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Well I'll most likely have a car (my friend's), so I don't think I'll be using public transport at all. But after reading your post, maybe I'll commute into worcester on the rail. Is the UMass hospital close to the Worcester rail station?
I'll check it out. I guess in the next few months I'll have to look for places to rent.
Apart from craigslist, any one got any suggestions to find a 2 month rent for April-May (2011) in the Worcester-Boston area?
Thx,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vermolas
Another town you could try out is Natick its adjacent to Framingham on the Boston side, its a beautiful town but it may cost a bit more than Framingham another town closer to Boston but still on the Commuter rail line is wellesley.
For Worcester to Boston its about ten dollars round trip
For Framingham to worcester its about 5 dollars roundtrip
For Framingham to Boston its about 6 dollars roundtrip
These numbers easily add up and I think you should get the monthly commuter rail ticket its worth it and you can go back and forth as many times you want.
From Worcester to Boston its about 45 Minutes with moderate traffic
Framingham to Worcester it would probably be faster to take route nine in stead of the Mass Pike and itll probably take about 30 minutes and to Boston probably a bit more because of the traffic. I insist you use the commuter rail, its the best way to get around.
yeh, I saw that as well, MBTA site. 1hr45min. Thats why I was a bit confused when vermolas said '20 min'......hmmm
But anyways, turns out my friend wil be living with me, and he has a car, so I'll just gotta drive in.
So now I have flexibility of where I live with car. I guess Framingham? verm also suggested a place caled Natick. Anything else? Like I said before, I'd rather be close to Boston, cause ya know, I wouldn't match catching a game at Fenway or watching KG do this thing after a 10 hour day in the hospital
Anything you can suggest that is relatively 'cheap' and inside the I-95? or will I be looking at 1K easy?
I'm looking for 2 bdrm for me and my friend.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by ogre
I posted this same info at your other thread, in the general MA forum, but this thread seems to have more responses, so maybe you're more likely to see this here:
The ride is about 1 hr. and 45 min. A monthly pass for commuter rail between Boston and Worcester is 225 dollars. A single round trip would be $15.50. There are a couple of trains from Boston to Worcester during the usual morning commuting hours and a couple of trains from Worcester to Boston during the afternoon commuting hours, but there are many more trains serving people commuting from Worcester toward Boston in the morning and back to Worcester at night.
Based on this information, you can decide for yourself, but if I had to make this choice I'd say it looks too expensive and like too long a ride, with too few trains going to Worcester in the morning and back to Boston in the afternoon, to live in Boston and commute to Worcester. If the choice were mine, I'd live in Worcester, enjoy the local Worcester nightlife during most of my free time, and occasionally use the train for a day trip to Boston on the weekend.
Regarding rent, I don't know how the rents are in Worcester, though I know that in general housing costs are lower the farther you get from Boston. In or very near Boston, you would most likely need a roommate, or roommates, to share expenses for you to have many options at all with a rental budget of 800/mo.
Framingham and Natick are outside I-95. They are suburban towns located roughly midway between Boston and Worcester. I think Natick is a nicer town overall than Framingham, but both would allow for a drive of 30 to 40 minutes to either Boston or Worcester at times when the traffic was not especially heavy, and both would offer space to park the car, and cheaper rents on average than you'll usually find very close to Boston. However, both towns have a very suburban character. Neither is a place you want to live if you very much want to step out your door and have the city all around you.
If you did decide to consider these towns, Framingham is a larger town, and may have more rental properties, but if you could find a place near Natick Center, this would put you close to the train station and to a little bit of local shopping--nothing city-like, but still some small stores in downtown Natick--in some nice neighborhoods. Areas close to the train station in Framingham are kind of faded in appearance, and offer very little in the way of even a few basic small stores.
Newton and Brookline are suburban as well, but they both have more of an older inner-suburban feel. The south sides of both towns are open and leafy in many neighborhoods, but the north sides have well-kept older houses in neighborhoods that often have a close-knit neighborhood feel, with local commercial districts that have small stores and neighborhood eateries. Both towns are also much closer to Boston than Natick or Framingham are. In many sections of Newton or Brookline you might not have a city neighborhood all around the moment you stepped out your door, but you would have hints of this in the local commercial districts, and would not have far to go to be in the center of the city.
One point to keep in mind is that Brookline does not allow parking on the street overnight. If you lived there, you would need to make sure the rental property had on-site parking, or be prepared to pay extra to rent an off-street parking space.
