Boston - tell me all about it

[Zog]

I've lived in Somerville (Boston-Cambridge-Somerville heading out of the center of the city, very roughly) for over 10 years. Great place to be in general. My wife and I are currently house hunting - and the housing market has NOSE Dived. As in: assessed for 400k+ last year, asking price is 250ish. Some very nice homes available in the 225-300k range. Having 2 kids and a dog, you are going to need a larger place than my wife and I - so figure 275k-325k range for a 3 bedroom, 6-7 room, 2 bathroom house with a small yard. Maybe less, maybe more. And that is in the Malden&Melrose (town nextdoor) area

depending on where you live, you can survive quite easily without a car. Public transportation, while occassionally frustrating, can get you almost anywhere you need to go.

Living in Somerville or Cambridge would be MUCH pricery for a house. But you can get a nice family apartment for 2k-2.5k per month. If the job is in Malden, you will probably want to stay to the North of Boston proper, otherwise the commute will be very obnoxious.

 

[ProfessorPain]

depending on where you live, you can survive quite easily without a car. Public transportation, while occassionally frustrating, can get you almost anywhere you need to go.
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Just be aware, as someone already pointed out, there is a commuter rail system, a subway system and a bus system. I live just outside the reach of the subway system, so I need to drive to revere if I want to connect with it. But the commuter rail passes through my city (though it comes less frequently than the subway, and is a lot more expensive). I actually save money by driving to Revere and getting on the subway.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Maybe coming to this a little late, but for what its worth:

I lived in Medford for a couple of years, which is one town over from Malden. One of my old gaming buddies lived in Malden. Apartment rents were fairly affordable at the time, but that was more than 10 years ago. I don't know if I would call either Malden or Medford "vibrant," but there are things to do around, and with easy access to the Orange line of the subway from both towns, it is simple to get into Boston itself. Malden schools have a pretty decent reputation.

This article came out a few months back: UPDATE: National survey names Malden "best place to raise kids" - Malden, MA - Malden Observer

I live in the northern suburbs now. I like have a little more space to breathe, but I miss the easy access to the city.

 

[Umbran]

I don't know if I would call either Malden or Medford "vibrant," but there are things to do around, and with easy access to the Orange line of the subway from both towns, it is simple to get into Boston itself. Malden schools have a pretty decent reputation.

Well, over the past 10 years, Harvard Square has priced itself out of range for coolness, and the neat stuff has been spilling down the Red Line. So, Davis Square is a pretty interesting place these days, and is right next door to Medford.

 

[Mercutio01]

Well, over the past 10 years, Harvard Square has priced itself out of range for coolness, and the neat stuff has been spilling down the Red Line. So, Davis Square is a pretty interesting place these days, and is right next door to Medford.

Just a small plug for Davis Square. There's a group of poets and publishers that meet at the Au Bon Pain there from 9-12 on Saturdays. Anyone interested is welcome. EDIT - I should say large group, and one that has some fairly well known poets on the local and national levels, including Afaa Michael Weaver, Doug Holder, and Lo Gallucio. I'm just a lowly peon, but I still enjoy hanging out with industry veterans.

I lived in Cambridge for 2 years, right across the street from the Alewife T stop. That was eminently convenient. But the rent priced me out when I left the Navy, so we moved to Revere. Most of Revere is to be avoided, but the area I live in (Point of Pines) has reasonably sized apartments (1200sq ft) at reasonable prices (~$1500). The T is just too far to walk, and the bike racks continually have bike pieces still locked to them, but since I work in Somerville, it doesn't matter anyway. North of Boston proper, there is no good public transportation around the edge. If I wanted to take public transportation from my apt to Somerville, I'd have to take the Blue line to the Green line to the Red line to a bus just to get the Somerville High, and then do the reverse on the way home. It's the one significant problem with the "hub" mentality in the area. There are tons of "spokes" from Boston to the burbs, but no way to transit the burbs, which sucks.

Anyway, Medford is nice too. My daughter goes to day care there. Everett's not too bad. That's where my wife works.

 

[Piratecat]

We're not religious so there's no built in network she'd plug into like I would with work and geeking.

True. We'd certainly try to introduce you guys around to folks. Boston EN Worlders are really neat people who can talk about stuff other than gaming (mostly!), and every little bit helps.