My girlfriend & I want to move to Boston.What are the best places to live around but not in Boston?

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Wanderer

I'd recommend a place like Somerville, Malden, Melrose, or Newton. Newton is more expensive so that really depends on your budget, but it's a very nice place. The other ones are all very close to the city, but not *in* the city itself. Commuting would be easy if you can find a place near the orange line (Melrose technically isn't on the orange line, but the last stop is very close to Melrose and can be walkable depending on where you live in the community.) These are more affordable than Boston but it's still very easy to get to.

If you want to be a little further away, there is a great commuter rail line (www.mbta.com for the map) that makes Boston accessible. It will take you longer to get in, but the further you go the less expensive it gets in terms of housing (but your commute gets more expensive).

Southwest and Jet Blue Airways!

Beverly,Cambridge,Welsley is nice town. But costs some $$

Dear Lady

My friends live in Jamaica Plain and Cambridge and the rent is reasonable. They don't have kids or pets. Somerville is next to Cambridge but not as nice by reputation but still a nice place to live. My sister lives in Quincy which is also on the public transportation (T line). Quincy is very reasonable and you can live there as well without a car.

Avoid Dorchester, Mattapan and Chelsea. Charlestown is a tough town...extremes and hard to tell where it is safe right now.

The suburbs are great for raising a family but the commuting is a pain if you have to commute daily to the city. If you are young, best to be close to the city and night life too.

Again, I would strongly suggest Cambridge or Quincy.

Adrian Wapkaplett

depends on your situation. Massachusetts is expensive but there are less expensive areas. Are you working in Boston? Want to be able to take the train in? Will you rent or buy? Condo, apt, house...budget...all those things would be helpful information to share.

SSS

Norwood

MrsMouse

I myself live in Woburn, but grew up in Melrose. Melrose is certainly a little nicer, but also a little pricier. Woburn is only about a 10-15 minute drive to Boston (but theres no subway in Woburn) in Melrose however, you could get to Oak Grove pretty easily. If you do have the money, I would suggest Melrose or even a little nicer is Wakefield... if money is tight, I would look into Malden, Everett, or Medford (all which are T-accessible) IF the you dont need to take the train though, check out woburn or even wilmington. Goodluck!

Killer Chick

Jamaica Plain and Malden are the places I recommend. You can get affordable apartments in JP by the pond which is a beautiful area. JP is full of artists, hip neighborhoods, good restuarants and is T-accessible.

Please avoid Lynn (B-O-R-I-N-G)

I have noticed that a lot of people on Yahoo Answers like Cambridge. Although Cambridge is a nice area to live, I prefer living on the other side of the river (Boston, JP, Malden, etc) just because there's more going on in the Boston area. More events and more city-like, more jobs and offices, than Cambridge which is too residential for me.

MOB

Somerville, two family and three families that offer space and a smalll yard and parking....

sel_bos

Waltham, Watertown

ShouldBeWorking

There are a lot of cities which are close to Boston and easily accessed via public transportation. Most of these places are younger cities, and have a lot to do right in their own neighborhoods. Try Somerville, Malden, Allston, Jamaica Plain, or Brighton.

Mystique

Cambridge is right across the bridge and does not take that long to get to boston. It has a nice community and it has people ranging in age from students to seniors. There are a number of buildings there i would recommend:

- 10 rogers street: river court, nice people living there. The building is clean and offers concierge and indoor parking believe me you will need that here.

- thomas grave building. Also offers same amenities very nice area and right next to galleria shopping mall!

- esplanade - beautiful building right on the charles river. same amenities.

i personally would recommend my apartment building, which offers everything and is the only building in this area that has this many amenities. It is the ritz carlton residences. I am moving in July or before if you are interested i can give you my landlords information. It is a one bedroom! :)

good luck in your search! i have been to nearly all the buildings around the boston area most of them are dirty or brownstones that are old and have rats! these are the best i found including the ones in downtow boston which i know you would not be interested in!

all the best!

citystepper

Cambridge all the way!!!!! We have busy areas and also quiet resedential portions of the city. We are just across the river from Boston, so you only have to drive 10 minutes to find Bostonian entertainment!

Laurie

It all depends on how far you want to live from Boston and if you want to rent or buy. I would suggest a nice part of Somerville, Cambridge, Quincy, Medford, Allston, etc. if you want to rent close to the city with a large amount of public transportation (i.e. you rely mostly on MBTA and may not necessarily own a car). If you want to rent, but most likely also have a vehicle, Reading, Woburn, Waltham, Newton, etc. tend to be more suburban than the immediate areas surrounding Boston. If you want to buy, Woburn, Wilmington, Billerica, Burlington (Northwest Boston) are much cheaper than the city and yet have access to some public transportation for easy access to the city, same as Natick, Wellesley, Framingham, etc. also have access to the city, but these areas tend to be much pricier. Try looking at the various transportation sources to determine where you plan to live (i.e. a map of area highways and public transportation).

bathroomsamurai

Generally if you want to live in a place where there's still a good night scene and you're not far away from Boston:

Newton - Newton is a really good place. It's very quiet and you're near enough supermarkets, restaurants and bars that your practically won't have to go outside the city for any essentials. It's expensive but it's next to Boston and it's next to the suburbs. It's comprised of 13 villages that all have their own distinct flavor and look.

Waltham - I would strongly recommend Waltham. In terms of affordability, you could easily find a one bedroom apartment. It's gotten the eye of young professionals who can't quite afford Boston but are still relatively close to it. City is a mixture of blue collar and white collar people of families, ages and races. Waltham has a good head on it's shoulders though as a place to be if you want to find different foods, accessibility to anything like supermarkets, department stores or mom and pop businesses and a strong independent professional feel to it (Waltham is host to a couple colleges).

Somerville - Somerville, like Waltham is like the last great affordable area in the Boston area. There are some good things to do in the area and it's next to Boston that you could just get on the train and be right there. It's got a young feel to it and seriously, just wander into Starbucks and you'll see a cross section of Somerville at it's finest.

Cambridge - Pretty much like Waltham and Somerville. There's more to do in Cambridge as it's directly next to Boston that it practically is Boston. Harvard Square is the hot spot of all that goes on in the area with tons of shops and restaurants to find. But Cambridge is getting expensive.

Salem - I think Salem is really ideal. I lived there when I was in college and it goes way beyond the City of Witches reputation. The summers are usually the best and there's always something to do, see or eat like having a drink outside on a warm summer night and listening to jazz or indulging in your sweet tooth at the family friendly Salem Willows park (host to arcades and food stands of all things). The culture is fantastic and the history is very rich. Be warned though: Halloween season absolutely sucks beyond all repair as parking is certifiably sucky and drunken tourists arrive by the busloads only on Halloween night. But that's only one month, Salem is also close to a couple other active cities and towns, but it's in the northern part of the state so it's not directly near Boston and by car, it takes about a half hour if there's no traffic. It's also a young city because of a few colleges in the area.

Beverly - Another fantastic area to check out. It's next to Salem and there are some affordable places. It's got some really good mom and pop businesses such as restaurants and stores for you to check out, and it's also in a relatively active part of the state where you can always find something.

Quincy - Quincy is pretty good and directly next to Boston. You can find a relatively quiet neighborhood within this small city and there are some good places in the area aside from bars and restaurants, but a really great library too if you're a bookworm. It's pretty affordable and it's got quite a healthy mix of everything along with the beach.

L J

Lynn, Mass. is a nice little community.

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