Good Allston/Brighton Neighborhood? (Boston, Harvard: apartment, city hall, lease)

[mj103]

We are relocating to the Boston area in August and just signed a lease for a seemingly nice 1+ very near the corner of Kelton and Brainerd, a block south of Comm. Ave. I'm a recent grad and my girlfriend will be a BU law student, so we were looking for an affordable place close to BU that wasn't in the middle of the "student ghettos" we've heard about.

We heard bad things about Allston, but also heard that it had pockets that were much nicer. The building we are in seems nice (very clean, well-kept, etc.), but is the general area going to be trouble?

[goyguy]

It's "better than average" south of Comm Ave but could still get noisy at times. You'll soon find out for yourself that some buildings are appreciably nicer than others (better caliber of tenants, graffiti-free exterior walls, clean lobbies, intact front steps, etc.) A definite plus for that neighborhood is that you're not far from the Whole Foods on Washington St. Whether you're keg partiers or wine sippers, it IS convenient to have those big liquor stores (Blanchard's and Marty's) close at hand along Harvard Ave. And you can't beat the convenience of the B line. Whenever you want to relive undergrad days or meet up with the still-matriculated among your friends, Our House and Wonderbar and Great Scott and so on and so on are still there. But the stone's-throw distance to all those places belies the fact that your vicinity is far more laid-back than not.

[golden_calf]

Welcome to the neighborhood, MJ!

I think south of Comm Ave is nicer (less undergradish) than north of it. We always loved our location because of its proximity to lots of restaurants and stores and convenient commute no matter how you're traveling. The B line gets slammed for being slow, but if your girlfriend is taking it to BU, she just has to hop on, zone out 'til her stop, and hop off. I like the T the best when there aren't any transfers involved. It's almost pleasant! You're also very close to the turnpike (I-90), so if you have a car, you can get pretty far pretty fast.

I wouldn't worry too much about trouble from the neighborhood. At least, not in terms of violence. The biggest problems are due to the fact that the area is a destination for young folks looking to hit bars, clubs, and music venues. That means drunk people may wander the streets late on Friday and Saturday nights, making noise. We've had problems with them breaking car mirrors or bending car antennae, though it's gotten better in recent years.

If you're bringing a car, you really want to look into getting a resident permit parking sticker for it. That means you need to get it registered to your address and a trip to City Hall, but believe me, it's worth it.

If your apartment looked nice and well-maintained when you saw it, it probably is. You can usually tell the slummy ones pretty easily. It's also a good sign if your landlord is a real person and not some management company that probably has dozens of investment properties they couldn't care less about.

Also, if you have a dog, Ringer Park is nearby and a great place for dog owners to socialize. There's usually a group of them who congregate after work hours; it's a fast and easy way to get to know your neighbors and make friends. Sometimes Ringer Park gets homeless people who sleep there at night, so you may want to avoid it after dark if that'll bother you.

I hope you enjoy your stay here!

[mj103]

Thanks for the input. The building was clean and graffiti free, and I believe our broker said the landlord owned our building and the one right next to it, so that's definitely a good thing.

Also, thanks for all the suggestions on places in the neighborhood to check out (or patronize without much choice, in the case of the grocery stores), as in our 3-day trip to find a place at the end of May didn't leave much time to check out the area. We are definitely social people, and will frequent the bars, but have certainly put the crazy undergrad partying behind us. That said, are there certain pubs in the area that would be better/worse for mid-20s just looking to have a few laid-back drinks?

Similarly, we are not bringing any furniture aside from a bed and an entertainment center, and we heard from a couple of the realtors that the furniture stores along...(forgot street)...are overpriced and really terrible, targeting BU undergrads. We plan to take a trip to IKEA to check out what they have, but it seems like a pain without a car (long train ride and then a taxi to the store, if I'm not mistaken) so if anyone has had any GOOD experiences with furniture stores in the vicinity, that would be great to know!

As I said, we opted not to bring cars, mostly due to the cost of parking/gas/insurance and will be relying on the trains and busses (and the occasional taxi) to get around the city, but I have heard and noticed in our short visit that it seems relatively doable if you don't mind the "slowness" of certain aspects of MBTA. Hope that's really the case.

