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newbie looking for a nest
My fiance and I are in a very odd position while getting ready to start a life together. Our wedding is November 6 and we both recently graduated. He was in a one year masters program in Maryland and I have my B.A. in Secondary education from Miami, Fl. We are both from Miami and he just recieved a job offer in Cambridge, MA. which he will be starting in JULY!!!!! We cannot move up there together because of our faith, and are going to wait until we both are declared husband and wife before God.
We want to find a nice place to rent in Boston, but as you can see we are total newbies and to top it off we are located in a different state. I want to narrow down my search for our little nest, but I wish I knew the area there. I am all about my living enviroment, my home is my peace. I am use to living in an area where convenience is all around; from schools to whole foods to gyms to even best night life spots.
Everyone is excited for us and tells us that Boston is beautiful! I have yet to gone and am obviously not use to cold weather. Any advice, tips on areas, or even personal stories to relate to?
Re: newbie looking for a nest
I just moved to Cambridge for DH's job in January- we were living in Atlanta and had to find our apartment with lots of internet research and ONE day of walking around Cambridge looking at places.
What area are you looking to move to?
What type of living are you looking for? (Apartment with no commute, house in the 'burbs with a daily commute, city living with no car, etc.) Cambridge itself is very convenient to pretty much everything, but a house is going to be difficult to get there, although apartments are very nice in the area.
How much are you looking to spend? I don't know a lot about Miami, but I know that the COL is *significantly* higher in Boston than it was in Atlanta, so there was some definite sticker shock when we started looking.
And just out of curiosity, what company is your FI starting with? (Don't feel obligated to answer if you don't feel comfortable, hahaha.)
Budget? How close to downtown do you want to be? Do you plan to have a car?
I'm a city rat, but I'll tell you the areas I love- Charlestown, South End, and Back Bay. I don't much care for Beacon Hill because it's old and the apartments are slanted, but the location rocks. Somerville, Brookline, and Cambridge are worth looking into if you don't mind being a little further out of downtown. If we ever move back, we'll be looking at the latter 3 areas.
I'm no help with the burbs so the other ladies can help you with those. I'd consider Newton, that's about the only burb I know much about.
I don't think the weather is that bad. The only thing I couldn't stand was walking in the dead of January when the dog needed to get out- but we lived on the waterfront and those winds were what were really bitter- not the temps. It's nothing like living through a winter in the midwest, which I could never hack in a million years.
Thanks for replying so quickly!!! Well, I have a very close family and huge church family. We have so many wonderful people in our lives from Miami that we will probably have guest once or twice every month. I am looking for an area that has convenience, safety, and some parks around it to go jogging. We are looking for something to rent because we want to pay student loans off first before we get a mortgage.
We are probably fine with 1500 a month and we definelty will have at least one car. In miami, we dont walk and I am kind of scared of being carless. What areas are good to look at? Either in Cambridge or Boston.
If you don't want to live in the suburbs, having a car will cost you. Our apartment building (we live in Cambridge) has an attached garage, and it costs $245/mo to park the car there. If you live right off the subway line, that makes everything pretty convenient, and there is a system here called ZipCar that you may want to look into, if you are looking for city life.
As far as that price range, there is "808 Memorial Drive" in Cambridge, which is a nice area, but they don't have a website so you should look it up on apartmentfinder.com, and there is BostonView apartments in Boston, but I don't know about that neighborhood, and both apartments look a little smallish. Check them out and see what you think though!
Memorial Drive runs along the Charles River and is a beautiful place to run- DH and I took a long walk along the river last night.
You can look at craigslist.org to get an idea of areas and apartments.
The only area I say to stay out of is Brighton but that is because I personally hate it, it's full of BU students and they seem to get a bed bug epidemic every 2 years.
We have a condo in Charlestown and had on street parking and never had an issue finding a spot, but snow emergencies are tough- you will have to find a route or put your car in a garage if you live in town for those emergencies. My SIL lived in Back Bay and said the same thing- no problems finding spots but the snow emergencies sucked. You may only get 2 or 3 a winter though so it's not like something that happens daily.
I will say we now pay to insure both cars for what we paid for one in Boston. But I imagine Miami's car insurance isn't cheap either.
You might look at Admiral's Hill in Chelsea on the waterfront. There is a nice park there with a bike trail where we have taken our dogs before. It's very clean and it's removed from the rest of Chelsea, so it is safer. You could probably find a 2 BR for under $1500 there and it won't cost you to park.
That's as far out into the boonies I'd personally go though. It's about a 5-7 minute bus ride into downtown (State Street) but you are not going to be able to walk to the North End or to Fenway from there because of the bridge.
