Possible to find place with a yard in Boston? (Cambridge: sale, real estate)

[fsp]

Hi, I relocating to Boston with my husband. We have two dogs (no kids) and would love to find a townhouse to rent with a small, private yard. We both will be working in the Financial District and would like to take public transportation to work. We are flexible on area, square footage and # of bedrooms (muts have at least one, two would be great). Our budget is $1500-$2500 per month.

We would like to be close to the city, if not in the city, and ideally would like an area with indepedent restaurants and bars and a reasonably lively scene. We are not worried about schools.

I have searched on Boston.com and am not coming up with anything fitting my description-a lot of high rises that share a common green space are designated as having a "yard."

On a side note, do most people use a broker or realtor to find apartments? I live in St. Louis and the market is not that competitive here, but I am considering using one because our time for searching for a place will probably be limited to one long weekend.

Thanks for reading so much.

[ConceivedinKY51]

It's possible but it will probably be small unless you are wealthy and able to buy a house somewhere with "space" around you (not someone else's house so close to yours that you can hear what's going on in their bathroom or bedroom...). You have to get farther out in the 'burbs to get a house with space (and you have to have money.)

[fsp]

We are totaly okay with a small yard, as long as there is grass. And we would be open to sharing the yard as long.

Any suggestions as to areas to look? We really don't want to buy, for a variety of reasons.

[ogre]

There are detached houses with their own yards for rent in the Boston area. The cost of housing is high in Boston, so the number of properties you can consider will depend on your budget. A good idea is to search on Craigslist as well as Boston.com.

Whether you can find what you are looking for in Boston depends on what you refer to when you say "Boston." Most of the land area of the city of Boston proper is made up of formerly separate small cities that Boston annexed back in the 19th century. Those sections are still commonly referred to by their original names they had as independent cities. The central city area commonly referred to by the name "Boston" is densely built up, not a place where you will find detached houses. Many of the outlying sections which commonly go by names other than "Boston" have the sorts of properties you describe. When you search for that kind of property as a rental, sections of Boston proper I would suggest entering as a search item would be Roslindale, Hyde Park, and West Roxbury. Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, Roxbury, and Brighton will also have a mix of detached properties with small yards and more dense contstruction, so those areas are not your prime search turf, but are worth keeping in mind.

Outside the city proper, take a look at Newton, Brookline, Watertown, Waltham, Medford, Malden, and Belmont. These are older nearby suburbs with the look and feel of city residential sections. Some are as close to downtown Boston as, or in some cases closer than, some of the sections of the city itself I suggested above.

Both the outlying sections of the city proper and the inner suburbs I've suggested will vary in terms of public transit. In Watertown, for example, the bus is the only public transit available. Waltham and Belmont also have commuter rail service. Most of the other areas will have either commuter rail or light rail/subway service. Newton has both commuter trains and light rail.

Keep searching. There are the kinds of properties you seek in many outlying sections of the city of Boston proper and the closer suburbs. Best of luck.

[ogre]

I need to apologize. I had not read your original post thoroughly. I'm not sure about what might be available in the way of a townhouse with its own yard. There is a lot of older housing stock in Boston. This does not necessarily mean run down. It can in bad areas, but there is a lot of nice renovated older housing as well. Of course I don't know all the real estate available in the Boston metro area, but I can say that generally you'll find townhouses in more urban areas, like right in the central part of Boston, where a yard will not be included. You may need to adjust your expectations to something more like a small single-family house for rent. Here is a link to an ad at Craigslist for something along these lines: De-Leaded Pet Friendly Single Family House (http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/fee/991152503.html - broken link).

I made my first post after skimming your original post quickly, and not noticing your budget. Unfortunately, you may have somewhat limited options in that price range when it comes to properties with their own private yards. You'll find a lot of apartments in duplexes and the like for rent toward the upper end of your budget. For your own detached single-family house, you may need to compromise on other factors, maybe look farther out from the city for example. However, the above ad is an example of the fact that properties that would work for you with some degree of compromise are available if you are prepared to do some searching. Good luck.

[fsp]

Thanks Ogre, you have provided a lot of helpful information. I think we probably have to give up the dream of a private yard in exchange for a more urban setting. We are only planning on being in Boston for a few years and want to have more of a city experience (as we currently live in the suburbs and will probably return here).

[RemiJP]

Originally Posted by fsp

Thanks Ogre, you have provided a lot of helpful information. I think we probably have to give up the dream of a private yard in exchange for a more urban setting. We are only planning on being in Boston for a few years and want to have more of a city experience (as we currently live in the suburbs and will probably return here).

Many people with dogs get along without yards in areas of the city with lots of green space. Jamaica Plain, Brookline, Newton, and parts of Cambridge have great parks! I'd say JP has the most urban feel (lots of bars, restaurants, and community events) and the best green space due with Harvard U's Arnold Arboretum and the Southwest Corridor parks. Your commute to the Financial District from JP on the Orange Line would be easy, too.

