**SAFE** and Affordable housing near New England School of Law (Boston: middle-class, affordable apartment)

[law admit]

Hello Everyone,

I am moving to Boston in a couple of months with my friend and current roommate. We will both be attending NESL located at 154 Stuart St. We are moving from Louisiana, so it will be a HUGE change of environment and lifestyle. Nervous, kind of nauseating, but very exciting. Anyways, my parents and I are making a trip to Boston in about three or four weeks to meet with a realtor and sight see, but we don't want to go up there blind. Hence, here I am seeking all of your help. I have never lived in a city even approaching the size of Boston. I was born in a place with maybe two thousand residents and have never lived in a place with more than about 70,000 people.

I want to find a decent two bed apartment in a safe safe safe place. Somewhere I don't have to worry about being mugged or killed every time I open my door. My roommate and I want to split a monthly rent of about $1,500 or so. Preferably the closest places to the school possible Do y'all have any good neighborhood recommendations or even specific apartment places to inquire about or that I can tell our agent to give him an idea when we get there? We are doing lots of research on our own, but I happen to think that there would be no better source than to go to the source itself and talk to those who live or have lived there.

Also, any tips on adjusting to the culture, atmosphere? Or from going from smaller cities to huge ones like Boston? I joke with my friend often that we are probably going to be ridiculed for our southern accents. I hope Boston turns out to be a pleasant place to live and not dangerous and full of nut cases, perhaps too much Hollywood born stereotypes are running around my mind. All help is appreciated.

Thanks!

[timberline742]

Honestly, you will be challenged finding anything for your budget anywhere near there. That is a standard 1 bedroom price. Maybe you can try Quincy as it is on the redline. For the safest of the safe you'd need to move to burbs... but honestly I don't find the area to be unsafe at all, but I dunno, I probably have a different perception than you. The problem is cheap places like the ones you're looking for are going to be less safe. I do think you'll need to commute some to find what you're seeking.

[495neighbor]

Bringing a car or not? You will need to be out a ways from the school. Rent in Boston is very high. I recommend looking in West Medford, Medford Highlands or Arlington.

[law admit]

Yes we will both be bringing vehicles. Public transportation is rare here. We are willing to commute 15 minutes or so. Budget may be workable with extra help from my parents. The cost of living differences between here and Boston is crazy. We have a decent sized good condition 3 bed 1.5 bath house right now with a large fenced in back yard and medium sized front yard for $800/month. I've essentially accepted we won't find something like that there.. Also, I am thoroughly shocked at the amount of places that don't have A/C or sometimes even heat! Maybe because it's so much hotter here that when you see a house or building without central air conditioning it's worth putting on twitter. The most indigent amongst us have A/C here.

[timberline742]

Your commute will be substantially more than 15 minutes. Multiples more. Think 45 min+ on public transit at least. You won't be able to drive to school as really, you won't be able to afford to park down there every day.

Boston is old construction and A/C wasn't around when most things were built, and it is a luxury for many. Most people I know who pay lots more than you are hoping to per person have one window unit per apartment used in the hottest of weather. My mother in a suburb where the normal house is about 750k just had central air put in less than a decade ago.

Everyplace will have heat. They have to. Now, it may well not be included in the price. It hasn't been any apartment I lived in.

[johngolf]

Law

Chances of finding a safe/decent two bedroom apartment for $1,500 within walking distance of the school will be near impossible.

Boston has a very good commuter system. The heart of it is the subway system (mostly above ground). The individual lines are color coded (Red, Blue, Green Silver, Orange, etc.). They also have cross over points if one needs to transfer from one line to the other. Transfers are not an additional cost. The operating hours will fit nicely with school hours.

So my suggestion is to look at the subway map and broaden your search further out. Ideally maybe near a stop you can walk to or take a surface bus to. Two towns full of students are Somerville and Cambridge. Also as someone said Quincy. While Quincy is not close it is getting out far enough that rents become more reasonable. Some in close suburbs would be Revere, Malden, Waltham, Watertown, Newton. All the towns mentioned are "safe" in the urban sense of the word. I assume even in your small town there are some sections you do not frequent.