I also like Davis Square, in Somerville. It has really up and come in the past 5 years and is very spunky.
PS check out South Boston too. http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/fee/1745356176.html
MH and I were in the same position, I graduated and started a new job here last February, and our wedding was in September. Fortunately I lived with a cousin until we bought a house, and DH lived in my old condo until he moved in with me in the house after the wedding. It was awkward and confusing, but we made it work!
I don't live *in* Boston, but some of my friends love living in Somerville, 3 couples have lived there 2-4 years and are really happy. And I love visiting them, there seems to be so much more going on there than in my little residential area of a very unexciting MA city. I don't really have any other advice, but Boston is a really fun place to live, and good luck with your move!
Hi -
I just moved (back) to MA myself - after living in NY for 5 years. I, personally, am not a city girl - so my husband and I bought a house out in the burbs (about 45 minutes from Boston).
Boston real estate is pretty pricy - so I don't know what you could get for $1500, plus paying for car parking. There are some pretty fun areas outside of Boston, however. I agree with the pp that said Davis Square in Somerville - there are lots of restauants/bars/shops there. Also Porter Square in Cambridge. Plus, I think it's worth checking out Medford and Arlington - both towns have a lot of stuff to do, and are quite walkable. Good luck!
My H and I just moved from Ft. Lauderdale (Weston), Florida to Dedham (a suburb to the west of Boston) this past November. We flew up one weekend about two months before we moved here to look at a bunch of places. We loved Newton, but weren't in love with any of the rental homes we were seeing in our price range. We were used to Florida style apartments/housing and fell in love with our apartment complex which is new, close to public transportation to head into the city, has free parking, and has an ENORMOUS Whole Foods nearby. (Be forewarned - if you look at houses, a lot of them do not have central air. That's something we take for granted in Florida, so just be aware. Also. You will miss Publix. A lot. But you will fall in love with Trader Joe's and that will make up for it.) The winters are not that horrible, and springtime is divine and if you're a foodie, you will fall in love with Boston.
I don't know a lot about the neighborhoods in Boston proper because we specifically chose our neighborhood as it is close to where H works, but since we also just moved from South Florida, I wanted to respond. Good luck!
I've lived in Cambridge for 6 years and love it. I've been in Harvard Square, Central Square, and now live in Porter Square. Somerville is great at well. I work in Boston and my commute is totally doable and fine.
For $1500/month you should be able to find a one-bedroom within a close walking distance to the T, or a two bedroom that is 10-15min walk from the T. And if you're OK with on-street parking, you shouldn't have a problem.
I have subbed for BPS. The pay is on this site: http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/237
Also, I'm not sure what subbing was like where you were from, but it's a lot of work in Boston... they really wore me out
(. I subbed for a week as a favor to my old cooperating teacher, and then said no more after that lol!
But, I'm also a "career changer". After getting my masters in secondary education, I've decided that it's not for me. If you're heart is more into it, I'm sure you'd probably enjoy it more.
I live in a suburb about 30 mins from Boston and am a school teacher too! There is so much to do around Boston! Quincy schools are often looking for subs too.
If you apply to a few places in the area, you may even be able to sub at different schools and work almost everyday. Exsp. in the Boston area. Also, try SchoolSpring.com, they sometimes post short and long term sub. positions.
Good luck with everything!
MH and I are in the Jamaica Plain neighbor hood of Boston. it's a fairly easy neighborhood to have a car in while being handy to public transport.
as far as finding a new church family, i dont know what your specific background is, but Park Street Church has been a great experience for other southerners moving into the city. it has a non denom basis.
Dear Ladies,
My fiance has graduated and we are now in Greece!!!! We have been here for over a week now and if anyone wants to go to the most romantic and best view island, check our Satorini!! My mother in law booked a small home right on the side of the Island and it was breath taking. I felt so native without having to be in a hotel and take taxis, it was a great experience.
During this time, MF and I have bee able to discuss all the options you ladies have provided. Since we are already in June and he has to start moving all his belongings by the end of June, we have decided to have a temporary place to live while we look and feel the area once I move up there in November. I just wanted to have a good, non-rushed, and a unanimous decision along with experience for my first move ever out of my parents home. However, now comes the part where we need to find the temporary place. I wish we new someone in Boston that had an efficiency of some sort or if there were cheap full furnished short term apartments that we new about. MF will be living alone for pratically 4 months and I did not want him furnishing our place alone. Any advice or recommendations ladies?
PS: We are interested in Somerville, Cambridge, and Arlington thanks to you all. Also MF and I will be looking up Park Street Church. Our home church is Metro Life Church......metrolifechurch.cc