graduate student moving to Boston (Lowell, Cambridge: apartments, how much, transfer)

[kathleen4886]

I am moving to the Boston area this summer to attend graduate school. I am not familiar with Boston at all so I have no idea where to begin looking for apartments. My school is located near North Station on the green and orange lines. I would like to live in a safe neighborhood with reasonably priced apartments. I would like an easy commute to school and I am not opposed to a long commute for the right neighborhood. Also, I am very willing to look outside the city. I would love a town where I could drive to a train or subway station and take public transportation into the city. I will be on a budget soo please keep that in mind! I look forward to your advice... thanks

[RemiJP]

How much were you hoping to spend per month?

[holden125]

You said that finding the right neighborhood is very important to you but you haven't really given any details on what kind of place you'd like to live. (e.g. urban or suburban?, walking distance to shops and restaurants/nightlife?, how safe is safe to you?, etc.?)

If you want an urban area, Jamaica Plain is on the orange line and is not that long of a ride to North Station. Though I would not really recommend the Green Line, the C and E branches of the Green Line go to North Station without needing to transfer. The B and D only go as far as Gov't Center.

The E takes you to Mission Hill, near Northeastern U and Brigham & Women's Hospital. There are a lot of student there and it can be fun but also get noisy. It was more dangerous in the past but is less so now.
The C line goes through Brookline, which is quite nice but can also be expensive, and if you have a car you'd need a private spot (often $200 a month or close to it, and perhaps not that close to your home) because Brookline does not allow overnight parking.

North of North Station on the Orange line are also number of places near T stops. Wellington Station has a large parking facility for $5.50 a day, and Oak Grove has decent parking also, though both fill up. Some of the areas up that way are nice if a bit suburban and quiet, and others are not so great. I'm not a fan of the immediate Wellington area, but there are some nice residential places a short drive from there.

Going to school near North Station also allows you to live in a number of suburban towns with commuter rail stations on the lines North Station serves. Most of these places will be much quieter and more spread out than living in the city of Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, etc., but they are also generally more affordable also. The train itself will generally cost more than the regular subway, though, and it also runs on a set schedule and does not run as frequently.

It would help to get a sense of your budget, what kind of area you want, how long you're willing to spend on the train, etc.

[kathleen4886]

I'm not really sure how much apartments are in Boston but I could probably afford around 1,000 a month. As far as safety, I would like to feel comfortable walking around alone. If I had a late class, I would like to be able to walk from the train to my apartment without a problem. I really am open to any type of area or neighborhood. If I was living in the city, I would not bring my car, and I would like to be able to walk to a grocery store, post office, bank, laundry mat, etc. If I was outside of the city, I most likely would have a car and those things would not matter as much. I am not really looking for nightlife or shopping, that would just be an added bonus. I have no problem with a commute of 45 minutes to an hour. I have lived in a city before and it took me an hour to get anywhere with public transportation so that is something I am accustom too.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by kathleen4886

I'm not really sure how much apartments are in Boston but I could probably afford around 1,000 a month. As far as safety, I would like to feel comfortable walking around alone. If I had a late class, I would like to be able to walk from the train to my apartment without a problem. I really am open to any type of area or neighborhood. If I was living in the city, I would not bring my car, and I would like to be able to walk to a grocery store, post office, bank, laundry mat, etc. If I was outside of the city, I most likely would have a car and those things would not matter as much. I am not really looking for nightlife or shopping, that would just be an added bonus. I have no problem with a commute of 45 minutes to an hour. I have lived in a city before and it took me an hour to get anywhere with public transportation so that is something I am accustom too.

Boston's expensive. If you want to live alone, you'd have a hard time finding a nice place in a safe area of Boston, Cambridge, or Brookline for under $1000. If you're OK with having roommates (or even just one) it's entirely doable, though.

If you want to look in the city I'd focus on Jamaica Plain near the Orange line, but avoid Jackson Square as this area is not the safest. Stony Brook is somewhat better and Green St better still. Forest Hills gets mixed reviews for safety though I visited friends there for many years and didn't have any problems (but I'm a tall guy).

The suburbs to the north may offer some apartments where you can live alone in your price range. Woburn has a couple of train stations, and the Anderson station has a huge parking lot that never really fills for $4 a day. The train from Anderson to North Station is about 25-30 mins. You could live in Woburn itself, Reading, Wilmington, or even Andover and get to Anderson pretty easily.

