191 replies to this topic

[BostonGal]

First of all, ezcheese, glad your trip was good, but sorry to hear about the nightmare issues with finding an apt.

dyerview - Roslindale is a pretty cool area, right near JP (Jamaica Plain) which is a fantastic area to be in for culture.  I don't know that you'll find a pretty building, certainly not as pretty as Brookline or right in Boston, but if the price is right and you are cool with the location, go for it!  The commute would be a bit tough for you to get to BU from there.  Will you have a car?  Otherwise you'll need to take a bus to Forest Hills, which you'll probably have to transfer to a different bus to get you to the E-line, go a few stops to get to Copley station, and then switch to the B line and go out to BU.

Have you checked the subway maps yet?  www.mbta.com is a great site for putting yourself in the different neighborhoods.

For $1300, I think you can get something around Fenway, which, yes, is highly populated with students, but there are also some young professionals (high 20s and 30s) there as well.  Brookline is my immediate thought for you, but if you do have a car, that's an additional $100-180/month because you can't park anywhere overnight in Brookline unless you have your own spot.

It's great that you are coming up for a week - that way, you can get your bearings and visit different areas.  May is a great time to come up, June and September are the most popular months for change-overs in apartments.  As for the fee from the real estate agents, they typically all charge full fee, but you can definitely work your magic and try to negotiate that!

Best of luck to you.

[Cotuit]

dyerview, on Apr 26 2005, 05:26 PM, said:

Oh, and I forgot to ask--what do people think of Roslindale?  Friends of friends have a house they're willing to rent us there for around $1350 a month (not including utilities).

How bad would that commute  be to BU?  And how expensive are utilities in Boston? I can't imagine...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ugh, Roslindale to BU might be a bit trying. A quick look makes me think the best way would be a bus to Forest Hills, then the Orange Line to Ruggles, then the 47 or CT2 bus to BU.

The T's Trip Planner came up with these options from Roslindale Village to BU Central. I've found the trip planner ain't that great.  

There's a commuter rail stop on the Needham Line at Roslindale Village, if you were in walking distance of that, you could take it to Ruggles, then take bus 47 or CT2 as I outlined above. Or the Commuter Rail to Back Bay, then walk two blocks to the Green Line which will drop you right on the BU campus. It's a bit of an inbound to get outbound commute, but could be quicker than transfering to the bus at Ruggles.

If the house is to your liking, $1350 sounds reasonable, describe it a little and maybe we can tell you if you're being taken for a ride.

I've never lived outside the Northeast, but I understand our electric rates are high. Heating depends obviously on how cold the winter is, the last two have been killer   . Most homes in the Northeast are heated with oil, and if you read the papers you know what is going on with oil prices. Most oil vendors will put you on a payment plan, so you aren't spending $200 a month all winter. They spread out the cost of your fuel over the year. The electric company will do the same thing if you are unlucky enough to have electric heat. Though here in Rhode Island, Narragansett Electric needs you to be a customer for a year before they can calculate your monthly charge (I had a $300 electric bill one month last winter, I currently pay $113 a month on a 12-month plan with electric heat).

Most places do do a credit check. If your credit is particularly poor they may push for a larger security deposit. Most landlords know however that people will max their credit cards and eat ramen noodles for months on end to be able to pay the rent, most people are opposed to being homeless.

[Cotuit]

ezcheese, on Apr 26 2005, 02:10 PM, said:

somerville was a neat place, but the market there is just ridiculous. my girlfriend held her ground when she went back to work yesterday and just laid it all out on the table. now she is getting an additional $5,000 a year base salary raise plus she learned the details of her commission, and they are putting us up in one of those corporate relocation fully furnished deals for our first two months so we won't feel rushed. so now, we'll be able to move up there after my last day of school and we will be able to live there while we look for a place, which will take a lot of the pressure off. this company is starting to come around as far as the differences in cost of living.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent, she needs more money anyway, she works hard!   That's great that you'll have a place to live and time to look. Somerville is great, but I think it's not good for your girlfriend's need to be driving out of the city a lot for work. There's really no good way to drive in and out of Somerville.

ezcheese, on Apr 26 2005, 02:10 PM, said:

the most amazing part of our trip was probably that we drove in from the airport on monday night to our hotel on the corner of exeter and boylston street and we actually made it to the hotel! there were still several streets closed, but there is that small alley that runs by the public library and we jumped on that and then backed down exeter until we got to the hotel. quite a first time boston driving experience!  B)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, you've passed the biggest test, you're almost a Bostonian. Now if you had backed down a one way street to get there, that would have been perfect. (Bostonians seem to think that if the car is facing the right way on a one way street, it doesn't matter which way it's actually moving).

