Advice on where to live in Boston (Cambridge, Newton: apartment, to rent)

[oklai]

Hi,

My wife and I will be moving to Boston from Australia next month, and we're looking for some advice on which areas to rent/live in.

We're a young professional couple in our early thirties, no kids. We're looking for a safe area with good access to public transport, good selection of eateries and grocers.

I will be working in Watertown intially and later on moving to Waltham, ideally I'd like to spend no more than 30mins each way travelling to/from work each day.

Our budget is between $1500-$2000/month.

The areas we're currently considering include Arlington, Cambridge and Newtown.

Thanks in advance

[Cantabridgienne]

I would look into Cambridge, around Harvard Square, Inman Square, Huron Village or maybe Cambridgeport. Arlington would get you a bigger apartment, though.

[Jstine103]

Arlington is nice, alot of families are there and it's very kid oriented. but a nice town and public transportation shouldnt be a problem. It would probably take you about 20min to get to watertown for work

Cambridge is nice too, but there are some bad areas.. so just be sure to really look into where you moving. Cambridge is next to watertown so i'd say 15min depending on traffic and where you live.. i'm just averaging

Newton is great. very nice, clean area. about 20min to boston depending on where you live and close to everything, malls, resturants, super market. there's good public transportation there as well. If you live near Newton Corner, Watertown is right there.

I dont agree that you'll get a bigger apt. in Arlington. I have alot of friends living there. one lives in a pretty small 2bd 1bath apt that is $1650 with nothing included (just an example). Alot of the homes there are older.. I have apt. hunted in all three towns and found some great places in Cambridge and Newton. You could find a big, modern apt in both areas for $1800-2k, cheaper if you get lucky. But in Newton I think you can get the biggest bang for your buck.

All of these places would meet your 30min commute i'd say. but out of these, I'd look more into Newton and Cambridge. Arlington is great but i think it's more a family oriented town.. just my opinion. My son goes to all kinds of singalongs, gyms and playgroups there.

[ogre]

You might also consider Brookline, particularly in the Coolidge Corner and Brookline Village neighborhoods.

[thao]

Cambridge is a great place. newton is nice but a bit suffocating (see: suburb) and the public transportation is only mediocre. arlington is like newton but worse, except maybe in price.

jamaica plain is really fun and relatively safe if you know where to buy (southern parts are a bit sketchy, northern parts near brookline are good)... not so sure about public transportation though.

out of those cities cambridge definitely has the best public transportation and a lot of nice stores, so i would recommend it. the only issue would be finding a place... from what i know cambridge isn't insanely expensive but it is upper range and competitive since it isn't a huge city... but i could be wrong.