Boston area neighborhoods question

[doulatara]

I am just beginning to do research to see if I could see myself moving into this area. To make a long story short; my daughter's soontobe stepmom is a strong candidate for a job in Exeter, NH (at Exeter Academy) and we may all relocate, both households, to the area from Chicago. My daughter is ten and will likely attend Exeter for high school if soontobestepmom gets the job, but until then we would probably prefer to be in a city. It is important for us to have her dad close so she could see him a few days per week, and he would live in Exeter.

We are looking at Boston and anything north between Exeter and Boston. I prefer living somewhere diverse, which seems to not be the case in Exeter. My husband will most likely work in Boston. I, along with birthwork and massage, am also active in social justice work/public health and women's issues/women's health, reproduction, etc. This is the area I am passionate about and would like to have a career in a non-profit in one of these arenas. Husband has a dayjob but he is an artist and playwright, and would love to have some sort of art scene.

So, for neighborhoods, ideally I would find access to the following: diversity in ethnicity, GLBT, etc., a bit of an artistic vibe, affordable housing because our price range will probably be around 1,000 (give or take a bit) for a two bedroom. It would be nice to have some families around and an overall friendly neighborhood vibe.

Any advice on where we'd start our apt, search? do you think we would thrive in Boston? Resources online I can look at? Am I expecting way too much? My husband went to Boston College for a year so he does have some knowledge of the area, but as a 18 year old college kid not an adult with a family.

Thanks for your help!

[lach]

I'd look at Cambridge. It sounds just up your line.

[hikingmommy]

I was thinking Cambridge too, but I doubt you could find a decent 2 bed for $1000. How urban do you want? Somerville, Charlestown, or Chelsea could be good for you. Chelsea has a very large Latino population and very few Whites, but I know a White family who lives there and loves it. Medford could be good, too, though it's not very artsy. (Chelsea isn't either, come to think of it, but it's diverse.) Arlington is just west of Cambridge and doesn't have a huge arts scene, but it's a nice town and very close to Cambridge.

Check out massstats.com. It's a great site for info. about the racial, economic, political, etc. make up of Mass. towns.

[Cheryl33]

there are some really nice sections of Jamaica Plain. I lived there a few years and loved it!

[KnittingTigers]

Originally Posted by Cheryl33

there are some really nice sections of Jamaica Plain. I lived there a few years and loved it!

I was just going to suggest this! A great, super-queer, diverse, family-friendly neighborhood. Not sure you'll find a whole lot of 2-beds for $1,000 though. Most people I know pay more in the $1,500+ range. But, that seems pretty typical for Boston in general...

[doulatara]

Thanks for all of the input....it is helping me envision what Boston is like to live in. Even if I couldn't afford to live in these neighborhoods...perhaps I could live a bit outside them and pay a bit less rent? We are a mixed ethnicity couple (myself caucasion and my husband latino) and fit in well in diverse neighborhoods and it what what we prefer to raise my daughter in. Any good website on rental apartments I can look at? We have an alternative newspaper here that lists rentals and you can search by neighborhood...do you have anything like it? I will of course check craigslist, but I feel that is easier when you have a better understanding of a city.

Also, how about schools? My daughter would be starting 6th grade by the time we would move. Are there good options in public schools? She is currently in a public magnet school that is fine and performance art centered that we have been very fortunate to have gotten into to. I realize we are not going to replicate our lives here nor would I want to, but if I am going to move I would like to think that at least feel like we do not have to compromise a few important things such as education.

And I trust, knowing that ALACE/Tolabor is based out of Boston, that there is a thriving natural birth community?

Thanks!

[finnegansmom]

nevermind.

[DaughterOfKali]

Originally Posted by finnegansmom

Wellesley and Newton are really nice

You won't find a 2 bedroom apt there for $1000. I think you would have to a bit more north to get lower rents.

You can look at Craigslist for apartments. It's how I found mine. It's a good way to get an idea of the rents.

[MeepyCat]

Unless you're willing to get pretty far out in the suburbs, you may need to reevaluate your price range. I love Boston, but it's expensive. We live in Dorchester, which is the southernmost incorporated suburb of Boston. It's diverse, queer-friendly and has a somewhat dodgy reputation (parts of Dorchester are lovely and safe, others are grotty and dangerous, and these parts really aren't far apart or anything), which makes it "cheap". There's a flyer at the local coffeehouse advertising two beds for $1200, and I'm not sure you'd actually want that apartment. $1500 is far more typical.

[doulatara]

Holy Moly! Where are the poor people in Boston? I have been looking at cost of living calculator and it didn't indicate that there was that much difference between Chicago and Boston! I will definitely check on some of the surrounding areas...I guess when I hear "suburb" I kinda cringe a bit, but perhaps the suburban experience of Boston is different than Chicago suburbs and I just need to keep an open mind!

Thank you very much for everyone's input!

[DaughterOfKali]

Many low income people have HUD or Section 8 (which means you only pay a portion of the rent.)

