<p>My son will be starting a co-op job in mid-August through mid-December and needs a furnished place to live in suburban Boston. His employer has been of little help so far in helping him find a place. Does anyone here who lives in the Boston area know of places, web sites or other means (perhaps on-line classifieds) to try to find a place for 4 months? He will be working in either the Sudbury or Woburn areas. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.</p>
<p>Try this link: <a href=“http://boston.craigslist.org/[/url]”>http://boston.craigslist.org/</a></p>
<p>Thanks. I’ve been checking it out. I sure wish that we knew the Boston area better in terms of which towns were where.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bostonapartments.com/apartmentresources.htm[/url]”>http://www.bostonapartments.com/apartmentresources.htm</a> might be worth looking at. Waltham has lots of apartments/corporate extended stay hotels (you’ll find some of these in Woburn as well). Waltham is about half way between Sudbury and Woburn. Sudbury is much more off the beaten track (take Rte 20 west from Rte 128) whereas Woburn is right at the intersection of Rte 93 and Rte 128. You might also call the housing office at Bentley or Brandeis and see if they have listings for sublets nearby.</p>
<p>He should look in Cambridge and Somerville using craigslist. There should be quite a bit of temporary apartment shares available because of the dense student population. He will be able to commute out route 2 to rt 128 and from there it is an easy commute to either Woburn or Sudbury. If he will not have a car than either place will be difficult.</p>
<p>When my S and 2 roomies had internships in LA, the school required them and other interns to stay at Oakwood Corporate Housing. It is very $$$$ but they split the cost 3 ways. Check out <a href=“http://www.oakwood.com%5B/url%5D”>www.oakwood.com</a> because they have extended stay facilities.</p>
<p>Boy, I’ll say it’s expensive. My son will likely not have a roommate so I think the prices for Oakwood would be a bit prohibitive. They do look nice, however. Thanks for the lead.</p>
<p>scma and unsoccer-mom, thanks for your leads as well. The place that scma linked to may have some promise. I have also been doing some Craigslist research and have found a few potentials. It’s too bad they don’t have a way to sort the listings based on distance from desired location. It sure would save a lot of trial and error searches.</p>
<p>One more suggestion. Try <a href=“http://www.bostonroommate.com/[/url]”>http://www.bostonroommate.com/</a>.</p>
<p>Does your son have a car? Sudbury might be harder to get to without a car. If he is commuting by the T - you might want to check out the T routes. </p>
<p>Arlington is another community to consider. Also, Medford and Waltham. Each is very different. Lots of students, young couples, faculty, etc live in Arlington - might find a short term rental. Medford is more suburban but many students live there and go to Tufts - easy commute to Woburn and not too bad to Sudbury. Brookline would also have a lot of housing and students but would require your son to move out of the city to get to the main roads that go to Waltham or Sudbury. I’d check Arlington, Medford, Cambrldge. You might check the local papers for sublets, local realtors…What about the school - any suggestions from them?</p>
<p>Here’s a Tufts site - <a href=“http://ase.tufts.edu/och/Listings/Listing_form_RoomsforRent.htm[/url]”>http://ase.tufts.edu/och/Listings/Listing_form_RoomsforRent.htm</a></p>
<p>Thanks. Yes, he has a car. Do you have any idea what the traffic would be like going from Arlington to Sudbury (his most likely work place)? I assume that he would be going against the normal traffic flow, but my recollection of Boston area traffic is that it can get pretty congested and a 10 mile trip could turn into a 45 minute drive.</p>
<p>What is the Framingham area like? He has a couple of friends who will be working for a company that has arranged for housing for its co-op students in Framingham and it would be nice if he could at least be near them.</p>
<p>fundingfather I think Framingham is a good idea, especially if he’s got friends there already. I think the housing costs could be significantly less and it’s accessible to major transportation routes.</p>
<p>Framingham to Sudbury would be a snap. Framingham to Woburn, however, would be a real bear. Best midway point for both towns would be Waltham near Route 128.</p>
