STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

f413 · Kenneth Cole

Anyone from Eastern Mass. ?

Pepper · Kenneth Cole

I live on Martha's Vineyard, but I semi-know Boston. Cambridge is a great area as well as Brookline - around Coolidge Corner. Back Bay area is nice as well and the South End is nice as well. Good luck. You can check listings of places to rent on http://www.craigslist.org - looked under Boston.

Tara · Dooney & Bourke

I lived in the Boston area for 1 year post-College. I am probably not the biggest help, but I will attempt to answer this question. I lived in Somerville, which I loved. The T is very useful and made it quite easy to get in and out of Boston. The traffic was pretty heavy, but I haven't lived there since 2002, so I don't know if the "Big Dig" has made things better or worse. Rent was very reasonable in Somerville - I shared a large 3 bedroom apartment with 2 friends.

As for the job market, I only know about the Biotech industry. This was the main reason that I moved to Boston (for my job), and this industry is very competitive and lucrative in the area.

HTH!!

f413 · Kenneth Cole

Thanks guys, I've heard of Somerville as a good place to start- as in affordable, but I didn't know about the quality of life. Do you have insight on Jamaica Plain? That's another place I've heard of as being affordable, yet "hip." Is Brookline expensive? Gosh there are so many burbs! My husband has an old college friend who lives in Medford so we're looking into that too. Somerville seems like a good starting point, I'm recalling the Phoenix mentioning lots of cool things to do there. Thanks again!

Pepper · Kenneth Cole

Jamaica Plain is a good place to look. It is hip and I think still affordable. Last I heard it is getting a bit more expensive now that it has become more attractive - but definitely worth looking into!

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

awww, i LOVE boston! i lived there for a year after i graduated- i left in july to move out here to san francisco.

i lived in brighton out near boston college. i had a great apartment and it was a safe area and the t was right outside my door, but it was the b train (green line) and it was SO SLOW. something to keep in mind if you'll be commuting into boston every day.

i had a bunch of friends living in the boston area and most of us either lived in the allston-brighton area or the cambridge/somerville area. i wouldn't recommend allston if you're married/established- it's really cheap so it's full of college students. there are some fun bars in allston, but i wouldn't live there, it's not the safest area. some guys i knew lived there and their place was broken into- twice! brookline is a great choice if you're looking at the western suburbs- really clean, lots of great apartments, fun restaurants, etc.

cambridge and somerville have some really nice places for reasonable prices and it's probably one of the most culturally-rich areas outside boston itself. my ex-boyfriend and two of his friends found a cute little house (house! not apartment or duplex!) in cambridge with a yard and a driveway and completely renovated kitchen and bathrooms and they're only paying like $700ish each. lucky bastard... also, if you're living in cambridge/somerville and will need to commute to boston daily, try to get a place near the t. the red line is great- superfast, unlike the green line!

i don't know much about JP becuase i never really went down to that area, but i've heard that there are good parts and bad parts. i think the t is in or near the not-so-nice parts of JP- one of my coworkers lived down there and she said that she was afraid for her life walking home from the t! (it should be noted that this was a fairly dramatic girl!)

anyway, definitely check out craigslist. good luck and have fun living in boston! it's a great town... GO SOX!

-- Edited by sfcaligirl at 14:29, 2005-03-04

f413 · Kenneth Cole

Wow, Cambridge is affordable? It's so nice (the parts i've been to) I just assumed it would be pricey. We so need to get out of our eastern MA hellhole and get a change of scenery. Did you guys have cars in the city?

Tara · Dooney & Bourke

I had a car. Parking on the street in Somerville was never a problem. Cambridge is a little tougher. I didn't live within walking distance to the T (I had to take a bus), so most of the time I would drive to the T station, park my car, and go into Boston. I also did the reverse commute to my job (Boston - Framingham) so I definitely needed a car.

sweater girl · BCBG

I grew up in the Boston suburbs...I went to college in western MA...it's amazing how different the two locales are...it's like living in 2 different states. Anyway here's my 2 cents for what it's worth:

Living in the city of Boston is great but it is pretty pricey...lots of great neighborhoods...the south end is the latest hip location...the north end will be nicer now that the big dig is slowly coming to an end. Of course beacon hill and the back bay are great too. It may be a major problem trying to keep a car in the city...parking is pretty hard to come by. If you look at any places in the city ask about parking.

I don't know too much about JP but it is up and coming. To me it's in sort of a weird location...it's always seemed kind of out of they way.

IMO Cambridge has always been pricey but it might be worth checking.

Somerville and Medford are good alternatives to the city...and parking isn't as big a problem. Both have decent access to public transportation and both are very handy to the city. Both have lots of two family houses or other apartments for rent. Both have nicer sections...in Somerville - Davis Square got very hip a few years back and rents skyrocketed but I think things have eased now a bit. In Medford...I like West Medford or the Tufts U. area...I'm sure your friends could also help you out with nicer areas.

One other spot to check out is Arlington...a little more suburban that Medford and Somerville...but is still handy to city with decent public transportation. East Arlington has lots of two family houses...many have recently gone condo but you might find a nice rental...there's a small movie theater and some cute new restraunts have gone in.

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

i had a car and parking wasn't too bad out in my part of brighton, but i hardly ever took my car downtown. boston is so stressful to drive in! i mostly used my car on my days off to run errands out in the suburbs or to go home to visit family. you don't necessarily need a car, especially if you live near the t.

f413 · Kenneth Cole

sfcali, thats exactly what I had in mind. Living in a place where I can drive to grocery, mall, etc , but also have a T stop i can drive to to bring me to the city for culture+ shopping, possibly work. I don't like driving into the city anymore. I used to do it all the time, but now I rather pay to take the bus, ahhh luxury.

sweatergirl, where did you go to school, one of the "five?" Thanks for the insight