Your channel is so helpful! I'm moving to Boston from TX as well, and I'd love more vids like this on what to expect, especially come summer and winter time w/o central AC
Thank you! Hoping this channel can make your move a bit easier! Good news: summers in Boston aren’t even close to as hot as TX. You can survive without central AC, but it’s still nice to have!
Very interesting and entertaining. I got caught in a massive traffic jam on the I-95/I-93 convergence. I noticed a Wyoming plate on the car in front and wondered what it was like to be caught in a traffic jam with more people than in your state! Boston, Quincy [MA], Brockton [MA] and Providence [RI] are densely populated with 1,000 or more people per Sq.Mi. in some areas. Traffic, aggressive drivers and parking are major concerns, so kudos to the producer for covering it. What should have been mentioned is that rent, traffic and parking issues usually* get better as distance from Boston Downtown increases. *However apartment rent increases with closeness to Commuter Rail, Subway/T or Bus access. Station parking varies between $2 and $7 per day. So, moderate walking distance to public transportation and no car can save a huge amount of money. My students tell me that having apartments with several housemates with private bedrooms and shared common areas can reduce rent per person below dorm cost with similar conditions but more freedom [BTW my students were 20yo+]. My mother's family are real Yankees, her ancestors were here before the Revolution and may have chased Redcoats back from Lexington and besieged them there. In New England Yankee is usually a compliment, while outside of Boston, Bostonian is often not. The movie/TV Boston accent you may expect you may never hear. My university friends usually kidded me that my mother had a strong accent and I had none. Even locally, there are differences in accent and vocabulary, but it's the vocabulary that can confuse you, and since frappe, cabinette and milkshake can be the same or different in different areas, I won't get into that. 🍺Most importantly [especially for international students], the drinking age is 21, proof is required for purchase, and buying for someone else underage or not is a crime that is prosecuted. If your licence is a picture licence from a US polity you should be OK, student ID is not legally valid. If a group goes to a liquor store ALL may be required to have ID. There is a non-driving ID that is issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles that is valid for all purposes. A bank account requires a valid ID or passport. Bars and restaurants may be open until 2:00 a.m. but public transport stops [depending on line] between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. with some holiday exceptions. This was an excellent video.
Very helpful, thank you. I am moving to Boston from Austin,TX, and I am personally looking forward to the existence of seasons. That Texas heat and power outages really take a toll on you!
Just to be clear - the parking space-saving thing only happens in the winter when there is snow. A person will shovel out the space and then claim it. To Bostonian's this only seems fair. Why would you spend all that time and effort only to have some a-hole in a BMW swoop in and park in the space you just cleared out? And the space saver is only good for few days - not the entire season. And I would argue that Boston drivers are actually very GOOD drivers. They are however, very aggressive drivers. When you see the amount of traffic and the tight and often confusing situations they have to drive in - you'll understand.
This was helpful, even if it was disheartening. I would like to move to Boston from California in the next couple years. I lived in Winthrop in ‘97 for several months but it wasn’t the best of circumstances. Luckily I grew up poor so things like laundromats and no car are not a big deal (I do remember the T being very convenient). Here’s to hoping!
You are totally correct! Under the current structure, the renter has to pay the fee upfront. I would much rather have the broker fee covered in rent over the course of the lease.
The reason the drivers are so aggressive is because the road engineering in the Greater Boston area is the worst in the United States. At least in Europe they drive small cars.
Very true! Some units do not force renters to pay a broker fee. However, I would say at least half of units do ask for a fee, so newcomers to the area should absolutely be financially prepared depending on the unit they are interested in.
My one bedroom was $2900 a month in downtown,until they just increased it to $3500 a month starting in September. $600 increase out of blue. There is no rent control in Boston, aka rent cap, so they can increase it as much as they want.