Beverly is a nice town near the water with three train stations. Parking is not as easy at those stations but there may be an apartment within walking distance. By train Beverly is about 35 mins to North Station. Melrose is closer and has a cute Main St and some nice residential areas.

You might also want to check out downtown Waltham. It's a small older city on the Charles River with a lot of shops and restaurants downtown. Fairly affordable. Maybe not as safe as some of the other suburban areas, but not dangerous at all. There's a train downtown and one by Brandeis U. About 25 mins to N. Station.

This is painting with a broad brush and people might come after me for it, but for a newcomer I'd recommend avoiding the following areas north of Boston: Everett, Revere, Lynn, Lowell and Lawrence, the eastern half of Somerville, parts of Medford, parts of Salem

[kathleen4886]

Thanks so much for all the information!

holden - I notice you're from NYC and Boston.. how do the cities compare? I've lived in Brooklyn (only for a summer) and the Bronx.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by kathleen4886

Thanks so much for all the information!

holden - I notice you're from NYC and Boston.. how do the cities compare? I've lived in Brooklyn (only for a summer) and the Bronx.

This is an interesting question and I've given it a lot of thought shuttling back and forth for years. In some ways the cities are very different and in others they're quite similar, or at least more like each other than they are like the rest of the US.

A friend once said that Boston is a bit like Brooklyn without Manhattan. I'm not sure I like the comparison all that much but there's something to it. The central part of Boston has a lot more "big city" stuff than downtown Brooklyn, which was neglected in favor of Manhattan when the 5-boro NYC was created over 100 years ago, but in general Boston is quieter and has a slower pace than NYC. Things close much earlier and there's less diversity in Boston, both in terms of the population and being able to find a little shop that has just about anything. Boston does not have the same level of 24-hour convenience as NYC, but that can be a good thing too. The Boston suburbs in particular shut down very early and many of them are more than 95% white. Boston does not really want or try to be as cutting edge or hip as NYC in terms of nightlife or fashion. It's expensive but a lot less expensive than NYC.

Boston proper is very small and compact, and in my opinion the Boston area in general is much more manageable than NYC, though NYC's mass transit is more extensive (and runs 24/7). What's nice about Boston is that you don't have to go anywhere near as far if you want to get out of the city and see some green space, or just a residential area with yards bigger than a small picnic table. In NYC you can be on a train, or sitting in traffic, for a long time and still be in Brooklyn or the Bronx. I love Brooklyn and the Bronx also has its nice or interesting parts, but NYC is just so relentlessly urban and it can be hard to escape if you want to. There are a lot of beautiful and quiet areas within pretty easy striking distance of Boston.

My friend says that New York runs hot blooded while Boston runs cool. There may be something to that as well. Both cities are known for busy people who sometimes leaning on the horn in traffic or are brusque with people they encounter on the street. But Boston people, on average, tend to keep to themselves a bit more. You'll probably meet people in school, but the general population will be a little quieter or less boisterous than the people I've encountered in NY. They're often quite warm once you break the ice, but breaking the ice can take a while.

As different as they are, there are a lot of similarities between the cities as well and they are both light-years from places like Tampa or Phoenix, which are more sprawling suburban cities that became built up much more recently. Boston and NYC are both older, dense northeastern cities. People are used people are used to their housing being smaller, older, and more expensive than in some other places, and know that it's going to be challenging getting around and that driving there is not for the faint of heart. Relative to the rest of the USA, life is fast-paced and people are in too much of a rush to make small talk at the grocery store or whatever.

In both cities the people are passionate about their sports teams (honestly this is a bit harder to escape in Boston, but at least the Boston people are rooting for the right teams!), and the population of both areas generally leans liberal but has an interesting combination of upscale and worldly sophisticates and very parochial and local-based salt-of-the-earth neighborhood people. They're both cities of neighborhoods that are all different from each other and can be pretty tightknit.

There is nothing quite like NYC in the world, but honestly there's nothing quite like Boston either. Boston has its own vocabulary for a lot of things and it can take some time to learn your way around and start to get all the references. Maybe like NYC, it's a little bit "love it or hate it." I love it to death and I hope you will too-good luck!