Boston
 

Are any of you familiar with the greater Boston area? Im planning on making a move to Boston soon, and was wondering what the good/ bad/ no-go areas are. On most of my trips there Ive found it to be quite a peaceful place, but have heard rumours of some very bad no go areas. Thanks!

Re: Boston
 

Over to you Bob. :)

Re: Boston
 

And I'll try and help too :)

But do give us a bit more info......Are you moving with a family? Do you want a house in the suburbs, or a flat in the city? Are you going to be working downtown?

I've been here 11 years and still love it!

Re: Boston
 

Hi Janj,

Im going to be working in downtown but prefer to live outside of the city, north preferably. I'll be by myself, no family. I'd prefer to live close enough to some form of public transit that goes into Boston. I heard that the real bad areas are primarily confined to areas south of Boston? Dorchester?
Just trying to figure out which areas to limit my search for a place, as Boston has so many little cities surrounding it.

Re: Boston
 

Boston and the surranding area is huge...just depends on how long of a commute do your want.

Lawrence is a shit hole, most of Waltham is a shit hole.

Allston is supposed to be nice and affordable, student type town.

moving in the winter though, that's a tough time to move, people want long term lease to make sure you stick out the winter, and oil is rough :)

Re: Boston
 

Try Brookline.

I believe JFK was borne there. Looks and feels very nice :)

Re: Boston
 

not cheap though and commute into boston ain't to friendly, especially route 9

Bit west of that, Newton, that's lovely, but hard finding a place, also expensive because of the schools.

Arlington and Medford where thrown my way as places to check out that were nice, but way to far for me as I'm in metro west for work.

Between Newton and Waltham is Watertown, it's lovely, sprawling type place and I think there's the T, or that could be Newton, anyway, the downer there, to get anywhere your on route 20 and that's a car park.

Somerville is supposed to be nice and it's right on the train/T

I'm out in Natick which is nice, it's about 10-15 miles to down town, about an hours drive in the morning, but there's a commuter rail that goes, about 35 mins to get there, goes to south station though, and it's $4.50 one way, which ain't bad considering cost/hassle of parking in Boston...downer is, last ride back it about 12am.

Re: Boston
 

Sounds like you need to be near the 'T'. Somewhere nice ? .... Try Salem, Woburn, Peabody to the north, Quincy, Braintree, Westwood to the south. ... Or you could get a really cheap condo in riverside (Near the science museum for $350,000 for a 1 bedroom apt ..... :D :D :D

Re: Boston
 

I would choose Salem for an easy-ish commute though not the cheapest housing? Further out, though a longer commute, would be the north shore. Just so pretty there.

Re: Boston
 

your right there, it's well expensive.

The OP said they don't have kids, so finding a place with a shite school district will find you cheaper places for a pad.

The three W's are nice, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, but all three are insanely expensive areas with good commuting, easy access to the pike (I-90), I-9, I-95, route 20/30

Re: Boston
 

Salem isn't too bad for prices (I lived there for a year), but is not on a direct route on the T. You have to take a bus or train into Boston. But there are quite a few bars all within walking distance in the centre.

It really depends on what you want, if you want the night-life in Boston then I'd stick with a town with a T station, trouble is they stop running at about midnight.

Doesn't matter much where you live around Boston, the whole area is a car park if you're commuting in/out of the city at peak times. Also if you're having to use the tunnels to drive into the city centre be careful where you choose to live, there's major work going on and more to come - this alone can add up to another hour onto travel times as you get diverted right through the city.

Re: Boston
 

I agree with people's comments so far. I'm out in Weston - some of these suburbs are very family oriented, and there'd be little for a single guy in the way of entertainment. Definitely look for something on the T - the commuter rail is slow and trains can be infrequent. I'd look at Newton, Brookline, Belmont, Arlington, Somerville, parts of Brighton. Don't really know the more northern areas as well.
Good luck, and ask away if you have more questions :)

Jan

Re: Boston
 

oooh...just up the road :)

saying that, there's a member that's in my town, still not met up for drinks though *lol*

Re: Boston
 

:) Yep, I think I know said member. We should all get together for a drink sometime.

