BronsonShore
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2014
- Messages
- 366
- Reaction score
- 1,065
Hello, ArchBostonians. I'm a long time lurker who's always enjoyed your insights on the city of Boston, but someone who's never really posted, primarily because I've lived outside of New England for over a decade.
After living in DC, Iowa, DC again and then Brooklyn for the last 8 years, my wife and I and our infant son are relocating to Boston. I love the city and I love New England so I'm excited for the change, but I'm unfamiliar with the rental market and am seeking your advice.
I realize this isn't normally the type of subject that warrants a thread, but I thought that it could turn into an interesting discussion about Boston neighborhoods and he housing market as a whole. Mods, if you disagree, feel free to tell me to jump of a ledge.
Anyway, to give you sense of the type of place we're looking for, let me tell you a little bit about where we live now and why we love it so much. We currently rent a two-bedroom apartment on the first floor of a three-story tenement building in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights. The apartment is not large, but we have the whole floor to ourselves including exclusive use of a backyard that we've extensively landscaped.
The things I absolutely love about our current living situation and want to replicate in Boston:
-Walkability. I can leave my apartment at 2 AM and come back with a bottle of milk 2 minute later. I can throw a stone from my backyard to my son's daycare. Bars, restaurants, parks, bookstores--you name it--Prospect Heights has everything in a dense but human-scaled environment and I love it.
-Smaller Scale Living. I've done the box-in-a-sky thing before and it's not for me. I prefer an apartment that feels more like an old-fashioned home than a luxury tower in Shanghai.
-Transit Access. Obviously the MBTA isn't the NYC Subway system and I won't be able to walk to 7 different lines as I can now, but I'd still like to be close to the T.
-Private Outdoor Space. Now that I've had it, I can't give it up.
-Cultural Connection. Every weekend there's something going on in the area or surrounding neighborhoods--ethnic festivals, art shows, flea markets, etc. I can walk to Prospect Park, the Botanic Garden and the Barclays Center. I've got multiple bookstores to chose from. As much as possible, I'd like to still feel like I'm in the middle of of things.
Ideally we'd also upgrade to a three-bedroom, and we'd also like to stay under $3,500. Maybe that's asking too much, but we pay $3,450 now, and it seems wrong on principal to move from Brooklyn and end up paying more.
So what do you think? My initial thought was that Southie would provide the best housing stock for what we're looking for, but it seems to be lacking on the transit/culture/urban amenities front. I would absolutely love to live in the South End or Harvard Square, but I probably can't find enough house for what I want to pay. JP seemed like a good compromise, but given that most of the stock comes in the form of triple-deckers and multi-family stand-alone houses, private outdoor space might be unlikely.
Does Boston not have what I'm looking for or am I overlooking some hidden gem neighborhoods? Am I making a major life mistake or is the best decision we've ever made? Have at it.
After living in DC, Iowa, DC again and then Brooklyn for the last 8 years, my wife and I and our infant son are relocating to Boston. I love the city and I love New England so I'm excited for the change, but I'm unfamiliar with the rental market and am seeking your advice.
I realize this isn't normally the type of subject that warrants a thread, but I thought that it could turn into an interesting discussion about Boston neighborhoods and he housing market as a whole. Mods, if you disagree, feel free to tell me to jump of a ledge.
Anyway, to give you sense of the type of place we're looking for, let me tell you a little bit about where we live now and why we love it so much. We currently rent a two-bedroom apartment on the first floor of a three-story tenement building in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights. The apartment is not large, but we have the whole floor to ourselves including exclusive use of a backyard that we've extensively landscaped.
The things I absolutely love about our current living situation and want to replicate in Boston:
-Walkability. I can leave my apartment at 2 AM and come back with a bottle of milk 2 minute later. I can throw a stone from my backyard to my son's daycare. Bars, restaurants, parks, bookstores--you name it--Prospect Heights has everything in a dense but human-scaled environment and I love it.
-Smaller Scale Living. I've done the box-in-a-sky thing before and it's not for me. I prefer an apartment that feels more like an old-fashioned home than a luxury tower in Shanghai.
-Transit Access. Obviously the MBTA isn't the NYC Subway system and I won't be able to walk to 7 different lines as I can now, but I'd still like to be close to the T.
-Private Outdoor Space. Now that I've had it, I can't give it up.
-Cultural Connection. Every weekend there's something going on in the area or surrounding neighborhoods--ethnic festivals, art shows, flea markets, etc. I can walk to Prospect Park, the Botanic Garden and the Barclays Center. I've got multiple bookstores to chose from. As much as possible, I'd like to still feel like I'm in the middle of of things.
Ideally we'd also upgrade to a three-bedroom, and we'd also like to stay under $3,500. Maybe that's asking too much, but we pay $3,450 now, and it seems wrong on principal to move from Brooklyn and end up paying more.
So what do you think? My initial thought was that Southie would provide the best housing stock for what we're looking for, but it seems to be lacking on the transit/culture/urban amenities front. I would absolutely love to live in the South End or Harvard Square, but I probably can't find enough house for what I want to pay. JP seemed like a good compromise, but given that most of the stock comes in the form of triple-deckers and multi-family stand-alone houses, private outdoor space might be unlikely.
Does Boston not have what I'm looking for or am I overlooking some hidden gem neighborhoods? Am I making a major life mistake or is the best decision we've ever made? Have at it.