Many years ago my wife and her sister packed up in SC and moved to Boston to attend graduate school. They were scared, nervous, excited. A year later they owned the City of Boston. They say it was the best thing they ever did.

If you look at apartment rental listing, many will be by rental companies. Attempt to go direct to the apartment property manager versus via a middle man. Also try Craig's list as some are small buildings like a 4-6 apartment building and they try to rent direct with no middle man.

You will love it in Boston. Your southern charm will win them Yankees over in a heartbeat......LOL

[law admit]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Your commute will be substantially more than 15 minutes. Multiples more. Think 45 min+ on public transit at least. You won't be able to drive to school as really, you won't be able to afford to park down there every day.

Boston is old construction and A/C wasn't around when most things were built, and it is a luxury for many. Most people I know who pay lots more than you are hoping to per person have one window unit per apartment used in the hottest of weather. My mother in a suburb where the normal house is about 750k just had central air put in less than a decade ago.

Everyplace will have heat. They have to. Now, it may well not be included in the price. It hasn't been any apartment I lived in.

Do you mean just because public transportation takes longer with stops and such that it will take 45 minutes? Because in the surrounding areas Im looking in that are 15 minutes or so from the school, im finding several listings for my budget. And like I said my budget is somewhat flexible in the event we don't find anything. My parents make good money but I want to use them as little as possible. I know for a fact when I get there my parents won't leave me in some slum lol My dad is nervous about me and my friend using public transportation and things at night, it is just such an oddity here to have to use it.

And we are actually already signed up and have paid for semester-long parking passes found by the school at near hotel parking garages that work with NESL. Furthermore, window units are cheap here since everyone already has central A/C, so I'll bring like three or four of them if need be, but A/C will be present.

I guess we really forget the blessing of having so much building space here. There are new nice affordable apartment complexes going up everywhere out here. I mean everywhere. A family friend of ours bought a nice town house in Back Bay I believe it is. They live in a mansion here, which are also MUCH cheaper to build here, but after they paid for that vacation place in Boston they said that up there it seems like you pay twice as much and get over twice as little for your money.

Anyways, thanks all for your help!

[timberline742]

You can find listings, but I have my doubts those places will be the super safe areas you seem to want. I'm not sure where you're looking that you're seeing 2 bed $1500 apartments in Boston itself.

Going even a couple of miles will take 15 minutes in that area. I've spent close to 15 minutes just driving are the commons once.

We just have different perceptions, so I can't be of help. "Having to use" public transportation isn't in my mindset, it is a blessing to me (having to drive is a horrible thing), and I loathe new aseptic buildings myself and will never, ever live in an apartment complex again. We just are into different things. Good luck.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by timberline742

"Having to use" public transportation isn't in my mindset, it is a blessing to me (having to drive is a horrible thing),

Public transportation isn't really a middle-class mode of transportation in the South, as it is here.

OP - you should be safe on the subway lines.

[law admit]

Originally Posted by timberline742

You can find listings, but I have my doubts those places will be the super safe areas you seem to want. I'm not sure where you're looking that you're seeing 2 bed $1500 apartments in Boston itself.

Going even a couple of miles will take 15 minutes in that area. I've spent close to 15 minutes just driving are the commons once.

We just have different perceptions, so I can't be of help. "Having to use" public transportation isn't in my mindset, it is a blessing to me (having to drive is a horrible thing), and I loathe new aseptic buildings myself and will never, ever live in an apartment complex again. We just are into different things. Good luck.

Yea, I meant no offense by mentioning having to use public transportation. Down here, everyone drives. You don't use public transportation unless you are stranded or something. We don't have subway systems. We have public buses and, even rarer than that, cabs. Also, Ive never lived in an apartment before. This will be my first time. And frankly, Boston would benefit greatly from the types of apartments that are in abundance here. They would be swept up in a hurry, I can assure you of that. What I am into is an affordable place to live, apartment or not. If it comes to it my parents will help increase the budget and we can broaden our search, but I am trying to keep them from having to help me. I'm trying to let this be the first thing I finance without their help, or much help anyways.