Comparing Davis to Far-Off Places

[midsummernd.livejournal.com]

I need some help with housing decision-making, and I'm hoping ya'll can give me some advice.

I just moved up to Davis a month ago, on a two-month sublet. I lived here last summer, and I adore Davis Square. The plan had always been for me to move in with a friend of mine come September. Problem is, she wants to live in the Brookline/Brighton area. I work in Watertown, so that's not a terrible stretch for me commute-wise (might it even be shorter?) - but if anyone has lived on the other side of the river, I really could use some advice about how it compares to Davis.


What I want out of a living situation is this:
- Good value of apartment for the money - I don't want to live in a run-down place or a shoebox, but I'm young and pretty broke.
- Neighborhoody feel - I like that Davis feels pretty safe at night, and has all kinds of events on the weekends - not to mention good coffee and good food (oh and the green leafy things are awesome).
- A place to stash my car - either easy street parking or off-street parking.
- Good commute. I don't want to be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic every day, and I'd love to be able to take public transportation whenever possible.

Is it worth leaving Davis for a good roommate? Or have all of you chosen Davis over other parts of the area for excellent, well-thought out reasons that will sway my opinion away from the other side of the river?

I should note, I spend a lot of my free time by Kenmore Sq. and thereabouts, but I hadn't been to Coolidge Corner (which seems the most Davis-like area) until last night.

Comments

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

See, to me, the choice is easy. Red line vs green line.

No contest, really.

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

Seriously. This is one of the major reasons we moved *from* Brighton (where we lived 50ft from the Warren St. T stop) to Davis Square.

[strangeanimal.livejournal.com]

agreed. at its worst, the Red line still isn't that bad. whereas the Green line can be a horror show.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Also there is no overnight street parking in Brookline ever. You'll have to pay for an off-street spot.

[midsummernd.livejournal.com]

see, this is more of an issue for me than the T. I'm currently not using the T at all (a damn shame, what with the gas prices), but I know that I pay a premium to live right on top of it in Davis.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Coolidge Corner is completely awesome, but I expect quite expensive.

Brookline is Green Line, not Red, but at least you have three of them to choose from ;). C's better than B. I don't know the D line so well. Don't know how convenient any of them is for getting to Watertown, though; I'd look into buses. But totally convenient for Kenmore!

And it is, alas, true what butch_daddy says about parking (and off-street parking spaces in Brookline are impressively expensive).

It seems to me that if you don't have strong roots in either area you could develop them and have a lot of fun in either place, but the transportation and parking options are better near Davis. (The money probably depends...I'd imagine Brookline is more expensive and Brighton cheaper, but I haven't looked into it.)

[dictator555.livejournal.com]

I graduated from BU a couple of years ago, so I'm pretty familiar with the Brighton/Brookline area and still have friends over there. But I'm so, so much happier to be living in Davis Square now. Everyone here is right about the red line being better, of course.

But the atmosphere is also pretty different. A lot of Brighton is pretty dumpy, with a lot of college students looking for cheap housing, runoff from BU and BC. It can be kind of loud and raucous with drunken college students. But then it overlaps with Brookline, which is pretty upscale in places. I don't think the two integrate all that well. It makes it a good place to go shopping in kitchy stores or go to a dive bar, but not a great place to live.

I don't want to make it sound awful, because there are nice things about the area. Coolidge Corner is certainly decent. But it doesn't feel like Davis Square, which is so much more artsy and diverse. And in Davis, it seems like the students are less intrusive and more part of the neighborhood. I would definitely say Davis is more of a neighborhood place, but that's just one girl's opinion. The food is way better here, too. The Wikipedia articles on Brighton is pretty sparse, but the one on Brookline might give you a better idea. Hope that helped, and best of luck!

[ron_newman]

Coolidge Corner has a wonderful movie theatre and a great new-and-used bookstore, the Brookline Booksmith. It has a similar cluster of eateries to Davis Square. All in all, I think it's a fine place.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

This is kind of a biased group to be asking - naturally we all prefer Davis! You may want to ask b0st0n for a second opinion.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I vastly prefer Davis for a variety of reasons, but I was happy when I lived in Brighton on the Brookline line, right by Washington Square, not too far from Coolidge Corner. Prices comparable. Having commuted (by car) to Watertown from both places, it is *much* shorter from Brighton/Brookline. Not a factor to base a decision on, but a factor nonetheless.

[trtls.livejournal.com]

I used to work in Coolidge Corner and live in Brighton. What people say about the green line is absolutely true; it sucks. Coolidge Corner is kinda neighborhoody feeling, but things tend to shut down around 10. I think Brookline in general is fascist...they don't allow overnight parking and there is no night life to speak of. Yes, some cool independent shops, but you can visit those without living there.

