Where's a lesbian to Move To? (Boston, Lowell: affordable apartments, rental, lofts)

[ajacques]

So my g/f and I are trying to figure out were we're going to move to. I start law school this fall but if i'm going to transfer to another school I have to do it before my 2nd year. I currently live in Florida. I hate it. The public transit sucks, the weather sucks and the people are mean and clicky.

I'm considering Mass but Boston is too expensive and western mass seems a little too rual for me. I need my city life. My g/f drives but I do not and occasionaly my need to take public transit. I considered NY as well, but I know thats out of my price range. I guess to get an aparment in the $650 range I have to live in the ghetto?

Where should we move to?

[lrfox]

Why not Providence RI? It's the second largest city in New England, has a large GLBT community, reasonable mass transit including bus (RIPTA is the bus service, it's extensive and well kept) and rail (Amtrak to New York and Boston as well as Boston's MBTA commuter rail service). As of 2010, Boston's commuter rail will link downtown Providence (and Boston, of course) directly to Providence's airport. You'd also be near a number of schools in the area for Law School (Roger Williams isn't in Providence but it's close). Providence has more urban amenities than any New England city not named Boston (ok,ok, or Cambridge). It's also much cheaper. $650 will get you something reasonable in Providence. The economy is in rough shape over there, but the city itself is doing alright. I would consider looking into it.

I would also consider looking into some of Mass's more up and coming cities if you don't mind a little grit.

Lowell has done an excellent job revitalizing its downtown area. You could find a nice apartment in that area and be near everything the city has to offer. It also has commuter rail service to Boston.

I am partial to New Bedford. It's another small city that's revitalizing well. The downtown area is gorgeous and has a nice Art Museum, Whaling Museum (it's where Herman Melville's Moby Dick is based), Ocean Explorium as well as dozens of galleries, shops, restaurants (it's the nation's highest grossing fishing port which means EXCELLENT seafood), bars, cafes, etc. all surrounding a nice National Historic Park that encompasses 16 cobblestone blocks of the downtown and waterfront. It has local bus service (called SRTA) which is not too expansive, but it works. The city is right on an important natural harbor and has daily ferry service to Martha's Vinyard and Cuttyhunk Islands. It also has a regional airport with service to Cape Cod and the Islands. It has bus service to Boston right now, but is in the process of getting commuter rail service direct to Boston. Just across the city line is Southern New England School of Law ( Southern New England School of Law ). I would look to live in the Downtown area or the West End.

New Bedford has its flaws... crime is a problem in some of the outlying neighborhoods (not at all downtown or in the West End) and the economy is bad there. It's 25 minutes East of Providence (direct on I-195) by car and about 50 minutes South of Boston. However, your budget puts you within reach of some nicer apartments in and around downtown (in fact, check out the lofts at Wamsutta Place... a new apartment building in town: Home - The Lofts at Wamsutta Place ). It's in an excellent location and there's a lot going on in the center of town ( a great symphony orchestra, arts scene, restaurant scene, nightlife, etc) as well as the region (great beaches including a popular gay beach). I'd look into it at least.

Boston's a wonderful city, but $650 can't get you there unless you're willing to room-share (which sucks). Hopefully you can find something that works.

*Edit*
If Massachusetts doesn't work, check out Portland, ME. The USM School of Law there is very good. The city itself is small (63,000) but vibrant. It's absolutely worth looking into.

[meltinjohn]

Youd recommend Providence and Portland ME huh?
Both those cities seem pretty nice but still not in close proximity to Boston and Id probably rather live in Providence than Portland ME. How bout Manchester NH? Thats just about an hr from Boston.
I might actually make Lowell work for myself since I myself am moving back to Lowell area MA and from FL too.
I cant stand FL so the OP and me do have something in common.
I like St Pete and some of Tampa but on the whole, FL is extremely cliquish and worseso than I imagined MA to be before I ever left MA. FL has so much sprawl and too many damn people with your pick of suburbanite cookie cutter types, illegals, rednecks, medicated old cottonheads or whatever else I dont like. At least in MA, the herds are better maintained and the small town is kinda there in towns with 30,000 ppl or so opposed to anywhere in FL with that much. A town has to have 5 grand in FL if that to get a small town feel.