If you want to live more or less in the city, or at least nearby, with a car, you may want to avoid the areas right in the center of Boston, such as Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the North End, or the South End. These areas are densely built. Parking there can be tight, and generally the rents are high. Boston's Jamaica Plain section has some neighborhoods that are a bit less densely built up, though it's still pretty much an urban area. This is a young professional kind of area in many neighborhoods, and may be easier for parking, and a bit less expensive, than areas right around downtown.
If you consider Jamaica Plain, make sure to get some good info on the areas you consider. I don't know JP well enough to give good info on specific neighborhoods, but I do know that it's generally known to be true that some neighborhoods and streets in JP are nice, while others are kind of run down and have some crime problems, so you'd want to get good info about the street where you'd be living before moving into a place in JP.
A bit farther out from downtown, but still in the outer part of the city, Boston's Brighton section offers some local neighborhood kind of city living with less density, hence more convenient parking, than areas close to downtown. In Brighton you might want to stay west of Market Street to avoid neighborhoods with a lot of noisy undergraduate students. The undergrad population is especially heavy around Cleveland Circle and a few blocks either side of Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton, and in Allston, immediatel east of Brighton.
A bit farther out, Waltham is a town in the transitional zone between urban and suburban. Some neighborhoods have a blue-collar urban residential feel, while others are quite suburban. The area that could interest you in Waltham would be around downtown, in the vicinity of Moody St. Downtown Waltham has developed a restaurant scene in the last few years, and has become somewhat of a draw for young professionals. This is another area that could offer some neighborhood city feel while still having a low enough density that parking should be reasonably convenient.
Arlington, Cambridge, and Somerville are some other towns which could offer the compromise of at least some degree of urban feel locally while still being more convenient for living with a car than downtown Boston. However, I would suggest looking first in Waltham, Newton, Brighton, or JP, as all of those would be closer to the Mass. Pike. From Arlington, Cambridge, or Somerville the travel time just getting to the turnpike would add significantly to the time spent commuting to Worcester.
You might consider living in Providence, Rhode Island, and driving 1 hour or less to Worcester. It's an up and coming city with many young people and an active arts scene. You might be able to get a sublet through Brown University students, possibly on the east Side, Federal Hill, or downtown area.
Ogre...thanks man. that was a very helpful/informative post. cheers.
I'll take your advice and look into places in Waltham, Newton, Brighton, or JP.
Its still a year away, so lots of time, but I want to start to get a feel of Boston. I only suggested Brookline/Newton cause I saw on the map its on the T-line, so a quick subway ride to downtown. Also I saw that Boston College and BU have campuses in Newton, so I figured there would be some stuff for me and my friend to do at night. This is another reason we are shying away from Framingham/Natick. Looks like boring surburban family towns to me.
and thx for the advice on the cities that are close to the Mass Turnpike. That is key for us, as we'll be commuting in everyday to Worcester on the I-90.
But yeh, I've heard that Newton is the posh area of Boston, so I may have to branch out to the other areas you suggested.
One last question, apart from craigslist, do you know any websites that I can surf to check out sublets in the Boston area?
thx,
Quote:
Originally Posted by ogre
Framingham and Natick are outside I-95. They are suburban towns located roughly midway between Boston and Worcester. I think Natick is a nicer town overall than Framingham, but both would allow for a drive of 30 to 40 minutes to either Boston or Worcester at times when the traffic was not especially heavy, and both would offer space to park the car, and cheaper rents on average than you'll usually find very close to Boston. However, both towns have a very suburban character. Neither is a place you want to live if you very much want to step out your door and have the city all around you.
If you did decide to consider these towns, Framingham is a larger town, and may have more rental properties, but if you could find a place near Natick Center, this would put you close to the train station and to a little bit of local shopping--nothing city-like, but still some small stores in downtown Natick--in some nice neighborhoods. Areas close to the train station in Framingham are kind of faded in appearance, and offer very little in the way of even a few basic small stores.
Newton and Brookline are suburban as well, but they both have more of an older inner-suburban feel. The south sides of both towns are open and leafy in many neighborhoods, but the north sides have well-kept older houses in neighborhoods that often have a close-knit neighborhood feel, with local commercial districts that have small stores and neighborhood eateries. Both towns are also much closer to Boston than Natick or Framingham are. In many sections of Newton or Brookline you might not have a city neighborhood all around the moment you stepped out your door, but you would have hints of this in the local commercial districts, and would not have far to go to be in the center of the city.
