Financial confusion
City mouse or suburban mouse, dollar for dollar

Scott Denne

For Roger House the move from Central Square in Cambridge to Arlington made good financial sense. His rent is $500 a month cheaper and “the sun always shines in Arlington,” he said sarcastically.

The average price for a 2 bedroom apartment is $1100 per month in Arlington, compared to $1800 in Boston according to the National Association of Realtors. Although Arlington’s property tax rate is slightly higher than Boston’s, buying a house in Arlington costs almost half what it would in Boston.

Boston is surrounded by suburbs that offer cheaper rents and lower housing prices. But maybe that’s all they offer. Arlington, anyway does not offer the young, diverse and exciting social scene of the city proper

“Socially, it is not a very good location for young people,” said House, adding that it is a “dead” and “dry” town with very few places to meet friends for a drink.

But it is not just the lack of a good watering hole that makes Arlington different than Boston.

“It is a middle aged, white family town,” said House, commenting on Arlington’s lack of diversity, “with some nouveaux riche Asian-Americans.”

The trade off for his lower rent, House said, really comes in terms of the commute to Boston.

On a normal day with good weather it takes about 40 minutes to get from Arlington to downtown Boston, where he works at Emerson College. He takes a bus from Arlington to the red line. However, when the weather is bad the commute can be much longer.

There are several bus lines that go from Arlington to various stops on the red line; but “what they all have in common is that when the weather is bad they take much longer to show up,” said House.“When you're standing out there in the elements in the morning you begin to question if $500 a month is worth it.”

Commuting by car does not improve the situation much. On a day without traffic and ideal weather conditions it takes only about 20 minutes to drive from Arlington to Boston. But when is there ever a traffic-free commute to downtown Boston on a weekday?

The cost benefit analysis of moving to the burbs must take parking fees in account. The median monthly price of parking in Boston is $425; this is triple the national average, according to Colliers International.

There is something to be said for pulling into a driveway, rather than driving around the block 12 times at the end of a long day, but then that driveway needs to be shoveled. And paying the price of airfare to Cancun every month just to park your car at work blows.

Grim parking scenarios in the city aren’t likely to change anytime soon, either. The Environmental Protection Agency has placed a parking freeze on Boston, preventing new parking space to be added anywhere in the city, with the exception of South Boston.

House says he will give Arlington another six months before he decides whether he will stay; but he does offer this advice: “If you have the money, stay in Boston.”

Scott Denne can be reached at sdenne@theoysteronline.com

03/01/2006   |   Permalink