[eevee]

Originally Posted by mj103

Similarly, we are not bringing any furniture aside from a bed and an entertainment center, and we heard from a couple of the realtors that the furniture stores along...(forgot street)...are overpriced and really terrible, targeting BU undergrads. We plan to take a trip to IKEA to check out what they have, but it seems like a pain without a car (long train ride and then a taxi to the store, if I'm not mistaken) so if anyone has had any GOOD experiences with furniture stores in the vicinity, that would be great to know!

As I said, we opted not to bring cars, mostly due to the cost of parking/gas/insurance and will be relying on the trains and busses (and the occasional taxi) to get around the city, but I have heard and noticed in our short visit that it seems relatively doable if you don't mind the "slowness" of certain aspects of MBTA. Hope that's really the case.

in Allston, you have lots of choices for used furniture. I suggest not getting used upholstered like sofas, since there is a bad bed bug issue in Allston and you'll be upping the risk of bringing them into your home, but a lot of these stores have other nice things like tables.

I highly recommend Urban Renewal near Brighton Ave and Linden (one block over from Harvard). I've found some great things shopping there (really souped up desktop computer, a desk, my room mate bought a treadmill, etc). AFAIK, they never delivered (I haven't been there in a while, so not sure what's what now) so you'd have to find a way of bringing this stuff home

I've also bought stuff from Cheap Chic near the corner of Brighton and Harvard. they DO deliver (hopefully that hasn't changed) and often had a nice selection of tables and desks and TVs. they're stuff tends to be a bit nicer than the stuff at UR because they buy used furniture.

for new stuff, definitely check out the Economy store on Harvard. it's a bit pricey, but on the nicer side and I believe they may deliver. there's also a couple of discount furniture stores on Harvard, though I've never shopped from them, that seem to have great stuff and may or may not deliver. those may be the stores your realtors may have been talking about. they're no Jordan's Furniture, but most of the stuff is good enough IMO, especially if you're just starting out in a new city (you can always upgrade over time and sell the stuff)

almost forgot to mention, in Harvard Sq, there's a consignment store for furniture (2nd Time Around, I think) that has more upscale stuff. there's also a Boomerangs near the hospital in Brighton that has some odds and ends

I used to live in Allston and my roommates and I had to outfit an entire 4 bedroom apartment, so we did a lot of window shopping! you'll be fine w/ the T. yeah, some parts of it are slower than others, but that's usually because tons of other people use it!

[golden_calf]

I love shopping at IKEA! Furniture that accommodates limited space and is cheap too. I know you can rent vans and stuff there (Budget or U-Haul or some other company; forget which), so if you can bum a ride down there, you can haul your stuff back yourself. Just make friends quick with people with cars. Or consider Zipcar.

The realtors are absolutely right about the furniture stores on Harvard Ave. There are a ton there, and I'm convinced they're there just to fleece the college kids. In fact, I'm pretty sure they jack up the prices in August and September just because they know college kids will still buy.

I hate Economy Hardware. I go there for the air conditioning if I'm around and it's too hot outside. But everything is overpriced. Cheap Chic has better prices, but as everything is secondhand, I think they overcharge. College Furniture and Rug? No, I think the name says it all. I actually like Basics Carpet and Furniture. The guy that works there is nice, and I did some comparison shopping before and found their furniture was consistently the cheapest, outside of the secondhand stores.

Eevee was right about bed bugs in some parts of Allston, though. What that means is that if you find some furniture on the streets, DO NOT get tempted to pick it up. It's probably there for a reason.

As for bars and pubs, I think you may have to check 'em out yourself to see what appeals to your taste. Our House is laid back but has a definite undergrad feel. Silhouette is a real dive but keeps out the kids; you'll get the hairy eyeball from the ugly waitstaff just for walking in. Wonder Bar and Joshua Tree may be the right mix for you, but I wouldn't know; never been in them. Just seen them from the outside, and they both seem nice.