For every Bostonian hopeful planning to pack their bags and head northeast, there are plenty of reasons to go forward with the big move. With over a quarter million college students, Boston reaps all the benefits of a youthful population brimming with innovation and enterprise. Boston even beats out both New York and Los Angeles as a top city for venture-capital investment, creating the perfect cradle for the young entrepreneur looking to delve into the startup industry. Before loading the moving truck, consider the following before you take off and don’t forget to pack your snow shovel.
Boston loves Sports
The Patriots. The Red Sox. The Bruins. The Celtics. You may not be a sports fan, but it is absolutely necessary to consider that many Bostonians are. For the non-sports fans considering a move the The Hub, keeping track of game schedules will prove to be immensely helpful when mapping out travel time through and around the city. The influx of sports fans from around the city and surrounding area will affect your commute, it would be wise to keep note of who plays who even if you won’t be tracking the scoreboard.
Techies
Over recent years, Boston and its neighboring cities, Charles River and Cambridge have developed an attractive corporate culture laying host to big pharma and tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Boston has positioned itself to become a hotbed for hundreds of tech startups given the city’s proximity to some of America’s leading universities. In particular, Cambridge’s Kendall Square, neighboring MIT, demonstrates a thriving startup scene home to eager students and recent graduates.
College Town, USA
Boston and its surrounding suburbs boast some of America’s most elite universities including a host of Ivy’s and exceptionally prestigious institutions like Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University, Boston College, Boston University, Emerson College, Northeastern University, Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale to name a few. With over 30 colleges and universities within Boston’s greater metropolitan area, it’s safe to say that Boston is truly a college city and enjoys a multitude of benefits through university partnerships.
Quick Getaways
A staycation in Boston warrants a trip to one of the city’s many craft breweries. Although beer brewing has always been a Boston staple, the industry has seen impressive jumps with over one hundred different breweries now calling Boston home. Many breweries offer tours including Harpoon Brewery and of course, Samuel Adams. Keep in mind that while most bars around the city shutdown at 2 AM, the metro system stops running generally between 12:30 AM and 1:00 AM.
If you find yourself looking for an escape outside the city limits, quiet destination spots like Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket are within reach of a reasonable drive for a day trip or weekend vacation during the warmer months. Even without a car, many nearby vacation spots are accessible by bus, train, or ferry ride. Many Boston residents seek outdoor excursions enjoying the lakes and mountains of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
Massachusetts winters are sometimes harsh. It’s not uncommon for Boston to receive several feet of snow during relatively frequent snowstorms. In general, wintertime temperatures dip down to the high teens and low twenties. During the cooler seasons, consider hitting a ski lodge. Even without the slopes, what better way to enjoy below freezing temps than posted fireside inside a rustic New England cabin
The T
The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority or “The T” is at the heart of a Bostonian’s everyday commute. If you’re uninterested in paying additional fees for street parking, prefer to sidestep paying to park in a garage, and often find yourself forgetting to check your parking meter, then embracing public transportation may be the best option for you. It would be wise to consider selecting a home or apartment by a stop on the same color line you need to take to get to work. By reducing the number of transfer stops, your commute time will significantly decrease as opposed to having to jump trains every morning. Although living within walking distance from a T station would be ideal, expect to pay a hefty fee. These locations are sought after and typically expensive locations.
Triple Deckers
Apartment shopping in Boston means scouring the depths of Craigslist for apartment listings. Most available apartments are known as “triple deckers” or “three deckers” depending on who you ask. These buildings are owner-occupied two to three family houses rented to tenants for a lease on the second and third floor. These homes are unique to New England and are generally held as a staple experience to living in Boston. Triple deckers are often older homes, individually managed, and come with less luxuries than new apartment buildings, specifically in-unit laundry hookups. Considering that the average Boston renter pays roughly one-thousand dollars a month, settling for an in-building laundry facility in one of these homes will have a trade off for substantially cheaper rent.
Just before you unload the moving van, think about reserving your very own moving permit online through Boston City Hall. Most apartments within the city are accompanied by a September 1st move in date to accommodate (for better or worse) all of the many college students moving back to campus in the fall. Imagine the entire city is moving in on the same day and prepare to plan accordingly. If you are considering moving in at any other time of the year, subletting an apartment would be a solid option.
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