Where should I live? 2009 Edition
For those of you just tuning in, at the end of December I decided that I’m not going to buy this year, but I am going to move to a neighborhood that eases my commute and hopefully puts me in a better community. The rest of this post is the results of my search thus far and the decision I’m facing now.
I’ve ended up narrowing down my search to Beacon Hill (where my church is located and where a good deal of my socializing occurs) and Jamaica Plain (where I’m likely to be able to buy in the near future). I’ve also considered the Porter Square/Davis Square area, but time has limited my search there, so it sorta fell off the map.
I’ve looked at a few apartments in both neighborhoods so far, and after many that really don’t quite work, I’ve found some viable options in both places over the past 2 days.
Beacon Hill Option: It’s a smallish 1 bedroom in a low rise building. It’s on Cambridge Street, about 2 blocks from the Charles MGH stop on the Redline. It’s probably a 15 minute walk to work, and it’s very close to Whole Foods (Whole Foods would be on my walk home from work). The apartment is at the back of the building and I expect it to be sheltered from the road noise of the busy street. The kitchen is very small, but I expect it to be workable. The major drawback of this place is that it will take some editing of my possessions. The car will have to go. I may have to get rid of some dressers in my bedroom, and possibly some of my kitchen stuff (*gasp*). I should have enough room for my dining room table in its most folded state. I can’t remember if it has a dishwasher, but I think it may. There’s no laundry in the building, and without a car, laundry gets harder. The rent is $350 more than I’m paying now, and it includes heat and hot water. Oh, and it has a working fireplace!
JP Option 1: 1st floor of a funky Victorian, about 5 minutes from the Stony Brook stop on the Orange line. This makes it probably a 20 to 30 minute commute to work (beats my current 45-60 min commute). It’s nominally a 2 bedroom, but one bedroom is pretty small. It’s got one of those circular layouts common in Victorians where one room flows into another. It’s got a big living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and 2 pantries! The closets in the bedrooms are a bit small, but the second bedroom could actually be set up as more of a dressing room, as it connects to the first bedroom. The living room has been painted a funky combination of celadon green and oxblood red, picking up 2 colors in a multicolor stained glass window. I actually kind of like it and could see my furniture fitting well. There is also a huge hall closet, a closet in the dining room, and a room off the backdoor that would be great for holding the bicycle I never use. The downside is that while it’s been freshly painted, it’s been painted messily. All the wood has layers of ancient paint on it, and it feels just a little bit not clean. The kitchen, while large, lacks a dishwasher. The rent is $100 more than my current rent, and it includes heat and hot water. My current rent doesn’t, so I expect to about break even over the course of the year. I’d have access to the back yard, but I’m slightly concerned about the fact that being on the ground floor may mean less security. I could keep my car and park on the street. There’s no laundry in the building.
JP Option 2: 3rd floor of a triple-decker. It’s on the top of a hill that gives me a view of the city from one of the bedrooms. It’s probably about another 15 minutes further from the T stop. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 porches, as well as a dining room with a built in china cabinet! The kitchen is similar to the other-large, but no dishwasher. It does have 1 large pantry though. It’s a lot cleaner and brighter feeling than the other. The lights were odd though: no light switches, instead there were pull cords on all of them. There was no coat closet or closets other than in the bedroom (which is consistent with my current living space). It’s $100 more than my current rent, and heat and hot water are not included. There is also no laundry in the building. Again though, I could keep my car.
I think I could be happy in any of those places, quite possibly happier than I am now. Of the two in JP, I’m inclined towards Option 1 because of the proximity to the T stop, though the view and the porches in the other made me happy. The challenge is that life would be very different in Beacon Hill than in JP.
The first major trade off is space. I’d have to do shed a lot of stuff to shoehorn myself into the Beacon Hill apartment. I feel that that may be good for my soul, but it’s hard to do. I’m especially afraid of selling my car, and then moving to another neighborhood in the near future where I think I’d want to have one again. The transaction cost of selling off one car and then buying another is daunting. The other implication of less space is entertainment. I have this desire to have people over to entertain more. In Beacon Hill, people would be more likely to just drop by, but I could accommodate more people in JP. I could have dinner parties in JP.
The other trade off is location. In Beacon Hill, I’d drastically reduce the amount of time I spend simply getting from one place to another. Right now, I probably spend 10-15 hours per week simply getting from one place to another. All the time I currently spend on public transit, would pretty much disappear if I moved to Beacon Hill, though I’d still spend some time walking around. In JP, transit time would be cut in half, but it would still mean spending 5-7 hours every week.
The final difference would be rowing. If I moved to Beacon Hill, I’d try to join a boat club that rows out of the Esplanade, a 10 minute walk away. If I moved to JP, I’d either stop rowing, or continue at my current club, a 15 minute drive away. That would mean getting up at 4:45 instead of 5 am on the days I row.
Other than that is my mental image of myself. Hanging out in Beacon Hill, I feel like I’m posing a bit. I have some unresolved class issues that stem from being a scholarship student at boarding school, which mixed with a general sense of non-belonging, has long left me questioning where exactly I belong. The shops in Beacon Hill are mostly high end boutiques and antiques stores, though there are some more down to earth stores as well. In Jamaica Plain, there’s a natural foods coop and CSA deliveries. There are organic coffee shops and a more hippy sensibility. I feel more comfortable there in a lot of ways, but maybe living in Beacon Hill will help me exorcise some of those demons.
So that’s pretty much what I’m sleeping on at the moment. I’ve written this more to get my thoughts down on pixels rather than as a plea for advice. I welcome further questions, but please don’t tell me what I should do. On the whole though, I feel like either way will be a fun adventure and that I will enjoy life more in either Beacon Hill or in JP than where I am currently.