[Jamspanic]

Hi,

I will be moving to Boston soon and I'm interested in living in East Boston because of the seemingly good value of my dollars to living space, parks and access to train.  I've been doing some research on crime and statistically it seems that East Boston is about average for crime (violent and property) compared to other City of Boston areas, but then when I look up East Boston and crime on google, I come across several upsetting incidents such as stabbings, gangs and such...even on the Eastboston.com website. Thus, I'm faced with two juxtaposing points of view.  So I'm hoping that those who live/have lived there can give me their experience/opinion to wizen me up before I move.  I live in Maryland now in a quiet suburb, and I'm from the Midwest, so this is my first "Big City" move. Any help appreciated!

-Nik

[BostonFaker]

Cotuit, on Apr 26 2005, 05:19 PM, said:

(Bostonians seem to think that if the car is facing the right way on a one way street, it doesn't matter which way it's actually moving).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What's wrong with that?

[Cotuit]

BostonFaker, on Apr 27 2005, 07:35 AM, said:

What's wrong with that?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In Providence we don't mess with that kind of subterfuge, we just drive the wrong way, the one way signs only apply if you're not in a hurry.  

[Cotuit]

I moved this over here so hopefully more people from Boston will find it.

East Boston has a very colourful history. When I moved to Boston in 1992 I would never have considered living there. However, like the rest of Boston, 'Eastie' has improved dramatically over the last decade. There are a number of condo projects in the works for the East Boston waterfront, and parkland is also being created along the waterfront. Eastie has become a hot area. There does remain a degree of crime, and there is some gang activity (though gangs tend to stab each other, not strangers). But Boston is an extremely safe city, and I wouldn't feel uncomfortable living in most parts of East Boston. If you're shown a place and have a bad feeling about the block it's on, go with that feeling (you should also visit any place you are thinking about living at night), but there are few areas of Boston where one would get a bad feeling.

One thing to consider with East Boston is the Blue Line. It is currently in the midst of a modernization project, and Maverick Station (the main stop for East Boston) is slated to be completely renovated. You will see some disruption in service as this project progresses, they are enlarging the platforms to handle 6 car trains, the blue line currently runs 4 car trains. There is always replacement service when needed, but sometimes that can be a hassle. When the Blue Line is running normally, you are only two stops from the Orange Line Downtown and 3 stops from the Green Line.

[Cotuit]

I couldn't find this earlier, but there are system maps for the T showing all the trains and buses in relation to the streets. This map shows the Roslindale area, you can see Roslindale Village commuter rail station at the bottom right. This page has the map collections for the entire Greater Boston area.

[ezcheese]

Cotuit, on Apr 26 2005, 05:19 PM, said:

Excellent, she needs more money anyway, she works hard!  That's great that you'll have a place to live and time to look. Somerville is great, but I think it's not good for your girlfriend's need to be driving out of the city a lot for work. There's really no good way to drive in and out of Somerville.
Well, you've passed the biggest test, you're almost a Bostonian. Now if you had backed down a one way street to get there, that would have been perfect. (Bostonians seem to think that if the car is facing the right way on a one way street, it doesn't matter which way it's actually moving).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

haha, exeter IS a one-way street! looks like we passed with flying colors. it is funny to see people back down a one-way street, like having the car face the right way makes it proper.   in our case this was pretty much the only option we had in order to get close enough to the hotel to have the valet come out and park it.

i also noticed the infamous quick left turn, where a person punches it when the light turns green in order to turn left before the traffic starts flowing.

Edited by ezcheese, 27 April 2005 - 01:56 PM.

