you recommend a full fledged building over the other types of housing?
I was thinking of targeting apartments, and not condos/houses/townhomes, because management will hopefully be better (of course there are never any guarantees in life). Can you let me know your thoughts on this as well please.
Also, I HAVE A CAR. I have heard that in certain parts of Boston you need to get a permit and go through all these hoops. I plan on keeping my car parked, so can you please factor that in too and let me know which places would be best based on that.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by OneDayAtaTime77; 06-05-2021 at 10:44 PM..
So Allston and Brighton seem close by in terms of commute to East Bay, and the apartments in both these towns seem to be at the $2000 price range for a 2 bedroom.
How is the neighborhood? How would you describe it in terms of safety, feel, any other relevant factors, etc.?
Also, do you have any recommendation in terms of an apartment building or a house? A good amount of listings, for Alston and for other towns, seem to be in houses. How does that work (is this a Boston thing)? I am not completely familiar with this, it might be a Boston thing. And would you recommend a full fledged building over the other types of housing?
I was thinking of targeting apartments, and not condos/houses/townhomes, because management will hopefully be better (of course there are never any guarantees in life). Can you let me know your thoughts on this as well please.
Also, I HAVE A CAR. I have heard that in certain parts of Boston you need to get a permit and go through all these hoops. I plan on keeping my car parked, so can you please factor that in too and let me know which places would be best based on that.
Thanks in advance!
The neighborhood is pretty lively as it's a heavier student population than most others. It felt pretty safe when I lived there, and I'd say the biggest issues are parties and noise, but where I was that ended up not being a problem at all.
If you're close to Comm(onwealth) Ave, chances are you'll be in a brownstone; further away, probably a remodeled triple-decker or multi-family home. It's normal for the area as most "apartments" are former single-families broken up into 2-5 units. Newer buildings built as apartments will almost certainly fall under "luxury" apartments and 2 beds in those may be out of your range. Me personally, I'm a brownstone person. Yeah, they're old, but they have character. Most rentals are at least somewhat updated on the interior (aka, 80s subway tile in the bathroom and a functional kitchen that uses electricity or gas). The biggest change you'll need to adjust to is size -- if you live somewhere where you're to space, get ready. You won't find many bedrooms that can fit a king bed comfortably at your price range, and queens can even be a challenge in some. As a single person it's fine, but don't expect much room to do pushups at the foot of your bed.
Comm Ave has the B line running along it. That's a straight shot to Back Bay and downtown, so a pad there means you're walking to a train a block away and will be at your office in 15 minutes barring a breakdown or moron who got their car stuck on the tracks.
You can get a resident permit for Allston/Brighton (and I suggest you do) and I would also suggest off-street parking if you can swing it. A lot of apartments will have an off-street spot available for an extra $125-150/month or so. Depending on where you live, parking can be hit and miss and you may be parking a couple blocks away from your place. With off-street, you have a reserved spot and you can still get a permit that will let you park near some stores/restaurants in resident spots on days when you just can't walk out. Off-street also means you aren't worrying about street cleaning or snow emergencies.
If I were going to live there again, the places I'd aim to be near would be Cleveland Circle, Brighton Center, or Packards Corner. For your commute, I'd put extra weight on being walkable to the B or C green lines as those will make your commute easy.
Brookline seems to have a ton of apartments, especially right at the border of Commonwealth Allston (not sure if Common wealth and Allston are the same)?
In that case, is there usually parking at the stations in Framingham and Natick, and is the parking free? If not, how much is it?
$70/mo or $4/day
Framingham has 300 spots, I'd guess they fill up before the 7 am train (the one that leaves at 6:55 and gets to South Station at 7:50, that's a full train)
West Natick only has 175 spots. They'll be gone well before the 7am train. Also $6/day or $108/mo
Natick Center has 70 spots, and they are town spots, not MBTA. Wellesley Square has more spots, but the express train skips everything from Natick Center until Boston Landing
If you find something closer to Ashland though, there are 700 spots there. It occasionally fills up, but when I rode the 6am train, the lot was less than half full. It's also $70/$4, but that train takes 46 minutes (10 minutes further out than Framingham)
Brookline seems to have a ton of apartments, especially right at the border of Commonwealth Allston (not sure if Common wealth and Allston are the same)?
