Boston & Cambridge, MA

[LisKis]

Im considering Lowell for my PHD. I got in with a little over 18K a year for a stipend

I know that's not enough to live off in MA but my partner has employment that will probably net about 45K if he can transfer. 

How feasible is it for us to live with a 7 year old off of 63K combined? And if we wanted to live right over the border in NH, how is that commute? 

[pexygalax]

Looking for housing to rent/roommates in Boston/Cambridge area for 8/1 lease. Let me know if anyone is interested!

 

[PsychHopeful2020]

On 8/15/2018 at 9:28 PM, Warelin said:

A quick search revealed this: https://recreation.gocrimson.com/recreation/membership/graduate

It appears that fees depend on which school you attend. The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences offer you free admission to the Rec. HKS students have a fee ranging from $175 per semester to $525 for the entire year.

First off, here's fingers crossed even harder for GSAS (as though I needed more reason to have my heart set on that program)

Second, I live near the area and lived in the city while doing an internship at Harvard Med - and not to sound like a penny pincher but like there are about 50 Planet Fitnesses in Boston and they're only $10/month. Highly recommend especially if you're like me and mostly use them when it's too cold to be outside.

[struggleknot]

Thinking of going to Cambridge (Harvard) in the Fall for graduate school. PhD program pays me stipend of ~$38k I think. 

Does anyone have any recommendations on living situations? What's the on-campus living situation like: dorms or apartments? Would it be ok/affordable for me to rent a small apartment out in Cambridge (like a one-bedroom/studio)? Any advice appreciated!

[scotty2]

i'm so sorry if it's been asked, but HARVARD: where do grad students "live"?? i hear there's no community, but for every college town/area, there's a "place" with a high density of grads and faculty in it—kerrytown in ann arbor; east rock in new haven; hyde park in chicago, etc. where is this in cambridge, esp. for harvard grad students?? i really appreciate this—it's one of those things that's hard to know unless you know, if that makes sense.

[punctilious]

On 3/7/2020 at 5:35 PM, scotty2 said:

i'm so sorry if it's been asked, but HARVARD: where do grad students "live"?? i hear there's no community, but for every college town/area, there's a "place" with a high density of grads and faculty in it—kerrytown in ann arbor; east rock in new haven; hyde park in chicago, etc. where is this in cambridge, esp. for harvard grad students?? i really appreciate this—it's one of those things that's hard to know unless you know, if that makes sense.

I don't know that it exists here. The folks in my husband's cohort live all over: Harvard Square, North Cambridge, Inman Square, Allston, Somerville, etc. We are right between Inman, Kendall, East Cambridge, and Central--I believe this area is known as The Port. It seems like there are a lot of young people/graduate students in this area, since we are also decently close to MIT. But I don't think there is one place for Harvard graduate students like there may be in other cities.

[venusofwillendork]

Hello! I'm looking for advice on places to live around Boston with decent/consistent parking availability, probably outside of Boston proper.  Do you have any advice to share?  Thanks!

[adjunctlifer]

I think I just threw up a little reading how much people are paying for housing in Boston.

Two things to keep in mind:

All leases run September -September. Rent renewals start in January, so by February or March, almost all the real estate in Boston is already rented for the following September. If you’re looking in summer (even early summer), it’s the leftovers, evictions and otherwise empty apartments that are available - which means that landlords really need to lease that space and want to do so more than they want full rent.

AND

Rent is negotiable. 

Edited to add: heat and hot water included will save you money, but the reason it is included is because you won’t have the ability to control it yourself. 80 degrees inside in January isn’t unusual, and there is a reason the City of Boston has two portals on their website - one to report a landlord underheating your apartment, and another to report a landlord overheating your apartment.

I guess I have some feelings about the Boston rental market  

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by adjunctlifer

[raye237]

On 6/23/2020 at 3:51 PM, venusofwillendork said:

Hello! I'm looking for advice on places to live around Boston with decent/consistent parking availability, probably outside of Boston proper.  Do you have any advice to share?  Thanks!

Check out Allston-Brighton

[♀HealthMatters]

@venusofwillendork Definitely check out Allston/Brighton. Lots of students, though, I suspect many are BU/BC. If you're Harvard medical/sph,  then anywhere along the green line works because it'll take you right to work/school. Doesn't matter that you have a car, you're not going to want to drive into either Boston or Cambridge. Again, it depends on where you will be going most of your days. East Boston/Somerville/Medford/Everett/Chestnut Hill/Newton all have better parking situations and allow for easier access to the city. Let me know where you're going and I'll help you! I've been here for 5 years and drive all over. 

[mfball]

On 6/23/2020 at 3:51 PM, venusofwillendork said:

Hello! I'm looking for advice on places to live around Boston with decent/consistent parking availability, probably outside of Boston proper.  Do you have any advice to share?  Thanks!

