East Boston does have some great parts to them but for your commute it might be easier to be somewhere on the Green Line... the D line goes all the way to Riverside which is not a bad area but you're talking 45-1 hour commute. The green line isn't known for it's speed but it's surely convenient if you're in the city.

Roommate situation might not be too bad especially if you want to save a little money for parking.. Mostly in Brighton, Allston, Brookline, Backbay area you're in the 100-200 range for parking spot. Another spot which is close to John Hancock is South End, which is super nice as long as your on the Boston side of Mass Ave.

Pepper Spray license can be easily obtained, just that you need to apply for a license.

 

I had to take a break from online apartment hunting. I'm definitely going to start looking at Craigslist towards the end of April to see if anyone, hopefully someone somewhat more sane than my previous roommates, is looking for a roommate. I took y'all's advice and focused on places that have direct T access to John Hancock and came up with 2 places in Malden that look like possibilities. There seems to be a trade-off between a safe location and good management. In other words, I can find places that are in bad areas that have great management but nearly everything, in my price range, that is in a safe area has bad management.

As for the pepper spray, I still need to find out if I'll be allowed to bring it into the office with me. It's a light pink keychain for goodness sake so it's hardly threatening looking. If I can't take it into the building with me then that completely defeats the point of having it so I may not bother with the license at all.

On a slightly different topic...do y'all have broker fees for apartment searches when you hire a real estate agent? We didn't have to pay broker fees in Austin so this is something new to me. Approximately how much are these broker fees? And do you have to pay them regardless of whether or not the broker/agent finds the place you lease?

 

In response to the broker fee, it is typical to pay 1/2 to 1 month rent to brokers. I know this stinks but sometime they have the listings you want. I would first try to find a roommate off craigslist because usually subletting should not cost you anything.

John Hancock building won't care you have pepper spray as long as you don't use it in their building.

Malden is not a bad area and they are off The orange Line, which isn't too bad. The areas you might want to check for sublet would be by northeastern/ BU. check out greenhouse apartments on Huntington ave. this is a professionally managed building and really close to John Hancock. I think they are reasonable priced.

Good luck!

 

To add to what Himac posted, sometimes you will find deals where the landlord covers all or a portion of the brokers fee, so keep your eye out for that! If you find an apartment for rent by the owner then there won't be a brokers fee so there are ways to avoid it.

Side note: I'm actually moving to Texas (Houston) for grad school this summer so I was checking out rent prices and I was floored by how inexpensive it is. I'm so glad I'm doing the opposite of your move ... good bye snow, salt and sand, hello amazing tex mex!!

 

So do y'all have any recommendations of places to eat while I'm up there next week? We're staying in Woburn but we're looking at apartments, via craigslist, in Somerville, Brookline, and Watertown.

Christie, which school are you going to for grad school? (I may have already said all of this and if so, please ignore it but I can't remember what I've actually said and what I planned to say while in grad school) Houston or Rice? I'm uber jealous that you'll be have access to tex mex and I'm moving away from it. Somehow I forgot to plan for decent tex mex when I accepted this job.

 

It all depends what you are in the mood for? If you are in Boston there are ridiculous amount of choices. Let me know where you plan on visiting.

 

Hey lacynpiper!
I'm off to the University of Texas Health Sciences Center to study public health! Also looking forward to having good mexican food! All we have here is chipotle :(

If you like seafood, definitely check out Legal Seafood.
Go to the North End for cannoli and gelato.
I'm not super familiar with the areas you are visiting but I think that Hungry Mother in cambridge is close to sommervile (?), also, Christina's ice cream. Also for ice cream, try JP Licks, there are a few locations all over the Boston area.
For the close-to-Brookline end of Boston, there's Tatte bakery (amazing brioche! and can you tell I have a major sweet tooth?) and Tasty Burger.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. As my mom says, we will eat anything that won't eat us first. So we're open to recommendations for anything and everything in the Boston area. Driving a ways to get to some really good food doesn't phase us. In the suburbs of Texas, it takes a minimum of 15 min. to get anywhere so we're accustomed to driving a ways for really good food.

