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  1. #1
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    Living in Boston?

    The wife received an all-too-sweet job offer in Boston yesterday and it seems that our time on the EC has been extended (again), at least for the foreseeable future. I know fuck-all about Boston, other than I don't mind getting drinks there once in a while, the commuter rail sucks ass, and I am not much of a city guy at all. We live in Southborough at the moment, but she would like to move into the city or at least very close to it so she's not spending half her day going to and from work. I'm in the middle of a job change and applying to PhD programs, so I'm not sure what my commute will look like, but there's a solid chance I'll be commuting from the city a lot, so getting on the highway easily is a factor. Any suggestions on surrounding towns or neighborhoods in Boston???

  2. #2
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    I live in Medford and the commute into the city on the orange line is pretty painless. Easy to hop onto 93 to head north. Middlesex Fells are close so you can do some crappy mtb or trail running. Lots of good italian food good bars in Sommerville.

  3. #3
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    Awesome, thanks! Her cousin lives in Medford and seems to like it. Currently on the shortlist, along with Allston, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline. But again, I don't know shit about those places, other than having driven through them once or twice...

  4. #4
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    What's your budget? Newton, Watertown, Waltham and Brookline are nice but expensive. Easy access to the pike and "quick" into the city via MBTA or car. A little further out is Natick and Framingham. For a less easy commute for YOU would be North or South Shore. Easy into the city, even if you would get some traffic, but not as easy if you need to head West. Great MBTA service. I live in Lynn now by the beach and I actually have an express bus that has 4 stops before it drops off almost at my door. 4 stops in 8 miles is tits. It's :45-1:00 depending on traffic from leaving my house, walking to the stop, to sitting down at my desk. living on the Red line is probably the best line IMO, followed by the Blue line. Commuter N&S are cool and pretty quick. Commuter west out to your area is LOONNGGG.

    It really depends what you are looking for. If you want to live in the city, I would stay away from Allston/Brighton. Too young crowd, sandwiched between colleges and the Green line sucks. If you got money to spend, backbay is nice. The new innovation district I work in his booming. Easy access to the pike and it isn't too busy yet. Rent is going up up up though. Obviously North End is nice, South Boston is getting nicer, Dot is still a shit hole, JP is the new Allston (aka hipster central) but still decent, Charlestown can be nice, Slummaville, ehh, I still don't dig it. Cambridge can be pretentious but I still enjoy a lot of the areas.

    You got millions of options. I think it is more of what you want to spend, where you would like to live, whether you want to live in a building or a 3 family, etc. When you get closer to an idea I will make better suggestions.

    EDIT - I added Waltham and Watertown to the Brookline and Newton due to the proximity factor, not the price factor. They are both much cheaper than Brookline and Newton.
    Last edited by systemoverblow'd; 01-30-2014 at 01:54 PM.
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  5. #5
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    ...........

  6. #6
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    Good points by systemoverblow'd' But I think Waltham is fucking dump...

    At 30 I started to feel old when we lived in Somerville and went out for a drink or dinner... We are in Arlington now, its really easy to get around with access to the highways rt 2 and 93 and the Redline. If we didn't have two cars, my boat and tons of outdoor shit and a god I'd live in the North End no question. I love it there. Medford is nice as well, but the lack of public transportation sucks there. I'm still not sold on Southie, too many fucking Oxy'd out townies and general thugs for my liking. Drop me a PM if you have any questions.

  7. #7
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    I would commute from Vermont.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by timnormandin View Post
    I would commute from Vermont.
    ^^^Has obviously never commuted from Boston to Vermont during rush hour. Talk about a daily fuckfest. I'd rather hang myself. Hell, by the time you get home you can't enjoy it anyway. May as well just spend your weekends up there and live in the city.
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd View Post
    ^^^Has obviously never commuted from Boston to Vermont during rush hour. Talk about a daily fuckfest. I'd rather hang myself. Hell, by the time you get home you can't enjoy it anyway. May as well just spend your weekends up there and live in the city.
    I had a coworker who did this. He lived in the mad river valley and rented a room in a house in Winthrop and stayed there three days and two nights a week. He said there was a guy in the house from Detriot who would fly in on Monday AM and out on Thursday or Friday. Sucks but you gotta do what ya gotta do when you have family I guess...

  10. #10
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    Framingham and Natick are out. They were in the running when we tried to split the difference between Boston and Worcester last time, and they were still a pain in the ass. I don't mind a longer commute so much for my end of the deal, but depending on programs/job situation for me, I could end up with a hell of a haul. Might end up in Boston too though, so who knows? Oh well, I guess that's the price I'll pay. If I can get her in to her office in under an hour, I think we'll have a winner.

    As far as budget, we're still nailing that down. The news is still pretty fresh and we weren't really planning on this, so our situation is fairly fluid at the moment. It's safe to say that we won't be able to afford anything too fancy though, so budget will definitely be a factor. That being said, we're in our 30's, so staying out of undergrad central wouldn't be a bad idea. Building vs three family doesn't really matter, I don't think, as long as getting the dogs outside isn't too much of a pain in the ass (though finding a decent place that allows dogs is a pain in the ass in itself).

    Shit, this is gonna be a change for real. Sagamoron, I hear ya - two cars, two dogs, tons of gear and enough furniture for a single-family house - this should be fun to try and get into an apartment. Thinking one of the cars will have to go, which would ease the budget some. Thanks for the suggestions, guys! I'll have to check out the North and South shores, never really considered them. Sounds like I've got a lot of details to get ironed out before I can narrow the search down too much...

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by timnormandin View Post
    I would commute from Vermont.
    I'd definitely rather live there too, but I'm not winning that battle....

  12. #12
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    If I worked in Boston I would live on the North Shore, most likely Hamilton. Ipswich is pretty cool as well IME. Fuck the bullshit of living in a city.

