Green line/Brookline question (Boston, Cambridge: apartment complex, condo, home)

[fsp]

Hello, I am moving to Boston with my husband and we will be up in a few weeks to search for apartments. We will both be working downtown, and as we would like a two bedroom and our budget it around $2k/month, we plan on focusing our search in Brookline (and Back Bay, South End and the Fenway but don't expect much there).

1. I understand the green line trains are like trolleys rather than subways. Are they slower and are there delays? I have found places that look good near the Coolidge Corner stop.

2. What areas in Brookline are most urban, with restaurants and stores within walking distance?

Thanks

[holden125]

Brookline is a great town.

The Green lines are trolleys (though they run underground like subways from Kenmore to downtown Boston) and can be slower. They make more stops and stop for red lights. They also can get crowded. Still, the ride from Coolidge Corner is not so bad. One thing to note with the Green line is the outbound trolleys will be PACKED until Kenmore from maybe 5:30 to 7 PM on any night the Red Sox are playing at home. That alone got me to move out of Brookline.

Coolidge Corner is an urban area of Brookline, perhaps the most prominent crossroads of the town. Brookline Village is another, as is Washington Square (where Washington St and Beacon St cross). Urban Brookline is primarily from Comm Av to Rt 9 east of Harvard St (or immediately west), as well as anything along the Beacon St corridor, no matter where.

Note that if you have a car, or want to get one at some point, Brookline does not allow overnight parking on the street. Apts with parking cost more, and the only alternative is to get a private spot somewhere. They run $150-250 a month and are not always readily available right near where you live.

You might want to look in Cambridge as well, since the Red line can be quicker and more reliable than the Green.

[clevedark]

The Green Line is really really really slow. But that doesn't stop tons of people from living here in Beautiful Brookline.

Coolidge Corner has a lot of business, but a large part of North Brookline has walkable stores and shopping. I'd say the whole swath stretching from Coolidge Corner to Cleveland Circle. There's also Brookline Village, which is very busy and walkable, too. That's a teeny bit south, and is walkable to the Green line.

[goyguy]

For potential apartments, focus any Fenway area search to the sector known as Audubon Circle. It's centered around the Beacon St/Park Drive intersection. While much of the neighborhood is populated by BU students - many buildings are actually owned by the school - the corner bordered on the east by Park Dr and on the north by Beacon is a quiet exception to that rule. Keswick and Medfield St's are especially nice. Rents would probably be inexpensive relative to those in Brookline, and you'd have your choice of either the "C" or "D" Green Lines for commuting. My favorite Chinese restaurant (Chef Chang's House) is on Beacon St just across the Brookline border, and my favorite used-book store (Boston Book Annex) is on the Boston side. Grocery and convenience stores, an Economy Hardware, and additional eating places (Dunkin' Donuts, Sol Azteca, Audubon Circle bistro to name three) make this area a place you don't have to leave.
The C line is quicker than what you'd expect from a streetcar, as it has its own dedicated right-of-way down the middle of Beacon so doesn't have to share space with other vehicles except at intersections. The D line was once a commuter-rail route and doesn't operate along a street at all. (Its first stop out of Kenmore Square - Fenway - is at Park Drive.) During rush hours, trolleys are paired and run "all the time." Once you're past Coolidge Corner headed outbound you're usually able to get a seat no matter the time of day.
Have you thought of South Boston or Dorchester as places to settle in? They're both close in to town along the Red Line and have become very popular communities, with "Southie" in particular boasting all sorts of new and renovated housing. Though Dorchester has a not-entirely-unearned reputation for being a sketchy part of the city, it's a vast territory comprising seventeen separate and distinct neighborhoods. Savin Hill would be the one to target, particularly the portion called "OTB" (over the bridge - east of I-93) and the section surrounding Mass. Ave and Columbia Rd which is still known as St Margaret's Parish.
Also deserving of a look is East Boston, just across the harbor from downtown and minutes away via the Blue Line. Though much of the area is in decline, some sections are (re)gaining desirability and the waterfront neighborhood known as Jeffries Point is in the midst of full-blown gentrification.
Not that Brookline - and Audubon Circle - aren't excellent places to hang your hat, just wanted to put more options out there.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Though Dorchester has a not-entirely-unearned reputation for being a sketchy part of the city, it's a vast territory comprising seventeen separate and distinct neighborhoods. Savin Hill would be the one to target, particularly the portion called "OTB" (over the bridge - east of I-93) and the section surrounding Mass. Ave and Columbia Rd which is still known as St Margaret's Parish.

