We're moving to Boston! (Cambridge, Quincy: apartments, rentals, house)

[Ayrink]

Hello Boston! My husband and I are coming your way, and we could use your help finding a home to rent.

We've been doing much searching, and have a couple of realtor/prop. managers helping, but we're having some trouble finding a place.

We're looking for a house with a yard, as we have two dogs, one over 65lbs. Two bedrooms or more, one bath or more. Our budget can handle up to $2,500/month, but of course we'd prefer to keep it under $2K/month. We have good rental references if necessary.

My husband's new job is walking distance from South Station, and we're trying to give him as short a commute as possible, using the subway/public transit. Right now in LA his commute is over an hour. Not fun - he comes home cranky after being stuck in traffic!

We're initially looking at the following towns, which we believe are easily accessable to the red line:

Braintree (Braintree Station), Dorchester (Ashmont Station), Dorchester (Cedar Grove Station), Fields Corner West or East (Fields Corner Station), Mattapan (Mattapan Station), Milton (Butler, Milton stations), Quincy (North Quincy Station), Quincy (Quincy Center Station, Quincy Adams), Savin Hill (Savin Hill Station), St Marks (Shawmut Station), South Boston (Broadway and Andrew Stations), Uphams Corner, Ashmont (JFK/Umass Station), Wollaston (Wollaston station)

We're going to be in Boston next week for a few days, and hopefully will have several places to view, and sign a lease! We won't be moving there until the week of June 7th, but we'd be more than happy to sign a lease for June 1st.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give!!

[Cliff Clavin]

If you're looking for a house w/a yard, the only neighborhoods you mentioned I would consider would be Wollaston or Milton. Many (S Boston for example) you won't find any detatched homes, and others should be avoided all together for safety concerns.

Now if you say your husband will be walking distance from S Station, there is a good chance he is also within walking distance of Downtown Crossing, where he'll have access to all 4 lines.

[holden125]

Wherever you look, it can be tough in the Boston area to find rentals that accept dogs, especially as large as your 65-pounder. It also would help to have a sense of what kind of neighborhood you want. Urban, hip, suburban, quiet, etc.? Do you need parking? Stuff like that.

It seems you're OK with being in the city because you want proximity. Is that right? Of the places you listed, only Braintree and Milton are separate "towns" outside Boston. Wollaston is a neighborhood in Quincy, which is another separate municipality just south of Boston. The remaining places are all neighborhoods or sub-neighborhoods within the City of Boston.

Every place you listed is on the Red Line south of South Station. Any reason? Another option, of course, is going north of South Station. Cambridge and Somerville are separate cities, but completely part of the Boston urban fabric. They're closer to downtown and, in many ways, are more urban than many areas within the City of Boston. Finding a house with a yard for $2000 or even $2500 there, though, may be a bit challenging.

You might look in Arlington. Parts of East Arlington are walkable to the Alewife station at the end of the Red Line. It's about 25 mins from there to South Station (maybe a little slower in the rush hour).

Cliff Clavin's completely right that taking one of the other T lines to a station near South Station might work too. That opens a lot of possibilities.

If speed is of the essence and he can stick to a consistent schedule, the commuter rail also has many lines going directly to South Station. From some closer in towns, the commuter train can be much faster than, say, the Red Line all the way from Braintree. For example, it's only 20 minutes to South Station from Newtonville or Route 128 station in Westwood. There are plenty of affordable rentals in Newton, which is a very nice town. Westwood is more woodsy, so rentals there might be scarcer. But these are just two examples of towns with a fast commute to South Station.

[Ayrink]

All excellent information, thank you! I may open myself up to apartments in Quincy - many of them allow larger pets and look pretty darn nice.

[CityGirl52]

If I were you, I would keep on checking out Quincy as it really really would be ideal for your husbands "commute". It'll be a piece of cake for him compared to what he was doing in California, NO doubt about it, in fact, it'll be like he died and went to heaven he'll be so thrilled, but NOT with our New England (4 season) weather, that's the clinker with this upcoming East coast lifestyle! Just think, all he will have to do is hop on the MBTA's red line from Quincy right to South Station in minutes and voila, he will be at his office in no time, how convenient can you get. Braintree also will work as far as house rentals I would think, keep that town on the radar screen and check craigslist rentals out too.

Good luck!

[AnonChick]

Just remember with Boston, if you want a detached house and a yard and suburbs, you will generally be taking that instead of walking distance to the subway and speed of arrival at the work destination. If you want the speed and the proximity to the subway, you have to be willing to (or at least open to the possibility of) give up the detached house with the yard in the burbs. Other than Brookline, Watertown, and the Newtown side of Brighton, they're sort of mutually exclusive. And those are all more west than south, and on the green line, not the red.

[boston2denver]

I second the recommendation for East Arlington. It's walking distance to the train, and a short trip on the red line from Alewife to South Station. And you have Magnolia Field and Thorndike Field nearby to let your dogs run around. A short walk away are many other great options for your dogs as well.

[Ayrink]

Well, we were there last week, and found a great house in Stoughton. He'll have about a 40 minute train ride, and the train station is about a 3 minute drive from the house. His job is a two minute walk from South Station. The compromise between commute time and the size of the house/yard and the price was a great balance, and it's a good fit. Now, anybody need an aircraft avionics troubleshooter/inspector/lead?? I'll find something, I'm sure!

We move in two weeks!

[HenryAlan]

An alternative suggestion would be to look at near in suburbs or parts of Boston proper served by south side commuter rail. I live in Roslindale (a Boston neighborhood) and it is a 17 minute train ride to South Station. West Roxbury is another Boston neighborhood with commuter rail to South Station. The appeal of a neighborhood like Roslindale or West Roxbury is that you are in the city (and therefore close to downtown) but the density is a bit lower, so the idea of a large yard is not far fetched. Both neighborhoods would fit your budget, are quite safe, and have some great local atmosphere (restaurants, bakeries, civic associations, etc.).

[edit]
I see you already found something. While Stoughton may be a longer train ride, don't feel too bad about that commute. Even an hour on the train is far less stressful than an hour of driving. No matter what, your husband will be better for this commute.
[/edit]

[Swirl5]

Stoughton is out there. Your in a cookie cutter suburb and your husbands commute door to door will not be less than an hour. Also that area, along with Randolph, has taken a turn for the worse over the past 5 years or so

I've lived in a single family house in north Quincy (hundred yards from the beach and 10 minute walk to the N Quincy T station) since 2005. I work in Boston and buying in this location is one of the best decisions I've ever made. 7 miles to downtown and 30 minutes door to door if you take the T It's also a safe neighborhood and I'm sure you could find at least a two family that accepts pets. You could also expand your search a little south to the Wallaston neighborhood which is one stop farther out.

Regardless, it looks like the process has started so I hope you enjoy your time in the Boston area.