Back Bay to Longwood Medical Area commute (Boston, Brookline: best city, condos)

[research11]

I'll be moving to Boston soon and am wondering about the commute that I'm considering.

I'm looking at condos in the Back Bay and will be working in the Longwood Medical Area. How recommended of a commute is this? I've been looking at the public transportation options and it seems that there are a good number of bus routes/options. Could I maybe even bike when the weather is alright?

[ogre]

Not a bad commute at all. Heck, from the western end of Back Bay I'd even walk to Longwood medical, though it's also true that I don't mind a bit of a walk.

I don't know most bus routes very well, but you could get there on the subway/light rail fine. Here's a map of the subway system: http://mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/. Notice that the green line's E branch has a stop named "Longwood Medical." Your only task would be to walk to the nearest station in Back Bay. From there the train would deliver you practically to your door at work.

Biking would be fine as far as the distance goes, but Boston is not the best city for biking when it comes to negotiating traffic. There are lots of narrow, busy streets, without a lot of room for a bike. It might be just a matter of getting to know the area, and picking your route, but I'll say that I have some reservations about biking around Boston, though I would not say absolutely that it's to be avoided. In terms of a commute between Back Bay and Longwood medical in general, the areas aren't far apart. A commute by public transit should work fine.

[holden125]

Weather permitting, it is walkable. The E branch of the Green Line stops at Copley Square and the Huntington Av. side of the Prudential Center. A few stops serve the LMA. The D branch also stops at Copley and at Hynes, at Newbury St and Mass Av) and Kenmore, and stops at Longwood, which is technically in Brookline but a very quick walk to the western part of the LMA.

The 39 bus runs largely the same route as the E line trolley, along Huntington Av from the Pru vicinity (it also goes along Boylston St near there) via Copley/Back Bay Station.

Many people in the Boston area would love to have such an easy commute!

[xS☺B☺s]

Commute is a misnomer for that! They are in the same zip code. I walked to Longwood every day for 4 years from Fenway. That's an absolutely delightful walk! Safe, scenic, sweet. I wish I could live like that now. You can almost do the whole walk entirely through the Emerald Necklace if you like.

Besides the options above, Longwood has free buses cruising around town.

Yes, Back Bay is a non-commute to Longwood. Keeping a car would be a wasteful luxury.

[RC1981]

You can walk it a lot faster than you can T-it. In the summer it would be a beautiful ride in the morning and the afternoon if you want to go on your bike. Hell even in the winter it's walkable, but I'd recommend a cab on the sub zero days, which won't be that expensive.

Then again if you've got the money for a back bay condo you're probably not concerned about $20 a week in cab fare lol

[ogre]

Walking it faster than you can get there on the T, as RC1981 suggests, might depend on which end of Back Bay you're talking about. Still, you should be getting the idea from the posts on this thread, that commuting should pretty much be seen as a non-issue if you're living anywhere in Back Bay and working in Longwood Medical.