<p>My Sweet Babboo - I assume you mean because of the traffic - I don’t have to come that way so I have to defer. It would require Mass Pike from Framingham to 128 North? probably jammed with commuters? Frankly, anything on 128 is tough in the morning. I just passed by an possible opportunity to work in Waltham because the commute on 128 from the North Shore is bumper to bumper. It’s would be nice for him to be close to friends. Framingham has lots of stores, Route 9 is lined restaurants, stores, etc. Might be a nice area although not a “student” area. It sounds like a big road but it isn’t - slow going as well, but due to lights and local traffic. Basically, metro Boston is a commuter’s nightmare unless you are right in town or quite a bit out of the city.</p>
<p>I agree with Rileydog, although I should mention that the North-South (north in the am, south in the pm) commute on the upper end of 128 isn’t too bad. I usually see cars flying in the other direction… while the south-north commute is usually an hour for a 15-mile drive at rush hour.</p>
<p>Framingham does have Framingham State nearby, so there are some students around. The reverse commute (Boston out on the Pike in the am) might not be as bad as other commutes. Boston -> Woburn in the am isn’t bad (esp. because you can get off 93 at Montvale Ave, before the traffic for the 93/95 interchange). I’ve done the city to Waltham/Lexington via Route 2, which is a really easy drive out in the morning (esp. since there is a way to bypass the Rt 2/95 interchange); Sudbury, however, would require a long drive on 128. </p>
<p>Just a data point: it’s 6:40 pm here, and the Weston -> Gloucester commute is 42 miles and 68 minutes (almost all of which is traffic from the Pike to the 93 interchange). The Gloucester -> Weston commute is 72 minutes. Thanks, SmarTraveler.</p>
<p>One of the few companies in the area that I know have facilities in both Woburn and Sudbury. I work at Raytheon and could try posting something on the company BB to see if anyone at those facilites would be willing to rent a room. I will tell you that Sudbury is in the middle on nowhere a real cowtown. He will find it very difficult to get around without a car there. Woburn is better, but I am not sure there is much in the way of public transportation there either.</p>
<p>kidsmom, he has a car.<br>
Sounds like, from an earlier post, that he’d be more likely to work in Sudbury, so perhaps he should favor that in his housing decision. I do think there’s a lot more availability of less expensive housing in Framingham.</p>
<p>ariesathena - yes, the upper 128 is a breeze, once you get past the 93 connection clutter. I haven’t done that commute for a while - maybe it is better since the Big Dig but doesn’t seem like it should be. </p>
<p>I have to agree about Sudbury being rather a snoozefest for a college student! Plus, all I can think about is that long, single lane road - Old Post Road, is it? Fundingfather - if you can keep your son nearby friends in Framingham, that seems best. He can get around any of these places as he needs to - I had so many clinical placements all over Boston - somehow you figure it out - you figure out the time frame - you listen to music, even under ideal conditions, there are always commuting problems in these areas! Is your son a student at NU?? If so, would he rather be near his NU friends??</p>
<p>Thanks, to all for your inputs. Yes, my son will be at Raytheon but, unless things get desperate, he would probably prefer his own place, but thanks for the offer. He is likely to end up at Sudbury by his own request since his friends will be living in Framingham and for awhile he thought he would be able to live with them (their company actually arranges for apartments for their co-ops and subsidizes the rent). He also has a friend who goes to Brandeis and hence the place that scma provided a link for in Waltham may hold some possibility. He will call them today. No, my son is not a NU student; he’s from Cornell.</p>
<p>One thing I learned from links in this thread as well as the “cheap furniture” thread was that perhaps having a furnished place is not mandatory. I spoke with one of the places that was suggested here which offers furnished apartments. As it turns out they act as agents for a furniture rental company. Hence the premium to get a fully furnished place is about $400-500 per month. Over 4 months that’s a lot of money. However, from looking at Craigslist, it appears he could buy (or get free) used furniture for a lot less. It’s a lot more hassle and the furniture will be a lot lower in quality, but something to consider.</p>