If you want public transit to Watertown and easy street parking, the best option for those is Western Brighton. There are fewer parking by permit only places and the 57 bus goes to Watertown (depending on where you need to be). However, Western Brighton (Oak Square) is not neighborhoody at all, especially not like Davis Sq. Apartments would be cheaper, but may not be very well kept up.

I'm sure the roommate would be great but there are other great people out there. Stay in Davis!

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

I lived in Coolidge Corner for a year, between apartments in Porter and Davis Sqs, and I would happily live there again if the vast majority of my friends didn't live in Davis.

My apartment was great. It was more expensive than any apartment I've had on this side of the river, but not by a ton, and it was also easily half again as big as my largest apartment over here.

Coolidge Corner is a GREAT neighborhood. There's the bookstore with fun readings, the movie theater, lots and lots of good food... And I never felt unsafe, even coming home very late.

As other people have pointed out, though, if you have a car, you'll want to find an apartment that includes parking, because there's no overnight parking, ever, in Brookline, and parking spaces are at a premium. And, of course, the green line can be a pain in the ass. On the other hand, you're in easy walking distance to lots of interesting and fun stuff.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

Coolidge Corner is quite similar to Davis but with more families. If your priority is a cvar, you really can't live over there without a driveway and those aren't easy to find. And if mot of you friends are in Cambridge/Somerville you will enver see them again. People don't like to cross the river, expecially people without cars.

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

I live in the Allston/Brighton/Brookline area now but I'm in Davis a lot and lived in that area for 10 years.

I guess one thing to consider is that if you move to the Allston/Brighton/Brookline area, then to get to Watertown Square you can conveniently just catch the #57 bus on Comm Ave. If you live in Davis, you have to catch the Red Line to Harvard Sq and then the #71 to Watertown. One extra step that can sorta add up.

I find that there really aren't as many good coffee shops in the Allston/Brighton/Brookline area as there are in Davis. I walk all the way down to Espresso Royale near Guitar Center on Comm Ave to hang out at a good coffee shop.

And, yeah, as people have pointed out, if you move to Brookline make sure you find an apartment with a parking space included. Otherwise you'll have to rent one *somewhere else* in Brookline and it might not even be real near where you live.

[xjustquietx.livejournal.com]

I used to live in Brighton (Oak Square). I hated it, but it had some good points.

The 57 bus is easily one of, if not the, worst buses in town. I remember that one, freezing winter a few years back where I would commonly wait in the cold for nearly an hour. There also seemed to be more drunks and fights on the 57 than there are on the 87 or 88.

The green line, and the 57, are atrocious. I used to take the 504(?) downtown to work in the morning, and that only showed up every so often. I found it was faster to take the 64 to Central and get on the good ol' Red Line. However, if you're going to Watertown, since the traffic will probably be in the opposite direction (there were always plenty of 57s going the other way...) that might benefit you.

Someone said Oak Square wasn't neighborhoody, but I thought it was. I got to know a few of my neighbors and I liked them. But if I hadn't moved first I'm sure they would have. Seemed like a bit of a transient neighborhood (moreso than most). But still kind of nice. Children came to our apartment for Halloween. The Last Drop gets food for people who come in on Monday nights, and the bartenders and patrons were friendly. Oak Square seemed nice and crime free, although lots of irritating, loud, college students would throw parties. Other people I know who live elsewhere in Brighton currently probably wouldn't say it was so safe, they say there have been a lot of shootings.

The rent was pretty cheap. Some landlords seem to be deadbeats but we had a pretty nice one. I don't think parking was included.

There weren't really any events in Oak Square. Sometimes we went down to the Green Briar Pub for Trivia Night and there's a great music scene unfolding in Allston, but, my general feeling was the Brighton was boring as hell. It was a hike to Brighton Center for good food and good coffee. Maybe if you lived there, closer to the T, it might not be so bad, but I would say it was quite a different vibe from Davis, more boring in my opinion.

However a good roommate IS hard to find. But you know, good friends don't always make good roommates...

[midsummernd.livejournal.com]

thanks for this post (and to everyone else!). I don't have to use the bus, as I can drive to work in the morning. The parking situation IS a big deal. Although, just having a driveway would be nice (I haven't been able to find a decent place in Davis that does).

I do have a strong dislike of the green line, I suppose that's a factor.

The apartments on craigslist for that area just look so gorgeous - new kitchens, big bedrooms. . .Somerville can be so hit or miss on that count, and it feels like you pay a premium for every improvement the landlord has made in the last ten years. Although I'm guessing that's true there as well.

But as for whether good friends make good roomates? Believe me, I wouldn't be this torn about it if I didn't think that we'd make great roommates. After many, many roommate situations, I think my judgement's pretty sharp on that one. :)