My eldest offspring, the apple of my eye, etc, etc. is moving to Boston in less than two weeks :eek: . She is moving with her b/f, who will be attending the Museum and School of Fine Arts (MSFA) or somesuch while she tries for a scholarship at the New England Conservatory of Music or Berkeley School of Music. Not only do I wish them all the luck in the world, I have even volunteered to drive them there and help them set up in the area.
I am hoping that some of the fine, upstanding (or down-lying, whatever) Boston area dopers can give me/us some insights about the area. They would ideally like to live in the “Back Bay” area (wherever that is). So what are the rents like?, how’s the public transportation?, what are the job prospects like for largely unskilled labor?, and how many layers of clothes does it take to survive a winter? We are leaving here (Texas) on the 21st and driving up, so any advice, well-wishes or dire warnings would be outstandingly appreciated.
ps - I don’t really want her to go, but what’s a father to do?
That’s great! I’m moving to Boston too, next Sunday to be exact.
I wish I could give great advice, but I’ve really been asking for it.
Personally, I went to a local bookstore and invested money in a good map of the city. I figure I’m going to need it. I also bought a city guide published by the Travel Channel.
Good luck to you and your daughter!
Do not bring a car; only crazy people have cars in Boston.
The public transportation here is pretty good, and fairly safe, but crowded. Do not make eye contact with strangers. Not all the crazy people drive.
Three layers, not including bra, is fine, if at least one is silk, wool, down, or quilted. Lots of anti-persperant is necessary in winter because one never knows when one will actually be warm.
Do not set the thermostat above 68 in the winter; the cold out side will be brutal.
Only ugly boots work for slushy nasty city winters (unless one drives; see above).
I lived in Boston (well, Cambidge) a while back. My advice? Practice fainting so you’ll be ready when you find out how much rent is. (heh) There are many, many places to live. Make sure she checks out the whole area before choosing her apartment. Living close to the T is very nice in the winter. I had a car that I didn’t drive much, but it was nice to have. I guess that makes me crazy. Just noticed they’re moving from Texas to Boston… It’s cold. No, really, it gets really cold. She will start talking about “wind chill” and “below zero temperatures.”
Hmmm, not much good advice there. I really don’t know what to say except that it’s a great city. Enjoy it for me (I miss it). Oh, and try Magic Hat beer (brewed in VT). It’s great.
If things are anything like how they were when I lived in NE, you’ll be seeing snow in October thru March. I might invest in some galoshes, a thick coat and a good knit cap if I were you.
Do not drive in or near Boston if you can help it. The world sends its bad drivers up there to compete with the cobblestones for … well, everything. Some of the roads are not much wider than your car, and there are apartment buildings on either side of the road. Remember the city was laid out well before cars were more than crazy-ass science fiction (if even that).
Rent will probably run you $500/mo easy. Depending on where you live, probably more like $1K/mo.
No idea regarding unskilled labor, but workstudy is probably an option unless it’s too late to apply.
Don’t go trying to find Texas-like food. You will probably find some, but your definition of (for example) barbecue and Boston barbecue (this does not necessarily apply to Patriots games and similar venues) will probably be very different. If you don’t like what you find, learn to cook yourself. Boston residents come from a long line of complainers, and you probably do not;)
Some people will make certain assumptions about your lineage and upbringing and such things. They are either joking, stupid, naive or some combination of the 3.
Thanks for the responses! MonkeyMensch, I don’t know what is special about the Back Bay area. I assume they have a reason, but I don’t know it. Why do you ask? Is this a good/bad choice? j66, thanks for the advice. They aren’t taking a car (not TOO crazy) and we’ve heard about cold, but that’s an adjective generally used to describe drinks, not weather. Of course, we do have cold weather in North Texas, why it’s snowed here the last two winters in a row. I even got to make a snowball once! Also, thanks for the warning about the Fens. By the way, what is a ‘Fens’, and is that anywhere near Back Bay? lightingtool, That is a good idea, but I already did my fainting when I found out they were serious about moving to Boston. And really, we do have cold weather here. It probably drops below freezing at least a dozen times a winter.
Back Bay is where the best (and most expensive) housing is. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all the housing there is like that, though, but it seems that way to me.