Given you only have a short period of time to look, I do recommend finding a realtor. (Though I've personally had better experiences working directly with owners.)

[holden125]

I have the feeling this may be a problem with translation to Boston-ese. If you are truly only interested in a "townhouse" as that word is used elsewhere (an attached or semi-attached place with siding and a small yard in a complex) or here (brick attached row house in urban area) you might need to either be in the center of town with no yard, or go out farther into suburbia.

But if we don't read too much into that word, it seems to me that there are plenty of places near downtown Boston that would offer both a yard (albeit small) and an urban setting. You may want to look in Cambridge, which is at least as urban as St. Louis city and has easier access to downtown Boston than much of the city of Boston, and yet has plenty of homes with yards. There are a lot of two- and three-family houses with some kind of yard; the precise arrangements on who uses it and if the dogs could use it will vary. Within the city of Boston, you could look in JP as suggested, but I'd check out places with yards near Central, Harvard, Porter or Davis Squares in Cambridge or Somerville, all of which are on the Red Line and a short ride to the Financial District.

Boston.com is pretty thorough for real estate sale listings, but for rentals it tends toward large high-end complexes, many of them new. Check out Boston Craigslist for a more representative sample of rental offerings.

[Theseus]

I have lived in downtown Boston for 14 years and know something about this topic: If you want the "city experience" and live in the better neighborhoods (the Boston terminology for the distinct sectors of the city) you will not find any green space to run two dogs in for that price range. In fact, what most people think of as a backyard can't even be found in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, South End or North End.. the residential neighborhoods closest to the Financial District. You'd be fortunate to find a small one bedroom for $1500 a month without parking. The only "yards" that come to mind in those neighborhoods are in the South End which is comprised mostly of hundreds of Victorian era (literally, built in the late 1800s) townhouses that often have what is called a "garden unit" that has deeded rights to the small plot of land in the back of the building (maybe about 25 sq. ft?). The garden unit is below street level on the front of the building but in the back, where the "garden" is, is ground level and abuts the parking spaces deeded to the townhouse - typically on an alley that faces the back of the townhouses on the next parallel street. HOWEVER, there is a very good option available to you: The South End has two dog parks, somewhat of a rarity in the city. Having dogs in the South End is quite the social activity and there are many dog owners who congregate in or near these parks on a daily basis. There is a new one off of Washington Street (Peters Park) that is in a vibrant era with "restaurant row", half a dozen or more fabulous restaurants, a theater area a few blocks away and several newer condo buildings. I'm guessing a two bedroom could be about $2k to $3k depending upon the size. You could take a short bus ride to the financial district (10 min?), eat at great restaurants (rivaling any in NYC) and play with your dogs at a beautiful new dog park on Wash. St. I'm not aware of dog parks or "dog runs" in the other neighborhoods, but there may be one or two. BTW, Boston has a leash law and the designated dog runs are the only places where dog owners can legally let the dogs off leash. However, the South End has many parks and there are more than a few people who flaunt the law in parks, which is not a problem if their dog is well trained and not bothering anyone.
To get more space and a real yard you have to go farther out to the other towns and cities listed above such as Newton, Somerville, etc. which is 20 min. driving commute or longer or a commuter rail ride into town connecting you to the subway. There are other neighborhoods in Boston proper further away that have yards but these are generally on the bus lines only and will feel more like a very dense suburbia (Hyde Park, W. Roxbury, et al).
MY RECOMMENDATION -- If you want to have a place to run your dogs but also be close to the exciting things Boston has to offer and a lifestyle where you can literally walk to everything from your condo, restaurants, groceries, arts and entertainment... the South End is the absolute best overall city experience here. It would be like a miniature version of Manhattan. There's even a gourmet pet food bakery! (no joke). I've pasted a link to a dog lover's website which has a page about Peters Park.. complete with pictures of regular doggie patrons
http://www.pawspot.com/park-profile/v/nm/Peter's+Park+Dog+Run/park/105/ (broken link)

Looks like there's even a volunteer organization that maintains the park and is looking to expand it through donations:
http://peterspark.org/

[Cantabridgienne]

I think finding a "private yard" would be the biggest problem. As others mentioned, it is possible to find a place in an urban setting with a yard (like in Cambridge or JP) but it would be very rare not to share that yard with the other residents of that dwelling.

Also, it would be small, and Boston being as densley populated as it is, it definitely wouldn't be the kind of thing where you could just leave your dog in the yard all day while you're at work.

I agree that a dog-friendly neighborhood like the South End sounds like what you are looking for. And if you really only have one weekend to apartment hunt, I would go with a broker.