I’ve ended up narrowing down my search to Beacon Hill (where my church is located and where a good deal of my socializing occurs) and Jamaica Plain (where I’m likely to be able to buy in the near future). I’ve also considered the Porter Square/Davis Square area, but time has limited my search there, so it sorta fell off the map.
I’ve looked at a few apartments in both neighborhoods so far, and after many that really don’t quite work, I’ve found some viable options in both places over the past 2 days.
Beacon Hill Option: It’s a smallish 1 bedroom in a low rise building. It’s on Cambridge Street, about 2 blocks from the Charles MGH stop on the Redline. It’s probably a 15 minute walk to work, and it’s very close to Whole Foods (Whole Foods would be on my walk home from work). The apartment is at the back of the building and I expect it to be sheltered from the road noise of the busy street. The kitchen is very small, but I expect it to be workable. The major drawback of this place is that it will take some editing of my possessions. The car will have to go. I may have to get rid of some dressers in my bedroom, and possibly some of my kitchen stuff (*gasp*). I should have enough room for my dining room table in its most folded state. I can’t remember if it has a dishwasher, but I think it may. There’s no laundry in the building, and without a car, laundry gets harder. The rent is $350 more than I’m paying now, and it includes heat and hot water. Oh, and it has a working fireplace!
JP Option 1: 1st floor of a funky Victorian, about 5 minutes from the Stony Brook stop on the Orange line. This makes it probably a 20 to 30 minute commute to work (beats my current 45-60 min commute). It’s nominally a 2 bedroom, but one bedroom is pretty small. It’s got one of those circular layouts common in Victorians where one room flows into another. It’s got a big living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and 2 pantries! The closets in the bedrooms are a bit small, but the second bedroom could actually be set up as more of a dressing room, as it connects to the first bedroom. The living room has been painted a funky combination of celadon green and oxblood red, picking up 2 colors in a multicolor stained glass window. I actually kind of like it and could see my furniture fitting well. There is also a huge hall closet, a closet in the dining room, and a room off the backdoor that would be great for holding the bicycle I never use. The downside is that while it’s been freshly painted, it’s been painted messily. All the wood has layers of ancient paint on it, and it feels just a little bit not clean. The kitchen, while large, lacks a dishwasher. The rent is $100 more than my current rent, and it includes heat and hot water. My current rent doesn’t, so I expect to about break even over the course of the year. I’d have access to the back yard, but I’m slightly concerned about the fact that being on the ground floor may mean less security. I could keep my car and park on the street. There’s no laundry in the building.
JP Option 2: 3rd floor of a triple-decker. It’s on the top of a hill that gives me a view of the city from one of the bedrooms. It’s probably about another 15 minutes further from the T stop. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 porches, as well as a dining room with a built in china cabinet! The kitchen is similar to the other-large, but no dishwasher. It does have 1 large pantry though. It’s a lot cleaner and brighter feeling than the other. The lights were odd though: no light switches, instead there were pull cords on all of them. There was no coat closet or closets other than in the bedroom (which is consistent with my current living space). It’s $100 more than my current rent, and heat and hot water are not included. There is also no laundry in the building. Again though, I could keep my car.
I think I could be happy in any of those places, quite possibly happier than I am now. Of the two in JP, I’m inclined towards Option 1 because of the proximity to the T stop, though the view and the porches in the other made me happy. The challenge is that life would be very different in Beacon Hill than in JP.
The first major trade off is space. I’d have to do shed a lot of stuff to shoehorn myself into the Beacon Hill apartment. I feel that that may be good for my soul, but it’s hard to do. I’m especially afraid of selling my car, and then moving to another neighborhood in the near future where I think I’d want to have one again. The transaction cost of selling off one car and then buying another is daunting. The other implication of less space is entertainment. I have this desire to have people over to entertain more. In Beacon Hill, people would be more likely to just drop by, but I could accommodate more people in JP. I could have dinner parties in JP.
The other trade off is location. In Beacon Hill, I’d drastically reduce the amount of time I spend simply getting from one place to another. Right now, I probably spend 10-15 hours per week simply getting from one place to another. All the time I currently spend on public transit, would pretty much disappear if I moved to Beacon Hill, though I’d still spend some time walking around. In JP, transit time would be cut in half, but it would still mean spending 5-7 hours every week.
The final difference would be rowing. If I moved to Beacon Hill, I’d try to join a boat club that rows out of the Esplanade, a 10 minute walk away. If I moved to JP, I’d either stop rowing, or continue at my current club, a 15 minute drive away. That would mean getting up at 4:45 instead of 5 am on the days I row.
Other than that is my mental image of myself. Hanging out in Beacon Hill, I feel like I’m posing a bit. I have some unresolved class issues that stem from being a scholarship student at boarding school, which mixed with a general sense of non-belonging, has long left me questioning where exactly I belong. The shops in Beacon Hill are mostly high end boutiques and antiques stores, though there are some more down to earth stores as well. In Jamaica Plain, there’s a natural foods coop and CSA deliveries. There are organic coffee shops and a more hippy sensibility. I feel more comfortable there in a lot of ways, but maybe living in Beacon Hill will help me exorcise some of those demons.
So that’s pretty much what I’m sleeping on at the moment. I’ve written this more to get my thoughts down on pixels rather than as a plea for advice. I welcome further questions, but please don’t tell me what I should do. On the whole though, I feel like either way will be a fun adventure and that I will enjoy life more in either Beacon Hill or in JP than where I am currently.