To be honest, $1000 for a 1BR in Back Bay sounds optimistic to me. $1200-$1400 is maybe closer to what you can expect, if you’re not too picky. Now, I know it sounds like a lot, but these apartments are really nice as well as really expensive.
Of course, it’s possible your daughter knows something I don’t, and you can find a $800 place in that area. I wouldn’t trust myself to find so much as a studio in that area for $1k, though.
I suspected that their desired area would be desired by everyone (and therefore expensive.) Do you have any suggestions for areas within walking distance of transportation that aren’t too expensive or too unsafe?
Yah. That’s so their line of reasoning;) But if you keep thinking that, maybe it’ll come true:D
On a less “heh this is funny” note, if your daughter is baptist or something like that, she might have a touch of trouble finding a church to her liking up in NE. A lot of ceremoniously/socially religious people up there, and the ones who are … more “real”? are Catholic and Protestant (depending on where you live, probably, because the immigrant population will determine that).
Re: clothes, probably invest in some quality long-sleeved stuff and a few good sweaters. I’m sure someone female can recommend something in a padded garment in case your daughter doesn’t want to walk around poking out people’s eyes.
What sort of general funds is she starting out with? If she’s going to be unemployed for even a month and y’all don’t already have clothes and such, that’s $3K right there in clothes, a deposit for rent, rent itself, etc.
Honestly, I can’t tell you anything about crime, and I don’t know how to find out. Hopefully somebody else can fill you in.
Transit, however, I am familiar with. MBTA Bus Route #55 services Back Bay. The bus itself is of no interest, but click on the Route Map link to open up a map of the area, and take a look at this. The entire area south of the river in that map is roughly Back Bay. You can see the Fens to the west. All the numbered routes are busses, but usually what you want is the subway, the “T”. The Green Line cuts through Back Bay, and the subway stations are marked on the map with an encircled letter T. If you can get within a block or two of those, you’ll be all set for tranportation. Three or four blocks isn’t so bad either, except when it’s really cold.
If they are driving up in a few weeks, where will they be staying until they find someplace to live?
One thing you should know right off is that Sept 1st is the craziest time to be looking for an apartment around here—there are so many colleges, each with limited housing for students, and the good things go quickly. If they have the luxury of staying with someone while that particular insanity settles down, they may be able to have a better selection of attractive and affordable places.
I would suggest checking out the T map that Achenar provided. Rents in Boston proper are still painfully high, but there are some outerlying areas which are very accessible by T and are slightly less costly. For example, Jamaica Plain is fairly safe and is a hip place to live, rather close to the MFA (although I’m not exactly sure where the school part is) and Berklee, and more affordable than Back Bay.
Again, if their plans when they first arrive in Boston include spending some time with folks who have been here for a while, it might help, as those people could point them in a good direction. Housing offices at their schools could be a good resource, too.
I just did a search for one bedroom apartments in the Back Bay on www.boston.com which is affiliated with the Boston Globe newspaper and is a good source for real estate prices:
One bedrooms in that neighborhood seem to start around $950/month and go up from there.
Its been awhile since I rented in Boston but Jamaica Plain and Allston/Brighton were two of the cheaper neighborhoods. Back Bay is one of the most expensive, along with Beacon Hill.
lorene is right, trying to find an apartment at the beginning of September, or even a conveniently located hotel room, is just this side of madness. I’m trying to prepare you, not scare you.
Good map, Achenar!
FYI, I found many of the people in Boston to be rude and unfriendly when I came here, and I came from New York!
I just wanted to point out Rhubarb that you can search for rentals by Boston neighborhood on that site, which is a big help because rents vary quite a bit by neighborhood:
I have to agree with Achernar about rents. Everyone wants to live in Back Bay or on Beacon Hill, and the rents are astronomical. Students routinely quadruple and quintuple up. Two of my professors shared an apartment in Back Bay!
And here’s something else to consider – according to last week’s Boston Globe there are now no laundromats in Back Bay!!!. The sky-high rents just forced that last one to move out.
There are other parts of Boston to live in. You can also live in the surrounding communities, which are connected to Boston via bus lines, commuter rail, and even the Subways for a surprising distance. It’s still not cheap, but it’s cheaper than Back Bay.