Brookline is great. Would consider your proximity to the c line or b line as previously mentioned. Do note the b line is much slower with more stops. As previously mentioned these areas can be heavy with students since bu and bc are close by. If you have an opportunity to be close to c line in Brookline I’d jump on that immediately..the corner of comm and Allston will be on b line which is fine but a train to downtown a tad longer and will go right through Boston university
Allston is looking really good, based on the number of apartments they have available there, as well as the price. There are a lot of apartments in that 2K range, and the commute on the T (MBTA) is pretty short as well (~30 min. to East Bay), which is phenomenal.
The things that I have noticed with Natick and Framingham compared to Allston are the following:
- Commute is too long (~45 minutes) to East Bay
- There aren't a ton of apartments in walking distance, so you will likely need to either 1) have someone drop you off in the morning 2) park at the train station parking lot (which from what I have heard fills up pretty quickly)
- You can't use the T, you need to take the Commuter Rail (Framingham line), which I don't know how late it runs, but it seems like a rush hour express train service, so it will probably not run as late, especially if one is working late, it might be a hassle getting all the way back home with an Uber.
- It is probably better to be a little closer to work (East Bay) initially for the first year, so one can focus on their work, and not be tired down by the commute, and then decide where to move the next year when things settle down a bit.
Note: I am writing my own research down on these posts, along with the excellent contribution of the Bostonians here for peoples benefit going forward. So they can evaluate/consider these factors for themselves when considering on which city to live in.
Last edited by OneDayAtaTime77; 06-06-2021 at 02:52 PM..
There are a couple of potential issues that I have seen for the Allston, Brighton, Brookline neighborhoods, please let me know your thoughts:
- Parking. If you need to pay around ~$200 for parking per month, is it worth it just to move out a little further to another neighberhood? The only one that comes to mind with comparable commute time, access/commute time to/on the T (to East Bay), and safety of the neighberhood seems to be Newton and Quincy.
- College students partying, loud music. What is everyone's thoughts on this? Any areas/parts in these (Allston/Brighton/Brookline) neighborhoods in particular that seem to not have this?
Also, which of these areas are better for parking (In terms of Cost and Ease)? I will need my car on the weekends, so I want to be able to park it somewhere during the week and not have to worry about it on weekdays and have access to it on the weekends.
Brookline seems to have a ton of apartments, especially right at the border of Commonwealth Allston (not sure if Common wealth and Allston are the same)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by scorpio516
$70/mo or $4/day
Framingham has 300 spots, I'd guess they fill up before the 7 am train (the one that leaves at 6:55 and gets to South Station at 7:50, that's a full train)
West Natick only has 175 spots. They'll be gone well before the 7am train. Also $6/day or $108/mo
Natick Center has 70 spots, and they are town spots, not MBTA. Wellesley Square has more spots, but the express train skips everything from Natick Center until Boston Landing
If you find something closer to Ashland though, there are 700 spots there. It occasionally fills up, but when I rode the 6am train, the lot was less than half full. It's also $70/$4, but that train takes 46 minutes (10 minutes further out than Framingham)
Thanks. This is extremely helpful. So from the sound of things, it looks like parking isn't too easy at these stations, and they fill up pretty quickly. So the more common mode of transportation to them would be to either walk, take the bus, or have someone drop you off in the morning. This helps a lot!
So Allston and Brighton seem close by in terms of commute to East Bay, and the apartments in both these towns seem to be at the $2000 price range for a 2 bedroom.
How is the neighborhood? How would you describe it in terms of safety, feel, any other relevant factors, etc.?
Also, do you have any recommendation in terms of an apartment building or a house? A good amount of listings, for Alston and for other towns, seem to be in houses. How does that work (is this a Boston thing)? I am not completely familiar with this, it might be a Boston thing. And would you recommend a full fledged building over the other types of housing?
I was thinking of targeting apartments, and not condos/houses/townhomes, because management will hopefully be better (of course there are never any guarantees in life). Can you let me know your thoughts on this as well please.
Also, I HAVE A CAR. I have heard that in certain parts of Boston you need to get a permit and go through all these hoops. I plan on keeping my car parked, so can you please factor that in too and let me know which places would be best based on that.
Thanks in advance!
Quote:
Originally Posted by id77
The neighborhood is pretty lively as it's a heavier student population than most others. It felt pretty safe when I lived there, and I'd say the biggest issues are parties and noise, but where I was that ended up not being a problem at all.
