ridethecliche

Hey everyone!

I'm a college student who's moving to Boston after graduation. I'm going to be working at Mass general hospital.

I'm looking for affordable places to live such that I can either commute to work or take the T to work, but also close enough so I can hit good riding roads without too much traffic or too many lights. I could also drive to work, but that seems like an unnecessary hassle in the city.

I'd really appreciate if you could help me with figuring out where these places are because I'm quite unfamiliar with the region.

Thanks!

MacCruiskeen

From where I live in east Cambridge, MGH is actually within walking distance. But rents around here are high, because a lot of the nearby apartment buildings are recent high-end conversions. We bought a house because it cost less. But any place that's convenient to the Red Line (the MBTA line MGH is on) is not going to be cheap. Cambridge is relatively bike-friendly, though.

eippo1

You might want to check out Davis Square, Ball Square and Inman Square in Somerville. Lots of college students keep the prices sorta reasonable.

grolby

Semi reasonably-priced apartments (as well as some really expensive ones) can be found in Brookline, on or near Beacon St. That's right on the C branch of the Green line, which will take you to Park St, which is just a short jump to Charles/MGH on the Red line. Alternatively, it's a reasonably straight shot by bike into downtown Boston from there.

ridethecliche

I was looking into finding someplace and living with a roomie or two.

How accessible is the Jamaica Plain area?

godshammgod

Another option is near the Huntington Ave/ Mass ave areas. You're right near the green line there. That's actually really close to several of the other hospitals (called the Longwood area). There are several colleges nearby too which mean the rent isn't so prohibitive. It's also a pretty quick shot to route 9 from there which leads to Newton and beyond for good riding.

I live in South Boston which is right on the red line, so that's convenient. Bike commuting to MGH from there might stink since it's pretty stop light heavy.


Just saw your question about JP...that's actually a really popular neighborhood these days. And a ton of people commute from there. There's actually a bike path that runs up near the Brookline line close to Kenmore square.

BostonBullit

Please define "affordable"...means different stuff to different folks! Boston isn't the most affordable place to live but if you toss a ballpark per month rent number out we can give more accurate suggestions...

hendrick81

I wish i lived in boston. Cali sucks.

KevinF

I don't think I've seen that particular opinion before... While I know that California is one very big state with a varied climate, when I think of "cycling" and "California", I tend to think of a place that's a lot warmer than Boston usually is.

grolby

I know nothing useful about it, sorry. My Boston knowledge is patchy, rather than comprehensive. I can tell you that living in the Back Bay/Fens is really awesome, but you'd have to be okay with living in a coat closet unless you're expecting to be very well compensated or get very lucky (some friends of mine lived in that area for a couple years, moved to Brookline for more square feet per dollar).

BikeNewEngland

There are bike lanes in Cambridge and lots of cyclists from the schools, but you have to watch out for the car doors. The major bike paths are on either side of the Charles River, and the Minuteman Bike Path heading out from north Cambridge and Arlington.

Jamaica Plain is becoming a popular place to live for younger people. Two major bicycle paths serve Jamaica Plain. Along the Southwest Corridor Park is the Pierre Lallement Bicycle Path, which runs from Forest Hills to Back Bay. To the west are bicycle paths, which run through the parks of the Emerald Necklace, along the Jamaicaway and Riverway.

I have a page of cycling resources for Boston at www.bikenewengland.com/cycling_boston.html

ndot

I'm partial to the Watertown/Belmont area myself. Lots of two family houses out here with "reasonable" rent for a decent sized 2-bedroom, many with garages and basments or attics for storage. There is an electric trolly/bus thing that connects to the Harvard Sq redline station, though it'd only be a 8 mile commute by bike to MGH. For riding I head out Trapelo Rd and 5 miles later am on beautiful back roads of Lincoln/Concord/Bedford etc.

jimmuller 

Parts of Waltham are good too. The bike path system along the Charles actually starts somwhere east of Waltham Center (Newton St, perhaps?) now and can be picked up from a dozen places. That gives you a pretty nice commuting route to downtown Cambridge, Back Bay, and the MGH area. Along parts of the river there is bike path on both sides of the river, but some are nicer to ride on one side or the other, and in some places the path is only on one side. From there or Watertown you can go north into Lexington or Arlington to pick up the Minuteman Bike Path, though it will be a mix of suburban and urban roads. The Minuteman heads west into some nice roads that are more rural. Northern parts of Newton would also give you access the the Charles River paths but Newton is a big town. You need to find these places on a map.

ridethecliche

Affordable for me is somewhere in the realm of 1600 or so a month for a 2 bedroom apartment. Need to find somewhere to live, either with a friend or two, or hunt craigslist ads for roommates wanted...
Hoping to do the former, but I need to know where to look!

