Boston & Cambridge, MA

[db2290]

Hi all! I'm knee-deep in realtors and potential apartments right now, but I'm having a problem. I'm starting an MS at BU in the fall and our orientation is on Sept 1st... but 99.9% of the listings are "available September 1st". The small number that aren't are available in July, and the realtors that I've spoken to have made it pretty clear that I'm going to be lucky to find anything in August. Unfortunately, since I'm moving from Seattle it's not an option for me to start orientation without having an apartment, and I also can't afford to pay for 1 1/2 months that I won't be living in Boston, along with my current rent in Seattle.

How have other people gotten around this? I'll admit, I'm feeling a little scared about how things are going to turn out right now.

I was in the same situation! My program starts on August 22nd and couldn't find anything for August 1st. I just bit the bullet and signed for September and hoping to find a sublet for 2 weeks or so in August. This is more of an issue for me as a doctoral student, as I will potentially be tied in to 6 years of August to August renting this way.

[PsychGirl1]

Totally agreed:)

Ugh, personally I hate the Z Center (MIT)- the staff is horrendous and it's overpriced if you're not a student.

That being said, it does have extended hours (more so than the other gyms in the area) and all gyms in Boston are overpriced. And they do have tons of equipment. So the Z center is a pretty good choice given your requirements.

I workout at VIM, which is a few blocks from MIT (by the Shaw's), which has much shorter hours but is cheaper. It's a bit small, though. I've heard good things about Cambridge Athletic Club in Kendall (but only been there once) and FitCorp (never been there). There's also a YMCA that wasn't bad and cheap near the post office in Central. To be honest, great gyms (that are affordable) is something that Boston lacks.

[prolixity]

Hi all! I'm knee-deep in realtors and potential apartments right now, but I'm having a problem. I'm starting an MS at BU in the fall and our orientation is on Sept 1st... but 99.9% of the listings are "available September 1st". The small number that aren't are available in July, and the realtors that I've spoken to have made it pretty clear that I'm going to be lucky to find anything in August. Unfortunately, since I'm moving from Seattle it's not an option for me to start orientation without having an apartment, and I also can't afford to pay for 1 1/2 months that I won't be living in Boston, along with my current rent in Seattle.

How have other people gotten around this? I'll admit, I'm feeling a little scared about how things are going to turn out right now.

Graduate student dorms.

[alaska girl]

I've visited Boston, MA a bunch of times, and it's a nice city. But is it actually a nice place to live? I'm not a big city girl, but Boston University seems pretty good, and relatively cheap (compared to USC, everything is, lol). I'm not too excited about the BU MSW, but it's pretty close to home and I could make due if the city was cool enough (cool as in diverse/relatively safe/outdoor activities, etc). Any suggestions about living there???

Thanks!

[sacklunch]

I've visited Boston, MA a bunch of times, and it's a nice city. But is it actually a nice place to live? I'm not a big city girl, but Boston University seems pretty good, and relatively cheap (compared to USC, everything is, lol). I'm not too excited about the BU MSW, but it's pretty close to home and I could make due if the city was cool enough (cool as in diverse/relatively safe/outdoor activities, etc). Any suggestions about living there???

Thanks!

The area around BU is pretty sweet. I live closer to BC, which admittedly is much cleaner/safer. The "good" thing about the BU area is it's fairly diverse. I'm not sure what kind of information you are wanting besides a general feeling about the area? There are TONS of outdoor activities. I have lived in several large cities, and Boston is by far the most outdoor friendly place. People are insane. They will run/ride their bike in the middle of January in the snow.

[Theophilos]

Does anybody know anything about the South Hamilton area? I'll be moving there to attend Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and I'm curious if there are any options for housing off campus. It seems like a pretty rural area... Thanks!

[BassAZ]

For those looking for housing around August and are going to BU, look on craigslist, sift through the apartments by owner. That'll give you a good starting point - try searching specifically for August apartments. The problem is that the realtors that you've been working with cater to college students who go June/July-Sept. for summer programs and September for the rest. You do NOT want to get in to the September rotation of moving because the entire city moves in and out on Sept. 1st. Cars double and triple-parked, crazy amounts of trash, horrendous traffic. Another key thing will be to look along train routes - try further down Beacon Street along the C line for somewhat quieter, more professional areas or the B line for cheaper housing or more apartment buildings. [On the C-line] usually going out as far as BC will be a 45min commute, Cleveland Circle ~30 mins, Coolidge Corner ~20 mins all going in to Kenmore.

On other KEY note: at least once a year, someone tries to take a moving truck on to Storrow drive - do not be this person. Storrow has a max height well under most moving vans and, as such, will cause the moving van's top to shear off, causing your carefully packed van to explode all over the road. Just sayin'.