One point to keep in mind is that Brookline does not allow parking on the street overnight. If you lived there, you would need to make sure the rental property had on-site parking, or be prepared to pay extra to rent an off-street parking space.
If you want to live more or less in the city, or at least nearby, with a car, you may want to avoid the areas right in the center of Boston, such as Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the North End, or the South End. These areas are densely built. Parking there can be tight, and generally the rents are high. Boston's Jamaica Plain section has some neighborhoods that are a bit less densely built up, though it's still pretty much an urban area. This is a young professional kind of area in many neighborhoods, and may be easier for parking, and a bit less expensive, than areas right around downtown.
If you consider Jamaica Plain, make sure to get some good info on the areas you consider. I don't know JP well enough to give good info on specific neighborhoods, but I do know that it's generally known to be true that some neighborhoods and streets in JP are nice, while others are kind of run down and have some crime problems, so you'd want to get good info about the street where you'd be living before moving into a place in JP.
A bit farther out from downtown, but still in the outer part of the city, Boston's Brighton section offers some local neighborhood kind of city living with less density, hence more convenient parking, than areas close to downtown. In Brighton you might want to stay west of Market Street to avoid neighborhoods with a lot of noisy undergraduate students. The undergrad population is especially heavy around Cleveland Circle and a few blocks either side of Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton, and in Allston, immediatel east of Brighton.
A bit farther out, Waltham is a town in the transitional zone between urban and suburban. Some neighborhoods have a blue-collar urban residential feel, while others are quite suburban. The area that could interest you in Waltham would be around downtown, in the vicinity of Moody St. Downtown Waltham has developed a restaurant scene in the last few years, and has become somewhat of a draw for young professionals. This is another area that could offer some neighborhood city feel while still having a low enough density that parking should be reasonably convenient.
Arlington, Cambridge, and Somerville are some other towns which could offer the compromise of at least some degree of urban feel locally while still being more convenient for living with a car than downtown Boston. However, I would suggest looking first in Waltham, Newton, Brighton, or JP, as all of those would be closer to the Mass. Pike. From Arlington, Cambridge, or Somerville the travel time just getting to the turnpike would add significantly to the time spent commuting to Worcester.
Last edited by Blitz2011; 04-26-2010 at 08:11 AM..
Actually after doing some research, me and my friend want to enjoy the 'urban boston' feel, and just bite hte bullet and drive each way 1.5 hours.
We're thinking downtown, or places like newton, brookline....
Newton is expensive if you want to buy a house, but it's not so bad for rentals. You could probably find a nice rental for under $800 or $900 each, plus utilities. Check Newton Corner, Nonantum, Newtonville, West Newton or Auburndale. They're close to the Pike and (particularly West Newton and Newtonville/Nonantum) have some places to go out. Not quite big city, it's pretty quiet, but a lot cheaper than Boston and close to Boston as well. Beats living in Framingham.
Ogre is completely correct: Waltham, at least the part near the center and off Moody St, is a great option. It has a lot of nightlife and restaurants, and it's more affordable than Boston by a lot. You can take South St down to the Mass Pike pretty easily, so it will take 20-30 mins less to get to Worcester that it would coming from Boston.
It also won't take 1.5 hours to drive to Worcester if you're going against rush hour and live near the Mass Pike.
Just a warning, a 2-month sublet in April-May is going to be tough--most sublets available are in the summer months, when college students leave the city. You should cast a wide net, because you might not have a ton of options available to you.
It's true that Framingham and Natick are very suburban and family-oriented. I'm guessing that the reason anyone suggested them is that their location is convenient for those who need to travel to both Worcester and Boston. They are definitely not places that really cater to young single people, though.
Be aware that the places I suggested last night are not highly urban, as in right in the heart of the city. I suggested those areas with the idea in mind that you would need to live where it would be convenient to own a car. The parts of Boston where you can have city living all around you can be difficult to live in if you've got to find a place to park a car, as these areas are very densely built. The areas I suggested last night at least have some local nightlife in the form of restaurants, and are located well for a much quicker trip into the central part of the city than you'd find in Natick or Framingham. In addition to parking difficulties, the central sections of Boston can get pretty expensive in terms of cost of living, so Newton, Brookline, Brighton, JP, Waltham, etc., seemed to me to strike a nice middle ground.
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