I also agree about parking. Don’t count on driving into Boston on a daily basis and parking. They deliberately restrict parking spaces here in the hope that it will alleviate the traffic congestion. Boston public transit is pretty good, and lots cheaper than, say, New York’s. When I lived in Melrose (a suburb to the north of Boston) I lived close enough to ride the commuter rail in to the city. Beware, though == prices are higher and availability lower in towns on the commuter lines.
Boston is, happily, a city you can bicycle into. (I did, until a couple of years ago, when my job moved out of yown). But you probably won’t want to commute in during a Boston winter, if only to avoid sharing narrowed streets with Boston drivers.
Boston drivers are easily the worst I’ve encountered in the USA, by the way. They’ll do anything to get ahead, and will flout laws with impunity. When I first moved here, someone told me to look both ways when crossing one-way streets. I thought he was joking, but I know better now.
I actually attended Berklee College of Music (for a year, anyway), and I can say without doubt that the Back Bay is the best place to live in Boston. Unfortunately, as has been said, it’s expensive as all get-out. But there’s probably a few studios and 1-bedrooms on Commonwealth Ave. that can be had for a little cheaper.
The public transportation, I always thought was fabulous. The only thing that really ticked me off was that the T stopped running far too early. I remember missing the last train back to school at around 12:30 a.m., and thinking how patently ridiculous it was that a city populated with nearly a quarter college students stopped their public transportation that early.
A little advice if your daughter’s bringing a car–be careful where you park it. Four seconds of leaving your vehicle unattended earns you a ticket in Boston, especially the Back Bay. On the upside, the streets are relatively clean as a result.
I spent the winter of '95/'96 in a largely unheated hole in East Boston, and I recommend dressing in layers whenever possible. Restaurants, bookstores, cafes and all indoor places tend to be overheated, so be sure you’ve got a t-shirt down underneath it all.
And good luck to you and your daughter! Boston is my absolute favorite city, a wonderful place to be young. It may seem expensive, but there’s usually a bargain to be found somewhere.
I have to say, in case I sound too negative, that Back Bay is a hoot, and a walk down Newbury Street is always worth it. I lived near enough Back Bay as an undergrad to appreciate it, but I was living in a college dorm, which was affordable.
You know, none of the other students I know take the Commuter Rail. Most of us walk or ride a bike to classes, and a bus or subway would probably work just as well. But I think that living out far enough to justify the Commuter Rail is probably not best for a student. Granted, I don’t know what classes are like at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), so things may be different. But I think she should either be near enough to the MFA to walk, or near a T station.
The MFA is located just south of the Fens, on the Fenway (see here). Click on the 3 to zoom out once. If she wants to walk, I would say 1 km is not a bad daily commute on foot. 2 km or more she might want to bike, if she doesn’t like walking. It looks like place-names to look for in that sphere of influence are Mission Hill and Roxbury Crossing to the South, and Fenway to the North. There are a lot of colleges (gray on map) right there, but I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
Alternately, the MFA is right on the T - you can see it in the lower-left of the map I linked to in a previous post. So anything near the T would be good, especially the Green Line E Branch. Really the T covers so much territory, though, that it’s hard to give good guidelines for this.
One big factor when looking at rents is whether or not heat is included (it often is not). By October 1, if we’re lucky, the heat needs to be on. It’s crisp during the day and can get downright cold at night. We’ve had freezing temperatures on Labor Day before, so you just never know. This past winter, it was cold and snowy throughout. Ususally it’s one or the other. This year it was both. That should be taken into consideration when she and b/f are looking at rents. If heat’s not included, it’s an item they’ll need to ask about in terms of average cost for the particular apartment. It will make a big difference in monthly bills and should be factored in to their budget. Heat is not usually turned off during the day until April and even then, it’s often needed at night, making a relatively long heating season.
I agree with what others have said about Back Bay and apartments in general. This is when scores and scores of people are looking for apartments. All the college kids are coming in and there are multitudes of colleges in the Boston area. Prices are high, availability is low. If they are both planning to be students working part-time, I would say Back Bay is going to be way out of their league. The Watertown/Waltham area isn’t bad. You have to check out the particular neighborhood, but the rents in general are lower and you have bus and T access into the city. They’re on the Cambridge side of the city. I haven’t lived in that area of MA in 15 years, so things may have changed, but I don’t think that drastically. Other folks will have more current info.
