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Pinwurm t1_j62ef6m wrote

There's a few places I'd recommend.

Anywhere in Chestnut Hill is fine. Beautiful area, fairly peaceful, safe, walkable - and has a some greenspace. It's an unofficial neighborhood that's made up of parts of Brighton, Newton and Brookline.

If you want something a little more 'fun', I would recommend Cleveland Circle in Brighton. It's about a 20-25 minute walk to BC campus, there's a lot of students in your age bracket - and you'll have access to the Green C Trolley to get you in and out of downtown in a reliable amount of time. The C goes through Brookline which is an beautiful affluent area, plenty of mom & pop businesses & good eats. Super convenient if you're ever going to a game at Fenway Park, a concert at House of Blues, a date at the Common, or anything like that.

Brighton Center works as well. There's more grad students and young working professionals than Cleveland Circle. Great bang for your buck. It's about the same distance to walk to BC. Unfortunately, the closest trolley is the B line which is the slowest of all greens. It's usually faster to take buses.

Newton Centre is great, but it's more.. families and stuff than 20-somethings. It's also more expensive.

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blue_orchard t1_j62fkax wrote

I second Cleveland Circle. Easy to walk to the college, and the B line is an option when weather is bad. In addition to the Green line to Boston, the 86 bus stops there and gives a more direct route to Cambridge.

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Physicccc OP t1_j62fr76 wrote

Ok rad, I'll check out Cleveland Circle then

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ArsenalBOS t1_j641hz0 wrote

I lived in Cleveland Circle for about 5 years. It’s a perfect option for your situation IMO. Easy to get to campus, plenty of food and a bar or two. Direct access to Back Bay and downtown via the C line (and B or D depending on where you live precisely).

I wouldn’t bring a car unless you’ll need it for off campus work or something. The snow isn’t that big of a deal but parking is a nightmare. I had a car the whole time I lived in the neighborhood and it was hit while parked 5 different times. Just a total pain in the ass.

Some other options for you would make more sense with a car (Newton, Chestnut Hill, etc).

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Physicccc OP t1_j62fhus wrote

Thank you so much for all the information! This is very helpful

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ZipBlu t1_j63803e wrote

Overall Pinwurm has given you great, accurate advice about neighborhoods in the area. I’d just add a few things related to car ownership, since you mentioned it in your original post. Snow isn’t that much of a problem. There will only be like 5 days a year on average when you can’t drive because of snow. A car is a pain in the ass, because most places won’t have a driveway, but I wouldn’t want to live near the end of the B or C line without one.

BC has huge parking garages in the middle of campus and prices are fairly reasonable for grad students, (prices are tiered—they are crazy expensive for undergrads, but like 1/5 the cost for grad students) so I don’t think it’s crazy to have a car. BC is at the end of the B and C branches, and these lines are slow anyway. It can be a long wait for trains, and there’s also frequently maintenance on the weekends. It’s really hard to do things like grocery shop without a car, and the T will only bring you into and out of the city, so if you want to do something in the suburbs it’s practically impossible. (There is the commuter rail, but you would spend nearly an hour just getting to it before you even start towards your destination. The trains are infrequent and only serve a few communities and in most cases you’d need a car to get to your final destination once you leave the station.)

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cetaceanrainbow t1_j63ou4q wrote

I agree the snow isn't a reason to not bring a car, but I do live near the end of the B line without a car, have for almost 9 years, and it's fine. The trains go to the grocery store, and I use Zipcar to get out of the city. Some neighborhoods it's a nightmare to have a car so it has to really be worth it, this is not one of them, so it does come down to personal preference more, but I wouldn't say it's "really hard to grocery shop".

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TwoforFlinching613 t1_j63uizh wrote

2nd that grocery shopping is easy in that area. Buy reusable bags, only one person, one bag should be fine. At least it is for me when I go to the grocery store. Also, there are multiple grocery delivery services Instacart, Amazon, Imperfect Foods, etc.

Have lived in Boston for 20 years without a car without issue.

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wallet535 t1_j65hy39 wrote

Agree. You can rent a LOT of cars and take a TON of Ubers for the price of car ownership.

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