    Commuter rail stop in town, the whole place is wide open and feels pretty rural. 45 minute commute into the city for like 8 bucks each way, cheaper than gas. Anywhere along any of those commuter rail routes would be good, but the stuff right on the water is a bit of back road driving to get to the train that adds more time than you would think.

    Plus you can hang out and joke about the poors at the Myopia Hunt Club.
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  13. #13
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    Is she gonna be right downtown or where? and where is your job now?

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by AdironRider View Post
    If I worked in Boston I would live on the North Shore, most likely Hamilton. Ipswich is pretty cool as well IME. Fuck the bullshit of living in a city.

    Commuter rail stop in town, the whole place is wide open and feels pretty rural. 45 minute commute into the city for like 8 bucks each way, cheaper than gas. Anywhere along any of those commuter rail routes would be good, but the stuff right on the water is a bit of back road driving to get to the train that adds more time than you would think.

    Plus you can hang out and joke about the poors at the Myopia Hunt Club.
    That's not a fun/frequent train line (at least for some of the stops) and being that far up 128 makes going anywhere in massachusetts thats not northeast of peabody a pain in the ass.

    Also, you have to buy your daughter a horse if you dont want her to get laughed out of school.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by iceman View Post
    Is she gonna be right downtown or where? and where is your job now?
    Yeah, she's down in the financial district. I'm working and finishing up grad school in Worcester right now, but applying to programs in Boston, Providence and fuckin' Worcester, so a commute is a strong possibility for me....

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by RedWolf View Post
    Yeah, she's down in the financial district. I'm working and finishing up grad school in Worcester right now, but applying to programs in Boston, Providence and fuckin' Worcester, so a commute is a strong possibility for me....
    Hmmm...red line/south station commuter trains for financial district + easy access to the pike for worcester/95S for providence=canton/norwood area?

  17. #17
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    Maybe check out East Cambridge or Cambridgeport. Easy access to downtown and to the Pike. Well down the pretentiousness scale from the Harvard Square/Brattle Street parts of Cambridge.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimmyCarter View Post
    That's not a fun/frequent train line (at least for some of the stops) and being that far up 128 makes going anywhere in massachusetts thats not northeast of peabody a pain in the ass.

    Also, you have to buy your daughter a horse if you dont want her to get laughed out of school.
    Is there really a need to go anywhere else in MA?

    But now it appears the OP might end up needing to commute to Worcester, so yeah, North Shore is out of the question.

    But that train ride isn't that bad. This is Boston afterall, lesser of evils kinda deal when it comes to a commute.
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  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd View Post
    ^^^Has obviously never commuted from Boston to Vermont during rush hour. Talk about a daily fuckfest. I'd rather hang myself. Hell, by the time you get home you can't enjoy it anyway. May as well just spend your weekends up there and live in the city.
    I was kidding.Jesus.

  20. #20
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    Watertown sounds like your best bet. I lived there for a year when I first moved up from MD, and didn't know a damn thing about Boston. Not far from the red line (Harvard Square), easy to get to the pike (my office is in Westboro, so I know the commute), and it's a pretty cool neighborhood. Close to the city so you still get the convenience factor, but also far enough that it feels suburban. And the food is excellent.
    Quote Originally Posted by TomCrac View Post
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  21. #21
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    They pretty much gotta be on the Pike and the T, Newton Lower Falls is not as ritzy as most of Newton, there's a lot of small older houses both there and across the line in Wellesley, maybe you could find one for rent. I'd look there for starters. 128 and the Pike intersect right there and you're right between Riverside and Woodland on the Green Line. Advres is right about the Green Line but that's the best piece of it, it's basically the main line straight into town. The Auburndale Commuter Rail station is right up the street too. At Auburndale you can catch a train downtown and the other way it goes to Worcester.

    edit: This place looks small but halfway decent for $1650. http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent...14_rect/14_zm/

    Doesn't say exactly where it is but the Falls is pretty small.

    editedit: This one is two grand but it's a single-family with two bedrooms and a yard. Concord St. is pretty nice, kinda busy, but the Leo J. is right there if you play golf, it's a public course, and Lower Falls Park is pretty big and great for dog-walking. Liquor Store right there on Washington St. too! Also a decent pizza place right there. http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent...65_rect/18_zm/
    Last edited by iceman; 01-30-2014 at 06:50 PM.

  22. #22
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    I may move back to Boston in a year. Reading this thread makes me remember how much I don't love it. Fuck. Why can't I live Portland or Burlington? Or some other place that is civilized, yet not a permanent snarl of traffic laden with millions of people I went to high school with who are slowly turning into their tedious, over stuffed parents? Fuck. Just be thankful you're not in New York. Fuck. Maybe I should move to New Mexico and never make decent money again. They won't have any snow or water out there in 20 years anyway. Fuck.

    Worcester, huh? At least there's Baba Sushi. Good Luck. I have no advice. Fuck. Better pour another drink.

  23. #23
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    Where ever you decide to live, buy a Yankee hat and wear it proudly on public transit back and forth to work. Boston residents will love you for that.

  24. #24
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    I still like the location my fiance used to live - Newton near the Eliot stop. D line is an easy shot into the city (~30 minutes to Arlington, where I got off) and you're right at 128, the pike and route 9 for getting around, plus some fun parks nearby. Somerville is nice, but overpriced now (IMO), only other place you'll get value is Malden, as others said.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Benny Profane View Post
    Where ever you decide to live, buy a Yankee hat and wear it proudly on public transit back and forth to work. Boston residents will love you for that.
    We just think you're a misguided mid country college student when we see you. I would say 90% (no citation) of douchebags wearing NY hats in Boston are in fact, not from NY
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