Christie, Congrats!! Welcome to the UT System!!! For the record, never ever refer to Chipotle as real mexican food. Most native Texans will be completely offended by that association. Be sure to try out Pappasito's for really good Mexican food. I'm not as familiar with Houston, but if you'd like recommendations of any sort, PM me and I can ask my friends from Houston for rec's. My grandparents lived there for over 30 years so they also will have their own favorites. Big dates in Texas to remember: March 2nd is Texas Independence Day and May 5th is Cinco de Mayo. Also, if you don't have cloth seats, you might want to invest in seat covers to prevent your legs from burning in the summer. Also, tinted windows, the really good ones, are your best friend in the Texas heat.

 

So, I'm in Boston currently and we are meeting most of the craigslist people today so I'll be in the Brookline, Somerville, and Allston areas all day.

Here's a new question for y'all: have you heard of people taking the commuter rail, who work in Boston, from Providence, RI? I looked online and Providence possibly, assuming the areas are decent, has a lot of cheaper housing options which would enable me to afford the more expensive Charlie Card. Am I completely insane to think about moving to Rhode Island?

 

Welcome to Beantown!

No, you're not insane... at least not completely.

Commuting from Providence wouldn't necessarily be my first choice, but it's definitely not unheard of -- I actually have at least one colleague who does that (or similar), but she only comes in a couple of days each week, working from home the rest of the time.

I trek in daily from Lowell via commuter rail/Green Line -- 2 hours door-to-door, each way, although only 50 minutes of that is to actually get into Boston; the rest of the time is just to get across town on one end or the other! It takes some getting used to, but the time can be put to good use and it sure beats sitting in traffic.

As you say, there *can be* an upside to living further away from downtown Boston, but there are tradeoffs to that upside.

 

I don't know anybody who commutes from Providence but I commute to Boston via commuter rail from Concord, MA. I have a door-to-door 1.5 hour commute and I personally think that the fitchburg/south acton line is really good - it's rarely late or delayed and there's wifi on the trains so you can do work or watch movies. If you're willing to live in a quieter town and have a longer commute, the suburbs or a smaller city like Lowell or Worcester would be good options for you. I personally love it because I can drive more (I never drove when I lived in Boston because parking was too stressful and expensive), and it's a lot safer to park your car in a smaller city (and consequently my car insurance went down 50% when I moved!). My employer also provides a discount for commuter rail passes, you should check with yours to see if they do the same.

 

I LOVE Brookline. Somerville and Allston just couldn't compete so I really hope that one of the places I looked at in Brookline will work out. I'm looking online at some of the places along the commuter rail that are still in Massachusetts but I'm running into a pricing issue. However, I am still going to call a few places tomorrow. Thanks for all of your help and advice!

 

I grew up in Boston. When I say Boston, I mean BOSTON not towns around Boston. I grew up in Roxbury, went to high school in Boston, and went to college in Boston. I know the area like the back of my head. Believe it or not, places like Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, Malden, Quincy are technically NOT Boston. With your budget, you can actually find really good places if you know where to look. Example, a friend of mine from providence found an amazing House/Condo for $1400 a month. Newly renovated, two bedrooms, one full bath, kitchen, dining, living room and water is included. 5 minute walk from a Orange Line T stop. Walking distance to all the mom and pop food shops. Actually... we rent out a property that is a 3 Bedroom, 2 bathroom, living, dining, kitchen, all renovated back in the 90s for $1600 in Newton. That's a steal. But we prefer good tenants than bad tenants with high rent.