You could try Framingham. It's about 35 minutes west of Boston. The rents are a little lower but there are some ok areas. They even have a charter school that is supposed to be good.

I don't know much about the towns/cities north of Boston.

[kennedy444]

My BIL and his family live in Jamaica Plain and plan to stay so their kids can eventually go to Boston Latin. I was talking to someone at my church that homeschools (here on Cape Cod) their 6th/7th grade twins and they are planning on getting an apartment in Boston so their kids can apply to Boston Latin too.

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 1/4/11 at 9:17am

[rhiasmum]

Growing up in Boston I have to agree. That amount for a 2 befroom is a pipedream lol. However my sister lives in Salem and adores it. So you might want to check out the North Shore.
I totally second that driving into Boston for work you do NOT want to do! I have to drive in (I no longer live in the city) for dr's appt and it's hell!
Good luck!

[earthgirl]

Originally Posted by doulatara

Holy Moly! Where are the poor people in Boston? I have been looking at cost of living calculator and it didn't indicate that there was that much difference between Chicago and Boston! I will definitely check on some of the surrounding areas...I guess when I hear "suburb" I kinda cringe a bit, but perhaps the suburban experience of Boston is different than Chicago suburbs and I just need to keep an open mind!

Thank you very much for everyone's input!

Hi again, I PMed you yesterday with some JP stuff. To answer about what poor people do here, well, I personally don't know. We have certainly had to be creative with our finances. DH makes what would be a fairly decent salary in most places, but here it was enough to qualify us for low income housing. We were able to purchase a brand new condo in JP through the BRA, but that's a hard route to go b/c most of the affordable housing opportunities are on a lottery system. Worse yet is the fact that what's considered "affordable" would still be considered somewhat high in a lot of places. One thing you might be able to consider is giving up your car if you have one. We have done that, and although it's certainly not ideal, we really can manage just fine without. Obviously, that will depend on where you live and where you need to get to, but it works for us. Anyway, I guess I can't give you details, but I know that it can be done.

Oh, and as for suburbs, I kind of have a disdain for them, too. But the people I know here that do live in the suburbs seem happy there so they are probably at least worth checking out.

[Qestia]

What do poor people do? Not sure either. There are a lot of people who live with their parents, it seems it's pretty common even now for a family to share a two-or three-family house with grandparents, kids, in separate floors. Most single adults have roommates even in their 30's. The other thing you'll find is that even if you find a 2 br for $1000 it's probably smaller and nastier than the same sort of thing in Chicago. DH and I have family in the midwest and so are always keeping an eye on chicago, when I look at the housing ads there it's jaw-dropping to me how large the places advertised are, I feel like you never see a 1500 sq ft place here, even a 3 br, but it seems that's the starting size for places in Chicago.

When we first moved here 10 years ago we got an earlier edition of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Newcomers-Hand...4609679&sr=8-1 It was really helpful in summarizing the neighborhoods.

[lach]

I've read in more than one place that while the conventional wisdom is that 1/4 to 1/3 of your take home income should go to housing, that in Boston, NY, and San Francisco realistically you should expect about 1/2 of your income to go to housing. I think that's probably about right, unfortunately.

[barefootamy]

Originally Posted by finnegansmom

Midwife assisted homebirths are legal in Mass...

Actually homebirth is technically alegal. It is neither legal nor illegal in the State of Massachusetts.

Originally Posted by finnegansmom

...and I think there are 2 freestanding birth centers in the state (maybe one in cambridge?) not sure of thier affiliations if any (the other is North Shore).

There are two birth centers here but neither are freestanding. The closest freestanding centers are over the border in New Hampshire. Cambridge Birth Center is attached to the Cambridge Hospital and the North Shore Birth Center is attached to Beverly Hospital.

The OP will find a very diverse and large birth professional community here though. We have a nice listserv of almost 500 members and there are quite a few meetings around the state year 'round.

[SweetPea&Me]

www.greatschools.net is a good website for finding good schools.

You will be hard pressed, like all the pps have said, to find something for 1000 a month with everything you want...diversity, good schools, urban, ect. I would pick what's most important to you. Like for me, it's good schools, I found a place I could afford in that town/district. However, I am only 10 miles to Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and everything I am and could possibly be interested in. My 2 bedroom is 1450 / 42% of my monthly income with nothing included. The good thing about here is that it's not hard to find stuff, communities, people that you are interested in, you just have to pick and choose and seek out the rest.

GL!!!

[witchygrrl]

See, I'm a suburb kind of gal. I have disdain for the cities:P

queer friends of mine live in Malden, but I don't know how the schools are there.

Framingham is okay, but it's too city for me, so I live in a neighboring town, Ashland. I can walk to the commuter train from my apt, so i don't have to pay for parking too. I also have lived in North Andover, Taunton, Dartmouth, New Bedford, and Norwood. I def. prefer the suburbs over cities any day! Bigger spaces to live for less money and more greenery!