/checks spreadsheet

Okay, so...

Saus is the best - and IMO better than most places in Canada. However there's two locations that are very different.
The one in Somerville's Bow Market is Vegetarian. So they use mushroom gravy & vegan cheese. The one Downtown is for meat-eaters & they also serve awesome chicken sandwiches & burgers.

Elephant & Castle is classic poutine, as traditional as it gets. If I recall correctly, they also had an Indian Butter-Chicken Poutine as well which is delicious.

The Porter Cafe in West Roxbury has "Quebecoise Poutine" on their menu. Quite ideal with a beer.

Trident Book Cafe has it - but I haven't had it.

Boston Burger Company has it on their menu, but I haven't tried it either.

Roxy's does Poutine Tots. Scratches an itch, but not quite right.

Double Chin does Peking Duck Fries which they call 'Poutine for your Mouth'. It's not quite Poutine, but it's a great overall menu and open until 4AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

Something similar I enjoyed was Shadowless Fries at Shojo.

There used to be other places that served it but are now permanently closed - like The Gallows or the temporary Air Canada Poutinerie. Saloon and JM Curley used to have it, but no more.

Edit: If you're ever in Portland ME, go to Duckfat. Make a special trip if you have to.

It's extremely safe - I lived in that area for a while. The only thing you ever need to worry about is wild turkeys. You'll see them from time to time. I'm not kidding.

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.

I have some friends in Belmont, rent is considerably less than in Cambridge.

Not in the it's little town center though, but plenty of affordability all 'round.

If you want to live close to campus and are earning under ~$65K, you will 100% need to have roommates. Studio apartments are pretty much prohibitively expensive for people in your salary range, in that area.

If you want subway access & afford a studio apartment, maybe look around Field's Corner or Quincy. It's off the Red Line, so you won't need to make any transfers. A commute will be about 45 minutes.

If you don't mind biking/buses - you can probably afford 1BR in the nearby suburb of Belmont. A commute will take about 25 minutes.

Water is required to be paid by the landlord, though if there are separate meters - a landlord can bill the tenant afterword.

Still, it's very rare. Sounds like too much of a hassle for renting, I wouldn't do it.

No worries. Good luck!

According to Nerdwallet, you will need $208,166 in Boston dollars to make the equivalent of $115,000.

Cost of living is going to be highly variable based on the area. Your mortgage is $900, which in most cases less than the cost of a bedroom in a shared apartment with roommates. And an average studio apartment in Boston is around $2,100 right now.

Lexington will be cheaper, since it's about 15 miles out. But be prepared for sticker shock and significantly reduced space. Expect $2,000-$2,500 for a 1 bedroom in that area.

Everything will be more expensive. Food, car insurance, utilities, etc. Remember that we have winter here - so you'll need to purchase winter gear as well.

I would recommend living and working on the same side of the Charles River. My top recommendation for you would be Medford. It's very safe, has a walkable town center with plenty to do and great food. You can reasonably own a car (I recommend only having one car between you and your partner) - and the drive to Lexington is less than a half hour. There is an Orange Line T-Station to get you in and out of Boston proper for fun & games without having to deal with parking.

If you want something more urban & exciting, Somerville is great - particularly Davis Square. Some great nightlife, music & arts, hipster bars & restaurants, and Red Line access to get you into Cambridge & Boston for additional fun. Plus, only about a half-hour to Lexington by car.

If these places are too expensive and subway access isn't important to you, then look at Lexington itself, Belmont, or Waltham. Go West of Lexington for more rural.

Well, you're welcome to message me.

I'm a married 30-something 9-5er, and side-hustle in music. Wife & I love live music, exploring restaurants & bars, standup comedy, travel. I do a bit of light console gaming, she reads a lot of books.

A lot of our regular circle of friends have moved to the suburbs in the last year or two - so we see them less. We like living in the city, so we're not going anywhere.

I mean, /r/bostonsocialclub can be a good start.

Why don't you tell us a bit about yourselves? What are you into? What brings you to Boston? You'd be surprised, I made a few friends just by replying to posts here.