If you're close to Comm(onwealth) Ave, chances are you'll be in a brownstone; further away, probably a remodeled triple-decker or multi-family home. It's normal for the area as most "apartments" are former single-families broken up into 2-5 units. Newer buildings built as apartments will almost certainly fall under "luxury" apartments and 2 beds in those may be out of your range. Me personally, I'm a brownstone person. Yeah, they're old, but they have character. Most rentals are at least somewhat updated on the interior (aka, 80s subway tile in the bathroom and a functional kitchen that uses electricity or gas). The biggest change you'll need to adjust to is size -- if you live somewhere where you're to space, get ready. You won't find many bedrooms that can fit a king bed comfortably at your price range, and queens can even be a challenge in some. As a single person it's fine, but don't expect much room to do pushups at the foot of your bed.
Comm Ave has the B line running along it. That's a straight shot to Back Bay and downtown, so a pad there means you're walking to a train a block away and will be at your office in 15 minutes barring a breakdown or moron who got their car stuck on the tracks.
You can get a resident permit for Allston/Brighton (and I suggest you do) and I would also suggest off-street parking if you can swing it. A lot of apartments will have an off-street spot available for an extra $125-150/month or so. Depending on where you live, parking can be hit and miss and you may be parking a couple blocks away from your place. With off-street, you have a reserved spot and you can still get a permit that will let you park near some stores/restaurants in resident spots on days when you just can't walk out. Off-street also means you aren't worrying about street cleaning or snow emergencies.
If I were going to live there again, the places I'd aim to be near would be Cleveland Circle, Brighton Center, or Packards Corner. For your commute, I'd put extra weight on being walkable to the B or C green lines as those will make your commute easy.
Thank you so much for the detailed response. I can't tell you how much of a help your reply is.
I appreciate the heads up on the size of the apartments. I have never stayed in Brownstone apartments, although I have stayed in regular apartments, so it should be a new experience. And since you mentioned Brownstones are classic on the outside, and usually updated on the inside, that alleviates my concern. I always had this perception that they won't be as modern on the inside (based on seeing some apartments from the outside when I visited NYC).
I will consider targeting Cleveland Circle, Brighton Center, or Packards Corner. I just wanted to confirm, how is the college crowd around these areas (is it loud during weeknights?)?
I will only need my car on the weekends, so weeknights I won't be touching my car at all. Can you please let me know what you recommend the most cost effective/convenient route will be for my car based on this?
Thank you so much for the detailed response. I can't tell you how much of a help your reply is.
I appreciate the heads up on the size of the apartments. I have never stayed in Brownstone apartments, although I have stayed in regular apartments, so it should be a new experience. And since you mentioned Brownstones are classic on the outside, and usually updated on the inside, that alleviates my concern. I always had this perception that they won't be as modern on the inside (based on seeing some apartments from the outside when I visited NYC).
I will consider targeting Cleveland Circle, Brighton Center, or Packards Corner. I just wanted to confirm, how is the college crowd around these areas (is it loud during weeknights?)?
I will only need my car on the weekends, so weeknights I won't be touching my car at all. Can you please let me know what you recommend the most cost effective/convenient route will be for my car based on this?
Updated as in the last 30 years or so. The bathrooms will probably have tacky subway tile and you may not get stainless steel appliances, but they're not going to be rotting or falling apart. Otherwise, expect hardwood floors, white paint on every wall, and brass or nickel hinges and doorknobs. You'll see lots of pictures as you look, so nothing should be a surprise. It's also probably worth noting many of the places, particularly brownstones, will include heat and hot water in the rent, so that's a little bonus there.
I would say the worst of the college noise is going to center around the area of Harvard and Brighton Aves. Packards Corner has a large Asian grocery store/food court and grocery store (Star Market), so it attracts a lot of traffic, and Cleveland Circle is the edge of Brookline/Boston with some restaurants and a couple places that get wild on BC game days as it's right across the pond from the football stadium. Basically, the closer you get to eithe BU or BC, the noisier and more student-lively you can expect, but expect some level everywhere in that area.
Brookline is both better and worse for you. Generally quieter and the schools are considered much better (not that you care), but the big tradeoff to be aware of is no on-street parking overnight. If you live in Brookline, and you have a car, you must get off-street one way or another.
Considering what you're doing, my personal pick is Brighton in the area framed by Warren Ave, Chestnut Hill Ave, and Beacon Street (a little of that triangle is in Brookline). If you're near Comm Ave between Warren and Chestnut Hill, you're right next to the B, close to the C at Tappan/Cleveland Circle/Reservoir, near several good dining choices (Washington Square, Cleveland Circle, stuff along Comm Ave, even Brighton Center if you hoof it a bit), and you have nearby grocery options. It's the kind of area a single professional can get to work, run errands, be near the Reservoir for nice walks, and not far from Coolidge Corner.
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