[Lyra Belacqua]

Anyone have an opinion about cell phone carriers? I have Verizon right now because it's the only one that really works in my area. I assume that this is not the case in Cambridge, since unlike my current location it's not in the middle of nowhere. Without having any experience of any other companies, I don't think Verizon is very good; I just don't know if it's worth getting a new cell phone/new number. (Might be a good opportunity to get a phone that's "smarter" than my current one, at least…)

[PsychGirl1]

Anyone have an opinion about cell phone carriers? I have Verizon right now because it's the only one that really works in my area. I assume that this is not the case in Cambridge, since unlike my current location it's not in the middle of nowhere. Without having any experience of any other companies, I don't think Verizon is very good; I just don't know if it's worth getting a new cell phone/new number. (Might be a good opportunity to get a phone that's "smarter" than my current one, at least…)

You can find maps on each provider's website of coverage. I had Cingular before it turned into Verizon, and now I have AT&T- never had major issues with either.

[dogfishing]

For those looking for housing around August and are going to BU, look on craigslist, sift through the apartments by owner. That'll give you a good starting point - try searching specifically for August apartments. The problem is that the realtors that you've been working with cater to college students who go June/July-Sept. for summer programs and September for the rest. You do NOT want to get in to the September rotation of moving because the entire city moves in and out on Sept. 1st. Cars double and triple-parked, crazy amounts of trash, horrendous traffic. Another key thing will be to look along train routes - try further down Beacon Street along the C line for somewhat quieter, more professional areas or the B line for cheaper housing or more apartment buildings. [On the C-line] usually going out as far as BC will be a 45min commute, Cleveland Circle ~30 mins, Coolidge Corner ~20 mins all going in to Kenmore.

On other KEY note: at least once a year, someone tries to take a moving truck on to Storrow drive - do not be this person. Storrow has a max height well under most moving vans and, as such, will cause the moving van's top to shear off, causing your carefully packed van to explode all over the road. Just sayin'.

Holy mother of god, thanks man. I'll keep all this in mind. Good to know that my fears about moving in September are justified -- I'll keep looking!

[BlueRose]

Second the warning about September 1. It gets crazy. If you're moving in from out of town, though, you might consider signing a lease for September 1 and moving in a few days later (parking your stuff with a relative / friend / storage unit).

Also, for the BU students, you might also consider going across the river in Cambridgeport. Two out of three of my room-mates are BU grad students; we don't have drunken undergrads, it's not too expensive, and it's a 15 minute walk to BU (also there's the 47 bus for when the weather is bad).

(I'm leaving August 1 - nice room, 9.5'x12', $525 per month. Just sayin'.)

Edit: cell phones. I had AT&T for years, then switched to Verizon because I couldn't get signal at work (in Charlestown). In Cambridge, however, both worked fine for me.

Edited May 24, 2011 by BlueRose

[michpc]

Second the warning about September 1. It gets crazy. If you're moving in from out of town, though, you might consider signing a lease for September 1 and moving in a few days later (parking your stuff with a relative / friend / storage unit).

Also, for the BU students, you might also consider going across the river in Cambridgeport. Two out of three of my room-mates are BU grad students; we don't have drunken undergrads, it's not too expensive, and it's a 15 minute walk to BU (also there's the 47 bus for when the weather is bad).

(I'm leaving August 1 - nice room, 9.5'x12', $525 per month. Just sayin'.)

Edit: cell phones. I had AT&T for years, then switched to Verizon because I couldn't get signal at work (in Charlestown). In Cambridge, however, both worked fine for me.

Also a note: September 1 is only really bad in Boston proper, I think. I've moved twice on the 1st in Somerville and Cambridge, and really haven't found it to be very bad at all. However, if you go across the river and check out areas like Fenway, you'll find hordes and hordes of Penske trucks and UHauls EVERYWHERE.

[starmaker]

Anyone have an opinion about cell phone carriers? I have Verizon right now because it's the only one that really works in my area. I assume that this is not the case in Cambridge, since unlike my current location it's not in the middle of nowhere. Without having any experience of any other companies, I don't think Verizon is very good; I just don't know if it's worth getting a new cell phone/new number. (Might be a good opportunity to get a phone that's "smarter" than my current one, at least…)

Verizon is usually very good, AT&T sucks beyond belief, not sure about anything else.

[Armadilla]

Late summer? It's expensive here all the time. I'm sharing a place with 2 others in Back Bay and it's 600 a mo. Last year I had a place for 450, but this was in Somerville. Find roommates now.

