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My husband and I are moving to the Boston area this month. I have been actively job hunting and am hoping to get a particular job near Watertown. After I get a job we plan to buy a house. In the meantime, we need a place to live for 2-3 months. We are planning to put all our stuff in pods in storage when we move from our current location and were hoping to rent a furnished place for a few months. Easier said than done! It's very difficult to find a furnished apartment for such a short stay that isn't crazy expensive. We found a place in Rockland MA that might work. I'm wondering what the commute will be like if I do get the job in Watertown. Mapquest tells me it's 36 minutes without traffic from Rockland to Watertown. What will it be under normal commuting conditions?
36 minutes doesn't seem right to me. Google Maps is saying 45 minutes without traffic which seems more accurate. I can't imagine that this commute would be under an hour each way during rush hour. Try Google Maps during rush hour and see what it says. It won't be 100% accurate but it should give you a general idea.
My husband and I are moving to the Boston area this month. I have been actively job hunting and am hoping to get a particular job near Watertown. After I get a job we plan to buy a house. In the meantime, we need a place to live for 2-3 months. We are planning to put all our stuff in pods in storage when we move from our current location and were hoping to rent a furnished place for a few months. Easier said than done! It's very difficult to find a furnished apartment for such a short stay that isn't crazy expensive. We found a place in Rockland MA that might work. I'm wondering what the commute will be like if I do get the job in Watertown. Mapquest tells me it's 36 minutes without traffic from Rockland to Watertown. What will it be under normal commuting conditions?
Google maps has a feature where you can select when you will depart. Leaving anytime between 7-8am shows it will take between 45 min to 2 hours depending on traffic on that particular day. If my own commute is any indication of google's accuracy, it will most likely be right in the middle or about 1 hour 20 minutes.
I did Rockland to Waltham for about a year. It took at best 50 min . and at worse 2 hrs. Average was about 1:20. If there was one ounce of traffic the time increased dramatically. I finally moved closer to work.
If you want a town similar to Rockland but better and closer to Watertown, look at Maynard or even Watertown. I am assuming you want to buy closer to work so why rent so far away?
My advice would be to find a place to rent for a year and furnish it. It is going to take a year for you to find a job, then find the town you want to live in, and then 3 months to close on the house so you are going to be renting for longer than you think.
Per Google Maps this morning - 65 minutes at 6:45; 77 minutes at 7:25. Of course, actual time will be longer since traffic will continue to get worse during your commute.
I did a North Hanover (right on the Rockland line) to North Waltham (Winter St area) commute for almost a year when we first bought a house down here back in 2013. It used to take me an average of 45-50 mins, and that was with moderate traffic, but had to be on the road by 5:45am.
A lot depends on where in Watertown your job would be located. Some areas are closer to the highway and some not at all. And another factor is your start and finish time at work. If they're flexible and will allow you to go in as early as 7am or as late as 10am you could make it work. Rush hour would be no good though.
I did a North Hanover (right on the Rockland line) to North Waltham (Winter St area) commute for almost a year when we first bought a house down here back in 2013. It used to take me an average of 45-50 mins, and that was with moderate traffic, but had to be on the road by 5:45am.
A lot depends on where in Watertown your job would be located. Some areas are closer to the highway and some not at all. And another factor is your start and finish time at work. If they're flexible and will allow you to go in as early as 7am or as late as 10am you could make it work. Rush hour would be no good though.
Your Waltham job is not comparable. Easy access to Route 128 versus access to the Turnpike(Watertown). Watertown is hard to access.
The shortest route would be via Boston through the worst part of congestion in the region.
I would recommend not taking the job.
Bill
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