[ezcheese]

there is a guy we communicated with who just rennovated some apartments in east boston who was asking around $1200 a month for some very nice 2 bedroom apartments. i think you had to pay extra for off street parking, but he sent us several pictures of the apartments and he was trying to get good tenants in there with him. (he lives in one of the apartments.) if you would like, i can send you his information. that was one place that we actually didn't physically visit while we were there, as we need to live on the other side of boston for the best access to the rest of new england, but i have read some things that are in line with what cotuit is saying.

[ezcheese]

i checked out the mbta website and tried the trip planner too. i immediately noticed that it didn't create very logical routs.

if you rent a car while you're there, make sure to have a good street level map of the city and surrounding area. we had an awesome map that made navigating all the different areas pretty easy. make sure that the map shows the one-way streets and which directions they run.

also, you should count on everyone doing credit checks. some brokers will work with you if you happen to have bad credit because they understand the situation. it will definitely help your chances to have perfect credit if you happen to be competing with someone else for a particular apartment though.

[BostonFaker]

ezcheese, on Apr 27 2005, 02:55 PM, said:

i also noticed the infamous quick left turn, where a person punches it when the light turns green in order to turn left before the traffic starts flowing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It took me awhile not to expect it down here in Atlanta...

[Recchia]

ezcheese, on Apr 27 2005, 02:55 PM, said:

i also noticed the infamous quick left turn, where a person punches it when the light turns green in order to turn left before the traffic starts flowing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL.  Gotta watch out for the quck left turn, the no directional slam on the brakes and right turn, and especially the running of the left turn light when it turns yellow and then shuts off.  Always have your hand ready over your horn!

[BostonFaker]

Books are better, but this site rocks for anything: www.wordiq.com

So, for Boston, it's pretty damn good: http://www.wordiq.co...,_Massachusetts

[BostonFaker]

I can't add much, but another thing about Eastie is it is separated by water from mainland Boston; I don't think one can actually walk from East Boston to downtown without going through several towns to the north (and that's quite the distance).  Maybe this isn't really important.

But, Logan Airport is over there.  The noise can be a concern, and is always used in local politics.  From what I know though, most people are not bothered by it.  The air routes determine where most of the noise is also.

[BostonFaker]

So ezcheese!  I'm curious; what were your first impressions of Boston and New England?  I hope you liked it since you are moving there.

[ezcheese]

pretty interesting.

[ezcheese]

i loved it! it's nice to be in a city where there are actually people out in the streets and there is plenty of stuff to do. the T is a GREAT public transportation system and driving also was not as crazy as i thought it would be. i really like somerville and davis square especially. i like the fact that i can pretty much walk where i need to go. and everyone i dealt with was very nice.

it was kind of funny, we had very pleasant experiences with people all over, i met and had some interesting conversations with many people in boston and somerville and then when we were flaying back, we stopped over in atlanta for a few hours and everybody had an attitude. my girlfriend and i actually ended up talking about how we think that people seem happier and are nicer in new england than they are down south.

so, besides being really stressed out trying to find an apartment, we really liked it. i think the only thing we are not looking forward to is the snow in the winter. we talked to an old guy who worked at the hotel who goes down to florida during the winter and then comes back up to boston in april. he's been doing that for about 15 years now!

[BostonFaker]

ezcheese, on Apr 27 2005, 07:52 PM, said:

we stopped over in atlanta for a few hours and everybody had an attitude

we talked to an old guy who worked at the hotel who goes down to florida during the winter and then comes back up to boston in april. he's been doing that for about 15 years now!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What I have picked up from Southern hospitality is that a lot of it is based on being two-faced.  I would continuously ask myself why someone was being nice to me when I knew they disliked me.  Also, I've noticed that Bostonians like other people, wanting to be around them; Atlantans want to get away from other people as much as they can.  This is a generalization.

As for the old guy, there are a lot of migratory people, especially when they are retired.

I'm glad you liked Boston.  Maybe you will "love that dirty water" too!

[Recchia]

BostonFaker, on Apr 29 2005, 06:44 AM, said:

I'm glad you liked Boston.  Maybe you will "love that dirty water" too!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Okay, what is "that dirty water?"  I've heard my two friends from Canton say it before, and I've always just pretended like I knew what they were talkin about