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!

Over to you Bob.

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!

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.

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

Try Brookline.

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

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.

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 .....

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.

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

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.

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

oooh...just up the road

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

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

so how long you been in the area?