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

Kai Winters

My daughter currently lives in Quincy and is apartment hunting in Southy and Cambridge...look to spend between $1600 to $1800 per month for a nice 2 bedroom in a nice, safe neighborhood with a short train commute, 10 ish minutes to the city. She and her boyfriend both work downtown.

godshammgod

For the record, Southie is actually a great neighborhood. It's changed a lot in recent years, and it's full of lots of 20/30 somethings now. Rent prices are pretty fair compared to the rest of Boston. Actually, a lot of parts of Dorchester are really hot right now too.

That doesn't really apply to RTC's situation...but I thought I'd add my two cents about neighborhood. Sadly, it's not that great for riding as you have to go a ways to get out of the city.

stien

I'm going to put my vote in for Brighton. I live in Allston and ride in to downtown 5 days a week and it's a really good ride if you have your wits about you. I take the Charles river path most of the way home every day (Comm ave->Beacon st on the way in). Fun stuff.

ridethecliche

Do they want to split an apartment in cambridge?

MacCruiskeen

I lived in Winter Hill for quite a while, and you can get a nice apt there for less than in Davis or Ball Sq., but the downside is it's less convenient to the subway. I don't think Davis is much cheaper than Cambridge these days, but it is a cool place to live. The student population has shrunk a lot in recent years.

scotch

Sorry, I couldn't resist. As you're hearing, Beantown is a pricey place to live, but a great city.

Does MGH have any relocation resources you can use? If so, maybe that's the place to start.

I lived in Boston briefly back in the 90s when I went to grad school at BU, so my feedback is way out of date, but back then - like now from what I'm hearing - a lot of people in your situation lived in Davis/Porter Square, Allston/Brighton ("the student ghetto"), and JP. All nice places to live.

Riding in Boston is a skill that I'm sure you'll pick up quickly. Riding around Kenmore/BU/Fenway can be hairy but also a lot of fun.

Congrats on the job. Exciting stuff.

Kai Winters

Perhaps...they are going to take in a roomie when they move...they hope to move by the end of May or early June when their current lease expires.


They love the Southie neighborhood and are hoping to get a nice 2+ bedroom apt there. If not Cambridge is the next alternative.
They said Southie is filling up with young people that work in the city and is a very nice neighborhood.

Funny about Dorchester...I used to work in a secure treatment facility there and next to it was this large and nasty housing project...one day there was some nut case on the roof of one of the houses with a rifle plinking at our building...it is a very old very dense brick building with uber security screens...can't have the little criminals running off now can we???...we hit the deck for a minute then laughed and went back to our duties...just another day.
Mission Hill was an even crazier area when I worked in Dorchester but now I hear it is also becoming "gentrified"...good for them...

Jim from Boston

I live in downtown Boston in Kenmore Square and I am a year round commuter in the reverse direction to Norwood, a suburb 14 miles southwest. To get home I take the commuter rail back to Boston. During the nice weather season, I also train for and ride a couple of centuries.

That being said, I think all the preceding posts have contained reasonable information. If you start with the premise you’d like to commute by public transit, all those posts suggest neighborhoods on the red and green lines, and are fairly college / single oriented. There are two other subway lines, namely orange and blue, so you might want to check those out. They seem to serve more family oriented suburbs, but I think the rents are lower than in town, and subway service is OK and direct into the city, though as stated I am a reverse commuter so the service is ideal for me and YMMV.

Last year there was a post from a Hawaiian transplanted to the orange line suburb of Saugus. See:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...o-to-ride-with

Mine was the second post on the thread and I wrote a little compendium about road cycling areas in Metropolitan Boston, you may want to check out depending how much recreational cycling figures into your plans.

Another consideration about cost and/or lifestyle is to live on a commuter rail line which services the area in radially oriented routes emanating from downtown. For example Norwood is a nice town with a rail line that terminates at South Station which is on the red line of the (T), about three stops from MGH. Norwood is within about 3 to 5 miles of some of the best exurban road cycling in the metro area IMO, in Westwood, Dover, etc.

I really love living and cycling here, so feel free to PM with any other questions.

Pedal Dancer

Go to MA in late January and see how "good" the riding conditions are then. You'd change that statement.

"Never know how good you have it..."

eippo1

Jim is right about the commuter rail, but affordable rental stuff will be pretty close to the city. I live on the Lowell line of the commuter rail in Medford and it is very convenient for getting in the city and I have nice, quiet hills to ride almost as soon as I leave my house via Winchester. So to expand on the Norwood concept, the north shore has some good riding and is train accessible but you'd be looking at Salem, Medford, etc for places to live. Also, the cost of the commuter rail shoots up dramatically as you move further from Boston.
To reverse the idea, we often take the commuter rail out to do rides like head up to Newburyport or head west to Worcester and go along the rail lines to another stop or just ride all the way back.

Rocket-Sauce 

I'd recommend Allston-Brighton, or Somerville. Reasonable rents, cool hip restaurants/bars/clubs, close to town, close to great riding, etc.