[ljd1010]

Providence, RI is about 50 minutes from Boston - and has a commuter rail to get there. Bus service is excellent. Large gay community, the mayor of Providence is openly gay. You'll still be hard pressed to find a rental in a decent area for $650. Roger Williams University has an accredited law school as well.

[ajacques]

THANKS for all of the advice!!! I've thought about RI but dismissed it because it was so expensive and I can't get married there. Is it less expensive than Mass? I guess since Vermont doesn't have a residency requirement I could get married there and live in RI; I would think they would recognize the marriage.

I've heard crime mentioned a couple times; here and in other forums. Is the crime really a problem? I mean we have a gang or two in our neighborhood and there's the occasional gun shot at night but I’ve never been messed with. - Aside from our house getting broken into when I was a kid. I'm used to my walls shaking at all hours of the night from the boys across the street playing their base so loud it can be detected via satellite. I'm used to the occasional chicken crossing


I thought about Portland as well. From what I heard there was a youth movement there; a hotbed of liberalism. But i've also heard that the economy is so bad that you have lawyers working at a whole foods store. I guess I should say that i'm not big on completion. I'd like to live in an area where I can get a job after I leave law school.

[meltinjohn]

Originally Posted by ljd1010

Providence, RI is about 50 minutes from Boston - and has a commuter rail to get there. Bus service is excellent. Large gay community, the mayor of Providence is openly gay. You'll still be hard pressed to find a rental in a decent area for $650. Roger Williams University has an accredited law school as well.

****, that sounds just like Portland OR only smaller. Nice. I been to Portland and thats a real nice place too with great bus service and transit.
Their mayor also is openly gay.

[mustmove]

Transfer to Vermont Law School. Live in town, there is a bus to Hanover/Lebanon for supermarkets and such. Very liberal environment.

[meltinjohn]

Originally Posted by ajacques

THANKS for all of the advice!!! I've thought about RI but dismissed it because it was so expensive and I can't get married there. Is it less expensive than Mass? I guess since Vermont doesn't have a residency requirement I could get married there and live in RI; I would think they would recognize the marriage.

I've heard crime mentioned a couple times; here and in other forums. Is the crime really a problem? I mean we have a gang or two in our neighborhood and there's the occasional gun shot at night but I’ve never been messed with. - Aside from our house getting broken into when I was a kid. I'm used to my walls shaking at all hours of the night from the boys across the street playing their base so loud it can be detected via satellite. I'm used to the occasional chicken crossing


I thought about Portland as well. From what I heard there was a youth movement there; a hotbed of liberalism. But i've also heard that the economy is so bad that you have lawyers working at a whole foods store. I guess I should say that i'm not big on completion. I'd like to live in an area where I can get a job after I leave law school.

I just mentioned Portland before reading your post wow.. some alike thoughts brewing in here .
Portlands economy is total crap right now tho so now certainly not be the time to go for that place. Its like that city that flirts with you and can be the most excellent place but then you run out of money and your on the streets. I was always told to bring tons of money since youd prepare to be living there without a job for awhile since I highly had it on my list.
Thats total insanity tho that lawyers work at whole foods there. Then you know its truly in the gutter. The amounts of homeless there are astronomical too. I just think for anything I do in the future, it can be done back in MA socially and economically and not even right in Boston necessarily either. It doesnt have to be Portland and sure not worth moving there if its just so bad there right now its unimaginable.
Low wage work is in total high demand due to what you just said with lawyers and ****. Thanks to all those Che Guevara socialist kinds there that it got in ruins like that.

As far as crime goes, I think FL has way more than MA on the whole. Smaller towns in FL get more crime than anywhere I been I find.
Your probably just as safe or even safer in St Pete.
I also can be a rambler as you can see here lol.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by ajacques

THANKS for all of the advice!!! I've thought about RI but dismissed it because it was so expensive and I can't get married there. Is it less expensive than Mass...

Rhode Island is a bit more affordable than Mass. $650 can get you a good apartment in a good location, but you have to look hard for it... you're likely going to have to spend JUUUUST a bit more... closer to $7-800, but $650 can get you a place. Still, it's FAR less expensive than the Boston area. I don't know if RI recognizes same-sex marriages (I believe they do, but don't know for sure). Obviously it would be importantant to look into that.