Re: Boston
 

so how long you been in the area?

Re: Boston
 

Love Boston... Mother Goose is burried there (in the Grannary Cemetary I think)

Also the lady that wore the Scarlet letter.

Boston is really a lot of fun but I did feel a bit weird at The Whites of their Eyes museum. (It wasn't very pro Brit)

Re: Boston
 

Hey guys, thanks for all the great responses, its all very helpful and I appreciate all the views. Ive been looking at some places over the last couple of days. One thing I can't get over is driving in Boston....are they going to put street signs up anytime soon??

Re: Boston
 

either get a GPS unit, because it sucks, especially in winter when it's zoned parking because of the snow....or better yet, don't, and use the bus/T etc, parking is a pain in the arse and pretty expensive going.

Re: Boston
 

Street signs, and using your signals/indicators are illegal in Boston. Didn't you know? :o ;)

Re: Boston
 

:D :D Street signs ! .... thats a laugh. Wait till you are out and about away from the city and following a main route, then come to a 5 way intersection with no indication as to which road is the one you are following :mad:

Re: Boston
 

So has anybody tried the British Beer Company pub in Walpole yet?

sanj2010

Re: Boston
 

BB mentioned the one down on the cape as being pretty good, food and drinks.

I still not tried my local one, though it ain't that far, near Gillette stadium.

Walpole, wouldn't have a clue, bloomin' miles away from me...so whats it like up there?

Re: Boston
 

The foods pretty good and they have done a good job of capturing the British pub atmosphere. It's always been very busy when I have been in there. They certainly water down the cider though!

sanj2010

Re: Boston
 

hehe...there use to it being more like apple juice ain't it :D

Re: Boston
 

Let's just say that I was surprised the first time I heard a friend offer her 3 year old daughter cider!

Re: Boston
 

I haven't posted in forever ...

As others have mentioned you definitely want to live by a T stop, you won't want to drive downtown every day if thats where you're working.

I lived in Lynn on the north shore, which is a bit of a dump, but I got lucky and was right on the border with Swampscott (lovely town) and only 3 blocks back from the beach. Loved it there, but not way could we afford to buy.

Now we're out in Templeton, which is a helluva commute to our office (in Burlington), but worth it for the house we've bought.

GPS units are great until you get into Boston, as the roads change every 20 minutes. I firmly believe this is why they have no sign posts, as it would be too labour intensive to replace them 50 times a day. Learn how to Karmic Drive. It's the art of picking the right direction and heading there, regardless of other things on the road (or off the road if they have moved a building in your path this week).

Welcome to Boston :D

Re: Boston
 

if you can afford a TomTom, they update regularly enough to make it work...so envious :D

Re: Boston
 

Just chiming in / butting in quickly. :) Make sure you go to Quincy (pron. "Quin-zee") Market. There's a wicked curry place there. :D :beer:

Re: Boston
 

Which one? I've had curries there and found them too mild. Salem has a fab Indian with the right heat!

Re: Boston
 

cape ann!!

www.rockportusa.com

Re: Boston
 

where abouts?

As we want to do head out there sometime to see the town...keep meaning to at least *lol*

Re: Boston
 

I only found one in there... so it was that one. Not a lot of help eh? LOL sorry!

Re: Boston
 

Passage To India...on Washington Street. I think they have about 5 branches all over MA tho. Cilantro is a pretty good Mexican restaurant in Salem too.

Re: Boston
 

cheers, should try and remember that and check them out when we make it over there :)

Re: Boston
 

I've been to Passage To India on more than a few occasions, along with my parents, who have travelled quite extensively in India itself, and they definitely give it the thumbs up. Top place :D

Re: Boston
 

Superb, there's one in Maynard and Acton, a bike of a hike, but not nearly as far...

supposed to be a good one on moody st in waltham, but that's a bit of a scary place and there's a few out there, and can't remember which one got the good recommendation, as a couple others weren't so good apparently.

Re: Boston
 

Try chowhound.com. It's reliable for that kind of stuff.