If your deal works out in Brookline, stay with Brookline. Great neighborhood, safe, clean and close to the Green Line. (certain parts of it) You'll notice, most of the time, places that are close to the T won't be as nice as places that are further from the T. If not, I'd look into Malden. Malden is not the greatest, but is much better than East Boston, and even most parts of Dorchester. While it is further away, it is actually very fast to get into Boston because of the Orange Line (T). Orange line can be tracked via smart phone and comes consistently and travels rather swiftly compared to the Green Line. Quincy is a bit further out, and traffic is always terrible around that area. Malden is not the best but doesn't get as bad as Quincy. There's always construction in Quincy. Also taking the Red Line is better than Green but not as good as Orange. Taking the Red Line you have to wait for 1 out of 2 trains that can take you into Quincy. Also the Red Line has less stops than Orange in terms of stops that are in the heart of the city. If you live in Somerville, Allston or Cambridge, these places tend to have a lot of college students. Expect a lot of 'celebrations' and a lot of partying. My personal preference is the Jamaica Plain / Roslindale area. You have to be careful where to look. There are parts of JP and Roslindale that gets close to Roxbury which can be a bit sketchy. But JP is a growing area that is getting better and better. It's fairly quiet but still in the city. You can take the Orange Line which will again get you into the city very fast. If you drive, it's right along the emerald belt which can lead you onto VFW and cut into the city pretty quickly if you know short cuts. I actually worked right across the street from where you were, right at Boylston Street. I was able to find a decent parking space for rental behind Berkley for $175 a month compared to $250 to $300 that most garages want. That's the difference between being a Bostonian and moving into the city. Gotta know where to look. There's parts of BackBay owned by a lot of rich people and it's rented out to college students. But often, these students either don't park, or don't have money to rent out the parking space so you can get a good spot for a low price compared to a garage. This area is mostly college students that go to Berkley, Northeastern, Wentworth, Mass Art...etc so they aren't the like the BU, BC kids that drive their BMWs and Mercedes to class. Parts of Brighton are ok, but are often secluded away and requires taking a MBTA bus because the part that's close to the green line is going to be either a bit more expensive or filled with college students.

For tires...Get a set of all seasons and you'll be fine. If you live and commute within the city, you won't go up to the speeds that are required for snow tires. Everybody drives like idiots at the first sight of snow, but then that instinct kicks in where everyone slows down in the city. All seasons are more than enough. When driving in snow, just make sure you drive slow, brake early, don't follow closely and know your limits. Follow the tread path of other cars and don't hit your brakes hard. Always let pedestrians cross first. Take the T if you have to. Stay the hell out of Storrow Drive and Morrisey Blvd. Stay away from hills, go around them. Bring a bag of salt & sand with you, a bottle of windshield wiper fluid, a small ice pick and a small metal shovel. If you get stuck in a spot, pick at the ice, throw down some salt & sand, and your good to go. I survived a whole winter with a RX8 (rear wheel drive) WITH summer tires by having the supplies I just listed there. Let me know if you're in town, I can show you around for a weekend, show you all the hidden gems around Boston.

Places to not even consider:
Watertown
East Boston
Hyde Park
Chinatown
Waltham

These places are either too shady or weirdly far. When I say weirdly far, I mean they aren't far in terms of distance to Boston, but hard to get into the city because they are not near a MBTA Line, which usually requires MBTA buses and then MBTA T and that's a huge waste of time for commute. Especially during the winter time, it's agonizing.

Parking in the city is not cheap. You just have to know where to look.

If you're in a rush...
Brookline area - $150 to $175
Copley Backbay area - $250 to $300
Northend area - $300 to $400
Downtown Boston - $250 to $350
Newton area - $100 to $150
Malden area - $125 to $175

Take your time looking and you can cut about $50 to $75 for parking by finding the perfect spot.


Note: I'll keep editing this post because I keep thinking of more content to add.

 

Thanks, MrCooperS!

I ended up signing a lease on a studio in Waltham. The commute isn't horrible, I can afford it, and the area seemed pretty safe. A year from now, I'm going to re-evaluate and decide if I want to stay in the studio or move to someplace new. We looked all over and decided that I needed to have a place by myself for the first year. I'll be studying for the CPA exam for the next few months when I'm not working so having someplace quiet is essential. It includes parking and most of the utilities so that helps to stabilize my budget for next year. Hopefully, this apartment will work out.

Thanks for all of the awesome advice! Y'all definitely helped me narrow down the places that I should look at. Driving in Boston was certainly an adventure this week but I'm really excited about moving up there, starting work, finishing the CPA exam, and getting to explore New England. I hope that I will see y'all at shindigs and such!

 

I have a friend (who also drives a MINI) that lives right off of Moody Street in Waltham. The commute is not bad there, you can find your way onto Storrow Drive or the Mass Pike fairly easily. It's about a 25 to 45 minute commute to Copley in the mornings depending on traffic. I'm glad you're driving. Public transportation in Waltham is basically MBTA buses. Good luck! My friend just texted me, call 781.631.0468 and ask for Jacob Pouladian. He owns Hemenway Street and has a lot of parking there to rent out for about $175 to $200. Friend says he's a old tough guy, but be friendly and bargain with him and he'll meet you at the $175 to $200 price you're looking for. Hemenway Street is about a 7 to 10 minute walk from your building. Totally worth it.