@venusofwillendork, you can find some places with reasonable parking, but it's pretty rarely what anyone would describe as consistent most places. A lot of neighborhoods have resident-only street parking, which helps limit crowding a liiiittle bit, but can still be tough depending on where you are in/around the city. There are almost always more cars than there are spaces, especially considering that a lot of the more affordable neighborhoods have multi-family houses filled with roommates, so you might have 3-6 cars per house on a street with barely room for half that many. There are also a somewhat shocking number of apartment buildings with no parking at all.

The resident permit is free if you live in Boston proper, specific to your neighborhood, but it does require some paperwork and I think you might have to re-register your car at your Boston address, though I'm not certain on that. (Also worth noting that a lot of neighborhoods way outside of downtown are still technically within the City of Boston, including Allston-Brighton, which is a big student area.) The further you get from downtown, the more likely you are to find some unrestricted streets, but of course not requiring a resident permit also means it's a free-for-all so it can be just as congested, especially since the further out you get, the more people need cars because there's less public transit access.

If you can swing a little extra money, it's SO worth it to live somewhere with a parking space included in the rent, or even renting a space nearby if it's not available right where you live. Boston winters can be brutal and it sucks trying to squeeze into street parking among 8 foot snow drifts, especially because you'll often spend an hour shoveling out a space in the morning only to find it's taken when you get home at night. 

The best advice is probably not to plan on commuting by car if you can help it at all. That way at least you won't have to move your car as much, so the search for parking won't be a daily thing. I've lived in Boston (in Allston) for three years now, and I keep my car mostly to get out of the city or do things that are extremely inconvenient/impossible by public transit (like Costco runs). I did drive to work in non-COVID times, but it was west of the city rather than into the city, my office had free parking, and I also rent a parking spot at my apartment to avoid the miserable end-of-the-day circling block after block for an open space.

[SocialKonstruct]

My younger sister went to Harvard for her undergraduate and I loved Harvard Square quite a bit. Boston area is still very pricey however.

My fav place there- https://www.harvardsquare.com/venue/newbury-comics/

[Crucial BBQ]

On 2/25/2019 at 2:50 PM, LisKis said:

Im considering Lowell for my PHD. I got in with a little over 18K a year for a stipend

I know that's not enough to live off in MA but my partner has employment that will probably net about 45K if he can transfer. 

How feasible is it for us to live with a 7 year old off of 63K combined? And if we wanted to live right over the border in NH, how is that commute? 

Well, I lived in Boston (Technically in Brighton) during undergrad with a roommate and both of our combined income was certainly way less than $63K/year.  Not sure if that helps.  

The commute from NH to Lowell won't be too bad but be advised that the area gets a good amount of snow.

[Crucial BBQ]

On 7/21/2020 at 12:48 AM, raye237 said:

Check out Allston-Brighton

Good luck.  My building wanted $175/month for a dedicated parking spot and on-street parking is a pita.  Found it better to sell the car and just take the T.  

[halo2masterq]

Potentially going to BC and had a few questions. Is it easy to bring a car there and deal with parking? It looks like BC is in the suburbs mostly. And how easy is it to get to Harvard square area or even downtown from campus area? For like meetups, dates, etc.

[MaryHildegard]

On 1/12/2021 at 5:48 AM, halo2masterq said:

Potentially going to BC and had a few questions. Is it easy to bring a car there and deal with parking? It looks like BC is in the suburbs mostly. And how easy is it to get to Harvard square area or even downtown from campus area? For like meetups, dates, etc.

If you live in Brighton: you’re gonna have to figure out how to get a resident parking permit. If you live in Brookline: overnight street parking is not allowed, so keep that in mind when looking for apartments. 

Boston College is on the Green Line, which goes into Downtown Boston. You can switch at Park Street to take the Red Line to Cambridge. So downtown is easier to get to since you don’t have to switch trains. (I would not recommend driving downtown if you can avoid it). 

[AshPB]

On 1/12/2021 at 5:48 AM, halo2masterq said:

Potentially going to BC and had a few questions. Is it easy to bring a car there and deal with parking? It looks like BC is in the suburbs mostly. And how easy is it to get to Harvard square area or even downtown from campus area? For like meetups, dates, etc.

I went there for my undergrad! If you're off campus you can definitely find free overnight parking in Cleveland Circle or Oak Square, both in Brighton close to BC. There's a campus bus that swings through Cleveland Circle that can take you to BC, but on campus parking is not free.  That being said, if you're lucky you can find a spot on Beacon St. 

[dani_zee]

Any suggestions on where to buy cheap or used furniture in Boston? Either actual stores or facebook groups? I'll be moving into the city August 1st.

