6 ms·

You can afford to live there? I was looking at 1 br apartments in Cambridge and it was pretty darn close to SF Bay. Interviewers I was talking to said they comm

by rhexs 9y ago

You can afford to live there? I was looking at 1 br apartments in Cambridge and it was pretty darn close to SF Bay. Interviewers I was talking to said they commuted in 45 minutes just so they could own a house.

tomkinstinch 9y ago
The unspoken assumption is that it's affordable if you have roommates (or a solid dual-income household). I have a place in Providence, RI and commute to Cambridge, MA by train (38 minutes to South Station via Amtrak, double that via MBTA). It's a shorter commute than when I rented in Brookline. Because of all of the Boston-area colleges, students set the standard. The housing stock is higher quality (and lower price) once you escape Boston/Cambridge, where students will live in any sort of derelict apartment, and use loans to pay inflated prices for the privilege. Boston has many things going for it, but the housing market is a real problem. Don't get me started on "broker fees"...
- nerdponx 9y ago
  it's affordable if you have roommates This is the story in NY too. It definitely does not qualify as "affordable" for anyone with a family.
nck4222 9y ago
>commuted in 45 minutes I live in and work in Boston, and my commute is 45 minutes. I'm planning to move further out to buy a house, and my commute will probably still be roughly 45 minutes. Unless you live within walking distance of your office or feel like you have a safe enough bike route to the office, 45 minutes is a fairly standard commute here.
agentgt 9y ago
I live in Waltham and while I don't work in Boston (work from home) it only takes me 15-25 minutes (depending on where in the city) to get into Boston. The Boston area has awesome suburbs that aren't really suburbs like Newton, Arlington, Waltham, Brighton, Melrose (where incidentally Martin Fowler lives) etc. I know everyone wants to live in the city cause its cool but these mini cities are pretty darn cool as well. From most of these areas you can get into the city in 20 minutes by car. 40 minutes if there is bad traffic. And of course there is public transportation. Compare this to most of the metropolises in America: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc that have massive traffic and suburbs that are truly suburbs (boring as can be).
- jseliger 9y ago
  Compare this to most of the metropolises in America: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc that have massive traffic and suburbs that are truly suburbs (boring as can be). Yet those boring metropolises have something key: affordable housing. Which is why the world is looking a lot more like them: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future.... While most MA suburbs prohibit most development, thus causing prices to skyrocket: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/16/somerville-housing-debate-echoes-across-region/HkCa6jijZ8bHGNlCdBVJiN/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/16/somerville-h...
  - agentgt 9y ago
    I generally agree but often those affordable houses are massive cheaply made McMansions (particularly in Texas). Living in New England I'm often envious and this is probably coming from jealously but really family's of 5 don't need 6000 square feet, a pool, a 3 car garage, and 2 acres of land. You can always live like the Europeans and most of the rest of the world does and there are condos sub 300,000 in the MA suburbs.
    - bluGill 9y ago
      Sure you can, but would you want to? 6000 square feet means I have a place for my hobbies, with the tools all setup so I can do something for 10 minutes if that is all the time I have for them. I like my pool, it is a lot easier to go swimming when the pool is just out your door as opposed to having to go someplace else. I like having room in my garage for my collectable car. I like having my garden close enough that I can get fresh greens on a whim. The point is different life choices enable different lifestyles. I've seen wood workers in Europe produce beautiful things in a tiny apartment. They prove it can be done, but they don't have the space for a table saw and as a result everything they do takes longer. Even if hand tools are the goal, in the large shop you turn around and your saw bench is there, while the European has to get it out of the closet. When done the American sweeps and is done while the European counterpart has to put the bench away as well. When I'm working I want the American style shop. Your choices may be different, that is your choice. Do not try to force other people to like your choice.

by rhexs 9y ago

tomkinstinch 9y ago

The unspoken assumption is that it's affordable if you have roommates (or a solid dual-income household). I have a place in Providence, RI and commute to Cambridge, MA by train (38 minutes to South Station via Amtrak, double that via MBTA). It's a shorter commute than when I rented in Brookline. Because of all of the Boston-area colleges, students set the standard. The housing stock is higher quality (and lower price) once you escape Boston/Cambridge, where students will live in any sort of derelict apartment, and use loans to pay inflated prices for the privilege. Boston has many things going for it, but the housing market is a real problem. Don't get me started on "broker fees"...

nerdponx 9y ago
it's affordable if you have roommates This is the story in NY too. It definitely does not qualify as "affordable" for anyone with a family.

nck4222 9y ago

>commuted in 45 minutes I live in and work in Boston, and my commute is 45 minutes. I'm planning to move further out to buy a house, and my commute will probably still be roughly 45 minutes. Unless you live within walking distance of your office or feel like you have a safe enough bike route to the office, 45 minutes is a fairly standard commute here.

agentgt 9y ago

I live in Waltham and while I don't work in Boston (work from home) it only takes me 15-25 minutes (depending on where in the city) to get into Boston. The Boston area has awesome suburbs that aren't really suburbs like Newton, Arlington, Waltham, Brighton, Melrose (where incidentally Martin Fowler lives) etc. I know everyone wants to live in the city cause its cool but these mini cities are pretty darn cool as well. From most of these areas you can get into the city in 20 minutes by car. 40 minutes if there is bad traffic. And of course there is public transportation. Compare this to most of the metropolises in America: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc that have massive traffic and suburbs that are truly suburbs (boring as can be).

jseliger 9y ago
Compare this to most of the metropolises in America: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc that have massive traffic and suburbs that are truly suburbs (boring as can be). Yet those boring metropolises have something key: affordable housing. Which is why the world is looking a lot more like them: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future.... While most MA suburbs prohibit most development, thus causing prices to skyrocket: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/16/somerville-housing-debate-echoes-across-region/HkCa6jijZ8bHGNlCdBVJiN/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/16/somerville-h...
- agentgt 9y ago
  I generally agree but often those affordable houses are massive cheaply made McMansions (particularly in Texas). Living in New England I'm often envious and this is probably coming from jealously but really family's of 5 don't need 6000 square feet, a pool, a 3 car garage, and 2 acres of land. You can always live like the Europeans and most of the rest of the world does and there are condos sub 300,000 in the MA suburbs.
  - bluGill 9y ago
    Sure you can, but would you want to? 6000 square feet means I have a place for my hobbies, with the tools all setup so I can do something for 10 minutes if that is all the time I have for them. I like my pool, it is a lot easier to go swimming when the pool is just out your door as opposed to having to go someplace else. I like having room in my garage for my collectable car. I like having my garden close enough that I can get fresh greens on a whim. The point is different life choices enable different lifestyles. I've seen wood workers in Europe produce beautiful things in a tiny apartment. They prove it can be done, but they don't have the space for a table saw and as a result everything they do takes longer. Even if hand tools are the goal, in the large shop you turn around and your saw bench is there, while the European has to get it out of the closet. When done the American sweeps and is done while the European counterpart has to put the bench away as well. When I'm working I want the American style shop. Your choices may be different, that is your choice. Do not try to force other people to like your choice.