Other than that, boston is great. not too big. I've been here for my undergrad and have liked it a alot. There's always plenty to do, especially in the way of academics. Since you can walk 12 steps and be on another campus, you'll never have trouble finding the resources you need. Lots of great restaurants, etc, everything closes at 11or 12 though.

re: transportation - I don't have much to compare it to, but I think the T/busses are pretty nice. I use a bike these days.

good luck!

that's what I could never understand about Cambridge-how come everything closes so early?I remember desperately looking for a coffee shop around 11 p.m.(Harvard Square area) and I couldn't find anything. Do people study at coffee shops at all?Do they only go to the library?How do they survive without a coffee boost?

[PsychGirl1]

that's what I could never understand about Cambridge-how come everything closes so early?I remember desperately looking for a coffee shop around 11 p.m.(Harvard Square area) and I couldn't find anything. Do people study at coffee shops at all?Do they only go to the library?How do they survive without a coffee boost?

Stuff on campus is open later- 24 hours reading rooms, 24 hour libraries, 24 hour convenience stores in the student center, etc. But no, in general, coffee shops do not stay open til midnight. That concept seems weird to me (them being open at midnight), but maybe that's just cause I've lived here so long!

[mmac06]

(I searched for this question in this thread but couldn't find an answer)

I'll be starting at Harvard Kennedy School in the fall and am looking for very affordable housing. I'm currently thinking of rooming with some friends of mine who will be attending BC. We're looking in the Brighton area, which is between the two campuses. I will be bringing a bike and plan on using public transportation.

Most of the apartments we're looking at are connected to HKS by either the #86 bus or the #66 bus. Using googlemaps, it calculates my bus commuting time to be anywhere from 18min-25min depending on the location.

I was wondering if these estimates are realistic when it comes to traffic and bus frequency. Does anyone have experience with the #86 and/or #66 routes? Is traffic notoriously bad along these routes? Are they notoriously late? .... and, most importantly, can bus routes even be notorious??

[BassAZ]

MBTA.com has a trip planner that can help you plan accordingly as well as having the specific schedules you'd be looking at. I don't have any experience riding either of them consistently. The other thing that you can look at is taking the 503 or 501 directly downtown and hopping on the red line from there.

[michpc]

If you do take the buses and have an Android phone, get Boston Bus Map(s?). Awesome app.

[dogfishing]

Can anyone recommend a good cable internet deal for cheap students? Is there one package that everyone tends to have?

[PsychGirl1]

Can anyone recommend a good cable internet deal for cheap students? Is there one package that everyone tends to have?

I don't know of any package. Most areas have a monopoly (i.e. my apartment can only get Comcast, nothing else). If you live on campus, it's a different story. Off campus, you're stuck with whichever companies service your building.

[starmaker]

If you do take the buses and have an Android phone, get Boston Bus Map(s?). Awesome app.

Boston Bus Maps is nice, but it sometimes takes ages for it to update with certain bus lines, as I noticed at my previous job (when there was one and only one bus that I could take to get home from work, and it only ran every half hour, so missing it was very annoying). "What do you mean, you last updated your info for this bus 450 seconds ago? I can't even tell if I've already missed it or not with that kind of timing!"

That said, it's free, so it's certainly not like you're losing anything from it.

[PsychGirl1]

Boston Bus Maps is nice, but it sometimes takes ages for it to update with certain bus lines, as I noticed at my previous job (when there was one and only one bus that I could take to get home from work, and it only ran every half hour, so missing it was very annoying). "What do you mean, you last updated your info for this bus 450 seconds ago? I can't even tell if I've already missed it or not with that kind of timing!"

That said, it's free, so it's certainly not like you're losing anything from it.

nextbus is free and I use it all the time, and it's always very accurate. I think MBTA has improved their real-time bus data over the past year.

[rainy_day]

Anyone have an opinion about cell phone carriers? I have Verizon right now because it's the only one that really works in my area. I assume that this is not the case in Cambridge, since unlike my current location it's not in the middle of nowhere. Without having any experience of any other companies, I don't think Verizon is very good; I just don't know if it's worth getting a new cell phone/new number. (Might be a good opportunity to get a phone that's "smarter" than my current one, at least…)

I have lived in Boston for 8 years, and had Verizon the whole time, and it's always worked really great. That being said, if you wanted to switch from Verizon to, say, AT&T (the other big carier around here, I think) they have to let you keep your phone number. Hope this helps.

[indigocat7]

I am looking to start school in Cambridge in September. Does anyone know of affordable apartments in either the Cambridge, Somerville, or surrounding areas (reasonably accessible via the T/rail system?). I am a single female and am looking for a studio type place in a safe neighborhood.

Thanks!

Edited July 29, 2011 by indigocat7

[Herbie]

Despite all the tourists, I fell in love with Harvard Square after I discovered the "garden level" comic book store.