[♀HealthMatters]

8 hours ago, dani_zee said:

Any suggestions on where to buy cheap or used furniture in Boston? Either actual stores or facebook groups? I'll be moving into the city August 1st.

Yeah! With your student ID you can get into MIT Student Furniture Exchange! https://www.facebook.com/310591682348518/

[ajak568]

17 hours ago, ♀HealthMatters said:

Yeah! With your student ID you can get into MIT Student Furniture Exchange! https://www.facebook.com/310591682348518/

I checked out their site. I saw they list MIT, Harvard, BU and Suffolk students as being eligible to shop there with student ID but don't list Tufts (crying face). I'm going to Tufts in the Fall so I sent a message crossing my fingers they might be open to Tufts students shopping there in the future.

[ajak568]

On 4/30/2021 at 1:23 PM, ajak568 said:

I checked out their site. I saw they list MIT, Harvard, BU and Suffolk students as being eligible to shop there with student ID but don't list Tufts (crying face). I'm going to Tufts in the Fall so I sent a message crossing my fingers they might be open to Tufts students shopping there in the future.

Update: FYI for anyone who cares, I messaged them on FB and they said the fact that Tufts wasn't listed on the site was just an oversight, they're gonna add it. Tufts students are also eligible to shop at MIT Furniture Exchange (once it reopens).

[ajak568]

Anybody moving to the Boston area from elsewhere and searching for housing? When are you looking to move into the area? What kind of timeline are you thinking about for signing a lease (if you're living off campus)? I'm new to the area and looking to move early September (I hear that's when half the town is moves into the area, haha). From my research it looks like maybe late May or June might be the best time to sign a lease? What do you guys think? I've been keeping an eye on apartments.com, hotpads.com, and Zillow rentals.

[dani_zee]

On 5/1/2021 at 10:47 PM, ajak568 said:

Anybody moving to the Boston area from elsewhere and searching for housing? When are you looking to move into the area? What kind of timeline are you thinking about for signing a lease (if you're living off campus)? I'm new to the area and looking to move early September (I hear that's when half the town is moves into the area, haha). From my research it looks like maybe late May or June might be the best time to sign a lease? What do you guys think? I've been keeping an eye on apartments.com, hotpads.com, and Zillow rentals.

I'm from New Jersey and am in the process of signing a lease for an 8/1 move in. My orientation starts August 27th, but I wanted a few weeks to get furniture and get adjusted to the area. From what I've seen, 9/1 is the most common move in date, but 8/1 exists too. I started looking online (apartments.com, zillow, trulia) but I found those were limited. I googled "best boston realtors" and contacted some realtors that way. They were able to send me different listings with video tours and pictures. Then I went to Boston end of April to see some apartments in person, found one I liked, and started the application process. So I think this month would be the best time to sign a lease. Good luck! 

[ajak568]

2 hours ago, dani_zee said:

I'm from New Jersey and am in the process of signing a lease for an 8/1 move in. My orientation starts August 27th, but I wanted a few weeks to get furniture and get adjusted to the area. From what I've seen, 9/1 is the most common move in date, but 8/1 exists too. I started looking online (apartments.com, zillow, trulia) but I found those were limited. I googled "best boston realtors" and contacted some realtors that way. They were able to send me different listings with video tours and pictures. Then I went to Boston end of April to see some apartments in person, found one I liked, and started the application process. So I think this month would be the best time to sign a lease. Good luck! 

Thanks for the feedback, you've got a jump on things! It seems like more listings are starting to come on the market for closer to my projected move-in date, so I wanted to take a couple more weeks to scope it out and see how things are developing before I jump on anything! Quick question--since you went through a realtor, did you end up having to pay a broker fee? I've heard nowadays some landlords will pay the broker fee if there is one, but I don't know how common that is. Since my living situation isn't too complicated (just myself, my partner, and 1 vehicle), I figured I'm gonna try to find something my own first and see if I might be able to save a bit of cash.

[dani_zee]

On 5/3/2021 at 2:44 PM, ajak568 said:

Thanks for the feedback, you've got a jump on things! It seems like more listings are starting to come on the market for closer to my projected move-in date, so I wanted to take a couple more weeks to scope it out and see how things are developing before I jump on anything! Quick question--since you went through a realtor, did you end up having to pay a broker fee? I've heard nowadays some landlords will pay the broker fee if there is one, but I don't know how common that is. Since my living situation isn't too complicated (just myself, my partner, and 1 vehicle), I figured I'm gonna try to find something my own first and see if I might be able to save a bit of cash.

I'm a bit picky about what I wanted (2 bed 2 bath, central heat and ac, as close to campus as possible) so I wanted to start early. It paid off because I got everything I wanted. I had to pay a broker fee equivalent to 1 months rent, but I didn't have to pay last months rent so it kinda evened out.

I think the pandemic has made it easier to do the whole process online which is great if you can't see places in person.