Commute to Cambridge, young family looking for good neighborhood (Boston: apartment complexes, to rent)

[nate0660]

My wife and I will be moving to the Boston area soon. She will be working at Cambridge Health Alliance(Cambridge Street, Cambridge). We have a twins that are 10 months old. She wants to use public transit to commute. We are looking for a good neighborhood for families and also has reasonable rent ($3000 or less for a 3br 2ba). I was wondering if someone could give us some insight on easy public transit commutes(45 mins or less) to Cambridge from family friendly neighborhoods/cities.

I have never been to Boston before and my wife has been for very short periods of time, so any insight you can give would be greatly appreciated.

[mj103]

I can't say much on the rent of these places for sure, as I have lived in the city (and paid really high rent as a result) the years I've been here, but for $1000 per bedroom AND family friendly (personally, I wouldn't want to raise a family in Medford or the like), you're probably going to be looking at somewhere on the commuter rail. In order for her to have a commute under 45 minutes, you'll want to pick something on the Fitchburg line, as that's the only one that hooks up with the red line in Cambridge (at Alewife and Porter Square). Otherwise she'll have to go in to either North or South Stations and backtrack a bunch (in the case of North Station, she will also have you switch lines a couple times).

Most people I know who live out north either drive or carpool to Alewife station (I think parking is something like $6/day in the garage) and then take the red line in to Cambridge or the city. If that's something she would consider doing it would definitely open your options up a bit. I know plenty of people who live or have lived in Melrose (they owned a house, so I can't speak to rent, as I mentioned) and seemed to think it was a nice town. Woburn, Arlington, Lexington, or even as far out as Salem might be options as well, although I haven't spent much time in any of those places, so others might be in a better position to speak to their quality than me.

For the record, I work in Waltham (on the Fitchburg line), and it seems like a reasonably nice place.

Hope this helps!

[zaphod001]

I worked at The Cambridge Hospital for 3 years. One major issue is that it is not particularly close to the T. The red line stop in Central Square is the closest. You can catch a bus (for instance, the 69 from Harvard Square or a few, such as 91 if I recall correctly, coming from Central Square) but it is worth knowing that not being on the red line makes Inman Square harder to get to. I would usually drive from Huron Village in Cambridge but when my car was in the shop I used to take the 83 bus from Porter Square to Inman Square.

I know people who walked to Central Square and used the T, but that got old in hot, cold, or rainy weather.

One consideration is that if you can get to Somerville Hospital, you can use the shuttle system (utilized by both patients and staff) that goes between the two hospitals.

Have you considered living in Somerville or perhaps Medford near Davis Square? I do not have the expertise of other people on CD about cost of various rents, where it's good to raise a family, etc.

Another consideration might be to consider Belmont near the 74 bus line, which goes into Harvard Square (would have to switch to the 69 or a similar bus to get to Inman Square, or schlepp it from Harvard Square to Inman Square -- 20 min walk?).

[nate0660]

Thanks for the info about the shuttle from the somerville hospital. And also the good info about the mbta... I will make sure my wife knows this stuff.

[actutus]

I would look into Beachmont in Revere and Orient Heights in East Boston. Both are pretty safe, suburbanish neighborhoods within an easy walk of the MBTA Blue Line, part of the regular subway (I lived in Boston for many years, and it was always my experience that the regular subway is by FAR the most convenient mode of public transportation). As far as I know, those places have more or less reasonable rents by local standards -- but it's been many years since I lived there. With children in the picture, you will have to weigh convenient public transportation against the quality of public schools; e.g., Winthrop, a town that borders both Revere and East Boston, has a reputation for much better schools, but most parts of town require a bus to reach the subway, and even the areas from which some people do walk to the subway are more than a mile away.

[NotAPrincess]

If you're going to be here for a while and need to consider schools, I'd look in Arlington or Belmont. Belmont has great bus connections to Cambridge and Arlington you'd be near the red line (Alewife) though you might need to take a bus to the subway depending on where you live.

Another option might be to live in Cambridge itself. You might have to settle for 3BR/1BA though. Cambridge is a fun area for families, IMO, as long as you're willing to put up with being in a semi-city.

One problem you'll run into with small kids is the massachusetts lead paint law that "protects" you from apartments with lead paint. In reality, however, it means that realtors and landlords tend to illegally prevent you from seeing apartment that might have lead paint because the landlords don't want to go to the expense of deleading. It's a huge deal in the Cambridge/Arlington/Belmont area because most homes there do have lead paint. For that reason, lots of families with young kids end up renting at the newer apartment complexes that tend to be more expensive but do have lots of amenities.

As others have said, Cambridge Health Alliance is not exactly close to the T. You might look into which bus routesserve it and look at which towns are on those routes.

[Beantown_mama]

You can take the T (orange line) to Sullivan Square and then take the CT2 bus, that would get you to Cambridge Street. But it would definitely take more than 45 minutes. If you drove from Melrose to the Inman Square area, it would only be about 1/2 hour drive. Melrose is a great area for young families there are tons of family activities to do, and the North Suburban Family Network and the Melrose Family Room provides activities for kids under 5 in particular.

[natapalmer]

Its been a while since this conversation was started but we are in a very similar position to the original poster and it would be helpful to know what ended up working. Thanks!

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by natapalmer

Its been a while since this conversation was started but we are in a very similar position to the original poster and it would be helpful to know what ended up working. Thanks!

I'd recommend a new thread. This is nearly four years old and things have started getting a little crazy and small changes in your circumstances could shift the recommendation considerably. There are lots of good options but no perfect ones.