The commuter rail and Amtrak options are nice. It's going to be great when the rail connects to the airport. It's also nice that you can jump on a train and be in Boston in 50 minutes and New York City in about 3 Hours. Local Bus Service (RIPTA) goes all over the state and is very cheap (free on "ozone alert days"). In fact, you can take it to the beach in Newport when you want. It'll get you anywhere you need to go.

Crime can be an issue, but as was mentioed before in ANY of the recommended cities, it's relatively isolated to certain areas. You're well aware that urban living often times involves crime. In Providence, some of the highest crime neighborhoods are located in isolated pockets South of Downtown. Federal Hill is a nice neighborhood to look for a home. It borders downtown to the South (though it's not as dangerous as many of its neighbors further south) and has a deep Italian history. Today, it's home to many excellent Italian restaurants, shops, plazas, lounges, etc. It's a charming, walkable neighborhood. There are some nice apartments and lofts right in the downtown area, but they're often times more expensive. The East Side is a huge chunk of the city with dozens of neighborhoods. This is the safest chunk of the city. Almost any neighborhood on the East Side of Providence is nice. College Hill on the East Side is home to Brown University and RISD. I used to live in this neighborhood and loved it. It has a true neighborhood center along the charming, walkable Thayer Street which is entwined with Brown's campus and has all sorts of specialty shops, restaurants, and bars. I would look for apartments around here. I would also look at Wayland Square in Providence's East Side. It's another great neighborhood with a cool neighborhood center.

If you find you're priced out of Providence, but still are interested in the city, look at Pawtucket. Pawtucket is an urban suburb of Providence with easy access to downtown Providence (they share a border) via bus or car. Pawtucket has many slightly more affordable apartments than Providence.

Lowell and New Bedford both have isolated neighborhoods with crime issues, but in both cities, the areas right around the core of the cities are quite nice. Downtown lofts and apartments in these cities are quite affordable. City Data has good crime statistics for all of these cities. Depending on where you're coming from, crime in Providence, Lowell, and New Bedford really doesn't look all that bad though many who have never been out of New England feel crime is bad here. If you look in the right neighborhoods, I wouldn't worry about it.

Originally Posted by meltinjohn

I just mentioned Portland before reading your post wow.. some alike thoughts brewing in here .

I think you're discussing two different Portlands . Portland OR is a wonderful city, but I think the OP was referring to a recommendation of Portland, ME that I made in my first post.

I currently split my time between an apartment in Portland and Southeastern MA. Your (the OP's) assessment of Portland, Maine is relatively accurate. It's a nice city with next to no crime and a solid youth movement. It's quaint and charming and very liberal (Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed gay/lesbian index has it at over twice the national average). However, the economy is VERY bad for someone with a degree. Like you said, attornies are working at grocery stores and chain restaurants waiting tables. Even in good times, getting a job with a degree is difficult here which is part of the reason I can't wait to leave. To me, a weekend visit every summer will suffice just fine.

Even though cities like Lowell, Providence and New Bedford are struggling a bit right now too, they're still close to OTHER cities so residents can find work elsewhere (even commute to Boston if need be). This isn't the case in Portland which is really the only city in the region.

It's a tough call. Portland is wonderful, but having lived in both Providence and Portland and considering the economy, I would take Providence without blinking. Providence is a much larger (more than 3x the size of Portland) city while Portland feels more like a big town than a real urban area. Mass transit really sucks in Portland too. I would absolutely choose Providence first.

As far as Manchester, NH goes I really don't know anything about it. It's a mystery to me as far as New England cities go. I've heard mixed reviews.

[ajacques]

So i'm looking at lowell and it looks pretty and is kinda near boston wich is fabulous for when I need to go shopping and stuff. But as fars as schools in mass, for some reason I'm being drawn to Western New England. And its in springfield and If I get student houseing I think i'll be ok - if I can find job out there. And from what I gather from ya'll wesern ma is a bit more country than city.

But give me a better run down of springfield and the area around Western New England School of Law.... Coffee shops? Restaurants? Athiests? Lots of indy shops?

Oh and what about plus sized cloths in MA? I thinkin to get cute clothes i'm gonna have to go into boston?