Really, 17? Name them fast. This is like the scene in Good Will Hunting where he rattles off the names of the twelve fictitious brothers. I can't keep count since they overlap and some are subsections of other subsections of the subsection of Boston known as Dorchester.

I was going to say you meant Dot Av and Columbia Rd, but it's only like 2 blocks away from Mass Av.

To fsp: Someone on here was advertising a nice 2BR place in Savin Hill (Romsey St near Sydney) for $1700 but the moderators cut it since you can't advertise on the forum. If you are interested, there will be some nice units within your range there.

[litlux]

Up towards Cleveland Circle there are some smaller hidden Boston streets right next to Brookline with lots of apartments. Strathmore Road comes to mind.

I also second the St. Mary's - Audabon Circle area where the green line comes up for air on Beacon Street.

Also near Coolidge Corner is Dwight Street with many apartments, just off the high traffic area.

They were three neighborhoods I spent many happy years in.

[goyguy]

Ashmont (east of Dot Ave)
Ashmont Hill (west of Dot Ave)
Savin Hill
Mt Bowdoin
Franklin Field
Fields Corner
Meetinghouse Hill
Four Corners
Cedar Grove
Lower Mills
Neponset
Pope's Hill
Uphams Corner
Jones Hill
Melville-Park
Grove Hall
Clam Point
There is a lot of "overlap" between Dorchester's separate neighborhoods and it keeps me confused too! Many old-timers still go by parish name as well. St Margaret's Parish is along Columbia Rd from Mass. Ave east to beyond Dot Ave, and comprises northern Savin Hill and eastern Uphams Corner. Edward Everett Square is sometimes used as a point of reference also, that being the Columbia Rd/Mass. Ave intersection. Whew!!!
Then you have the area surrounding UMass-Boston, much of which is "reclaimed" land, that includes what's now called the Harbor Point apartment complex but which was once the Columbia Point public-housing development. It's seen as a portion of Dorchester unto itself.
The Romsey/Sydney St area is sometimes termed the "flats" portion of Savin Hill, as there's no topography to speak of until you cross Dot Ave or the expressway. It got pretty rundown by the '70s and is still kinda raggedy in spots. But for every three-decka that's falling apart there's another which has been meticulously restored, sometimes also as a condo conversion. Here is where the "diversity" of Savin Hill is most apparent. From all Irish (with local thug kids enforcing street justice on straying Blacks) it's transitioned into a mosaic of Asian/White/Black with a growing yuppie/academic contingent.
Re Cleveland Circle, there's an ample supply of apartments on those winding British-named streets between Beacon and Comm Ave, but an ample supply of collegians occupies them between August and June. The party never ends, nuff said.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by goyguy

