City-bound from small town...

[holden125]

Originally Posted by clevedark

DC housing is a little easier on the pocketbook, too. (I think but I don't know.)

I think this was the case about 10 years ago but is not now. I used to live in DC and was shocked at how much housing had gone up there. I moved there in part as a cheaper alternative. Now between DC, NYC and Boston, Boston seems the cheapest. Between Homeland Security and the bailouts, etc., DC has been a growth industry town and the housing costs have gotten pretty high.

[clevedark]

It's funny you bring that up. I was looking in a real estate window in Brookline the other day at rents for apartments and I was shocked at how cheap it all seemed. And I was talking to--my physical therapist!--and she said she shared a three bedroom apartment on Beacon Hill and she paid 800/month. A three bedroom on Beacon Hill for 2400 a month!

[holden125]

Originally Posted by clevedark

It's funny you bring that up. I was looking in a real estate window in Brookline the other day at rents for apartments and I was shocked at how cheap it all seemed. And I was talking to--my physical therapist!--and she said she shared a three bedroom apartment on Beacon Hill and she paid 800/month. A three bedroom on Beacon Hill for 2400 a month!

Yeah, there are some suprising deals on the north slope of Beacon Hill and some other places too. I looked at a (smallish) 2-bedroom there for $1550 a few years ago. Though it's on a bus line and not on the T directly (15 mins by bus to Harvard), this area on the Belmont/Watertown line has some rentals in the same range or lower that are huge, very nice and have parking and a yard and/or deck. They were asking $2350 for a small 2BR with none of that in Arlington, Va.

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by clevedark

It's funny you bring that up. I was looking in a real estate window in Brookline the other day at rents for apartments and I was shocked at how cheap it all seemed. And I was talking to--my physical therapist!--and she said she shared a three bedroom apartment on Beacon Hill and she paid 800/month. A three bedroom on Beacon Hill for 2400 a month!

Feh! Before rent control was taken out in the mid to late 1990's you could get an ENTIRE 3 bedroom apartment for $800/month in many convenient neighborhoods (though not Beacon Hill). Those of you who came to Boston after 1998 missed out on some good old days.

[clevedark]

Wow. Was there much turnover of those rent controlled apartments or were they like NYC rent controlled apartments, held onto by tenants with an iron grip?

You're reminding me of a trip I took to San Francisco in '87. My friend was looking for a new apartment and it was as simple as driving around looking for "For Rent" signs in the window, ringing the doorbell and having a look.

[Urban Peasant]

I'm not sure if there was "much" turnover although I do recall some. I do know many lower income families were placed out of their apartments and forced to look elsewhere to live during that time of upheaval. Yet basically you're right, it was much easier to look for an apartment back then in Boston as far as I can recall.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

Feh! Before rent control was taken out in the mid to late 1990's you could get an ENTIRE 3 bedroom apartment for $800/month in many convenient neighborhoods (though not Beacon Hill). Those of you who came to Boston after 1998 missed out on some good old days.

Yeah, but those days are gone and by today's standards it seems like a deal. In 1994, the year rent control was eliminated, I shared a great 2-bedroom place in Cambridge for $820. The same place was $2300 by 2001 or so.