jobs and cheap apartments in Leominster or Worcester to move in September 2019 (Boston: low income, to rent)

[visitorsouth]

Hi. We plan to move to Massachusetts to Leominster or Townsend in September 2019 because our kid will attend college in September and we want to live near our kid. Please give us some advice regarding:

1) where to find a safe and inexpensive (max $1,000/month) one or two bedroom apartment for 2 people (husband and wife) that is about max 1 hour driving from Cambridge/Boston. We don't qualify for low income/affordable housing.

2) where is a good place to find such apartment AND be able to find jobs (my husband is a technician working with various typed of industrial machines for the last 10 years; I can do office work, data entry or factory work that doesn't require lifting heavy objects (my husband also can do factory work that doesn't require lifting heavy objects.)

3) what is the best strategy for us to move in September considering the fact that if we move here to a hotel a week (we can only afford one week hotel) prior to August 1 then we might not find anything for Sept 1 (landlords said they can only tell if we call after August 1).

Also, if we quit our jobs and move here first, then at that time we won't have a job and thus landlords wouldn't let us rent anything. So perhaps we can only move here to start to WORK FIRST a month or so prior to September 1 and stay at somewhere cheap for a month or so first (but where cheap and short-term??) then find a permanent apartment to RENT AFTER?
Please give us some advice. Thanks!

[visitorsouth]

Hi moderator,
Please change the title of my post to say "jobs and cheap apartments in Leominster or WORCESTER to move in September 2019" (thus "WORCESTER" instead of "Townsend"). Thanks.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by visitorsouth

1) where to find a safe and inexpensive (max $1,000/month) one or two bedroom apartment for 2 people (husband and wife) that is about max 1 hour driving from Cambridge/Boston. We don't qualify for low income/affordable housing.

1 theoretical hour or 1 hour at 7 am on a Wednesday? Those are very different distances

You can get from Sturbridge to Boston in an hour at 4 am Sunday morning. During rush hour, it can take over 2 hours.

2) where is a good place to find such apartment AND be able to find jobs (my husband is a technician working with various typed of industrial machines for the last 10 years; I can do office work, data entry or factory work that doesn't require lifting heavy objects (my husband also can do factory work that doesn't require lifting heavy objects.)

You should be able to find a 1 bedroom in Worcester right around $1k, if schools and homogeneous surroundings aren't your #1 and #2 priorities. And there are jobs. I don't think you'll find anything east of Worcester, not even in Lawrence.

[Dadschum]

its time to let your kid get a taste of independence and spread his or her own wings without having Mommy and Daddy nearby. Plenty of kids move away from home to go to college and do just fine. And with technology today you can call, email, talk, text, skype or Facetime several times a day if you wish - though I think that is ridiculous as well.

And does kiddo even want you that close? Maybe Kiddo wants to start their own life at college without you breathing down their neck?

[visitorsouth]

scorpio516,
Thanks and I am glad to hear that there are jobs in Worcester, but some brokers told me that Worcester and Clinton are not safe. Is that accurate?

Dadschum,
Yes our kid does want us to be close; otherwise we would never do that, even though we are a very close family.
We had never told our kid anything about moving neither. But we said "ok, we will move to live near you if that's what you want, and we love that idea too..." because to us, family is everything and if we have an option of being close to each other for a few more years then why not at least try to find a way; life is too short sometimes.
Our kid will come home only once or twice a month, and we will just have some family time - and no hovering or "breathing down their neck" Thanks for your post.

If someone can give us some more answers to our questions we'd appreciate very much!

[visitorsouth]

Hi everyone,
Please also give us some input about this: since we need to have a job in order to rent something:
1) should we just pack our stuff on August 1st and move to MA (Leominster, Worcester, Natick... ?) into a month-to-month apartment (paying one month in advance) ?

2) will we be able to find a job in a week or so ? Then after finding a job we can move to a long term apartment ?

3) some brokers told me that Worcester and Clinton are not safe. Is that accurate?

[bizcuit]

Definitely get jobs first! Personally, I think it's insane to quit stable jobs and move to an unfamiliar area for this reason. Where do you live now?

Anyway, can you afford to at least do a scouting trip in advance of your planned move? Maybe you can rent an Airbnb for a week while you search for jobs.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by visitorsouth

scorpio516,
Thanks and I am glad to hear that there are jobs in Worcester, but some brokers told me that Worcester and Clinton are not safe. Is that accurate?

Only if you are buying drugs, in a gang, or a prostitute.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by visitorsouth

3) some brokers told me that Worcester and Clinton are not safe. Is that accurate?

There are a few areas in Worcester to avoid, although it is a large city and has plenty of safe areas as well. Clinton is small, with pockets of low income but no safety issues that I'm aware of.

[magicshark]

Worcester is a city. Like all cities there are good and bad parts. Overall I consider it very safe. I live here and am raising two kids in the city.

Clinton is very safe. It is always on those top five safest places to live in Massachusetts lists. It is very working class so it gets disparged a lot by those who tend to be classist.