For potential apartments, focus any Fenway area search to the sector known as Audubon Circle. It's centered around the Beacon St/Park Drive intersection. While much of the neighborhood is populated by BU students - many buildings are actually owned by the school - the corner bordered on the east by Park Dr and on the north by Beacon is a quiet exception to that rule. Keswick and Medfield St's are especially nice. Rents would probably be inexpensive relative to those in Brookline, and you'd have your choice of either the "C" or "D" Green Lines for commuting. My favorite Chinese restaurant (Chef Chang's House) is on Beacon St just across the Brookline border, and my favorite used-book store (Boston Book Annex) is on the Boston side. Grocery and convenience stores, an Economy Hardware, and additional eating places (Dunkin' Donuts, Sol Azteca, Audubon Circle bistro to name three) make this area a place you don't have to leave.
The C line is quicker than what you'd expect from a streetcar, as it has its own dedicated right-of-way down the middle of Beacon so doesn't have to share space with other vehicles except at intersections. The D line was once a commuter-rail route and doesn't operate along a street at all. (Its first stop out of Kenmore Square - Fenway - is at Park Drive.) During rush hours, trolleys are paired and run "all the time." Once you're past Coolidge Corner headed outbound you're usually able to get a seat no matter the time of day.
Have you thought of South Boston or Dorchester as places to settle in? They're both close in to town along the Red Line and have become very popular communities, with "Southie" in particular boasting all sorts of new and renovated housing. Though Dorchester has a not-entirely-unearned reputation for being a sketchy part of the city, it's a vast territory comprising seventeen separate and distinct neighborhoods. Savin Hill would be the one to target, particularly the portion called "OTB" (over the bridge - east of I-93) and the section surrounding Mass. Ave and Columbia Rd which is still known as St Margaret's Parish.
Also deserving of a look is East Boston, just across the harbor from downtown and minutes away via the Blue Line. Though much of the area is in decline, some sections are (re)gaining desirability and the waterfront neighborhood known as Jeffries Point is in the midst of full-blown gentrification.
Not that Brookline - and Audubon Circle - aren't excellent places to hang your hat, just wanted to put more options out there.

Regarding East Boston, I had tv on and the builder person was doing over an
old home somebody had just bought. Yes, lots of work, but the view was Special! Planes, I heard them in the city, just tuned them off, guess it
was homework, and the rock and roll full blast. St Margaret's Parish was nice.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Ashmont (east of Dot Ave)
Ashmont Hill (west of Dot Ave)
Savin Hill
Mt Bowdoin
Franklin Field
Fields Corner
Meetinghouse Hill
Four Corners
Cedar Grove
Lower Mills
Neponset
Pope's Hill
Uphams Corner
Jones Hill
Melville-Park
Grove Hall
Clam Point

Nice

Originally Posted by goyguy

There is a lot of "overlap" between Dorchester's separate neighborhoods and it keeps me confused too! Many old-timers still go by parish name as well. St Margaret's Parish is along Columbia Rd from Mass. Ave east to beyond Dot Ave...The Romsey/Sydney St area is sometimes termed the "flats" portion of Savin Hill, as there's no topography to speak of until you cross Dot Ave or the expressway. It got pretty rundown by the '70s and is still kinda raggedy in spots. But for every three-decka that's falling apart there's another which has been meticulously restored, sometimes also as a condo conversion. Here is where the "diversity" of Savin Hill is most apparent. From all Irish (with local thug kids enforcing street justice on straying Blacks) it's transitioned into a mosaic of Asian/White/Black with a growing yuppie/academic contingent.

My grandmother grew up in the Savin Hill flats (Auckland St) in the 20's and I've spent some time there. Though she left when she got married, she was still upset when St. William's burned down (I think the parishes are now merged and the ugly "new" St. William's is not a church anymore) and then later pleased when Mystic River referred to Sydney St in the Flats, though he also leaned on Charlestown, etc. for the book. A friend's girlfriend lived on the same block of Auckland St for a while (which was a clear clue of the changes in the neighborhood-she's a blonde midwestern grad student) and we went out one night to the Bashee, which was a good time.

If I'm not mistaken, one of the Irish "thug kids enforcing street justice on straying Blacks" was Marky Mark.

Originally Posted by goyguy

Re Cleveland Circle, there's an ample supply of apartments on those winding British-named streets between Beacon and Comm Ave, but an ample supply of collegians occupies them between August and June. The party never ends, nuff said.

Was going to point this out too.