Just an FYI to OP, this place gets really crowded and loud on weekends. At least when I went. It took like 8-10 minutes of solid waiting between holes to get a shot in, so it’s not quite physical. So maybe go on a weekday or off-hour instead.

Yeah. You’ll find that Boston shines better in other immigrant categories in terms of food, while severely lacking in others. There’s good Mexican here, it’s just far and few between.

If you miss a good roadside taqueria, Taqueria Don Rogue is as close as you get to a taco truck in SoCal. It’s very good, just sitting in a parking lot in Everett. Jalisco in East Boston is another favorite and they make a stellar birria too. If you’re close to Waltham, Taqueria El Amigo is phenomenal.

You want to go to La Oaxaquena in Revere. It's legit and has a huge selection of chiles.

If you need a good Mexican restaurant, I recommend Angela's Cafe in East Boston for a traditional Puebla-style kitchen.

Unfortunately, Boston area doesn't have a large enough Mexican population to warrant ubiquity in what you're looking for. We have a huge Central and South American community (El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, etc) but the shops that cater to that community aren't quite the same.

It's been a while since I was there, but I didn't realize Old Havana closed. :( They made the best Cuban sandwiches.

Eastern European here too. Though, I came here when I was a child.

I’m in my mid-30s too, and a condo-owner, and not a Sports fan. I moved to Boston almost a decade ago from another city - yet, I’ve found it a great place to make friends in. Just needed a little work.

Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself, what you’re into, hobbies, goals, etc? Feel free to message me, maybe we might have some stuff in common.

I’d generally recommend doing a Skip The Small Talk. They’re monthly speed-friending events, usually at a brewery or cafe. Sometimes they do dating-ones, too. I made some interesting friends this way - and you never know who you’ll meet.

Chelsea and Everett and near the airport, so this is to be expected. I, too, live near the airport. Most residents acclimate.

If you own your own property, you may need to invest in better windows and frames for sound insulation.

A cheaper solution is to invest in 'sleeping ear plugs' such as these.

If airplane noise continues to be a problem for you, than you should consider living farther from the airport.

There may be some rowdy fans, but otherwise its totally fine.

I got a degree in accounting in a cheaper city, and moved to Boston after. It was the right move.

Dayton is... fine, but have you also considered something like.... UMass Amherst? It's under 2 hours drive/bus from Boston and the area is comparatively very affordable. Huge student population, many of whom have ties to Boston, so networking would be easier. As well, it wouldn't be unreasonable to take day-trips to Boston for job fairs, conferences... as well as fun & games.

There's less frequency than pre-shutdown, but this is more an effect of enforcing safety regulations whilst we're understaffed.

However, there are way more new orange rolling stock than old. This is a huge deal - as these things are quieter, cleaner, safer, more reliable and.. well, feels modern. So my rider experience feels better.

So Orange has shot itself up to second-best line, after Blue. Red, meanwhile... oh, how the mighty have fallen.

The subway system (affectionately known as 'The T') is the best way to get around. It's safe, inexpensive and is faster than driving during about half the time. You can get a contactless tap & pay CharlieCard 7-Day Pass for $22.50 at one of the automated kiosks.

From the Airport, get on the Blue Line towards Bowdoin. Trains come every 5-10 minutes. Get off at Aquarium Station (about 6 minute ride), and the North End will be a 10 minute walk from here.

Boston is rather small, you'll probably find yourself walking most places downtown.

The T doesn't super late, if it's after 12:15AM - I'd recommend an Uber instead. Boston is also not a very 'late' town, with most bars closing between 11:00 and 2:00AM, with a 1:30AM last call. If you really need to drink later, Encore Casino in nearby Everett is 24/7 and serves booze until 4AM.

For Irish Pubs, my favorite is The Druid in Inman Square. It's a 10 minute walk from either Green Line E-Branch Union Square Stop or Red Line Central Square Stop. Outstanding food too.

If you want something more casual, Emmett's is downtown and always a good time. They do live Irish music from time to time. Other great Irish pubs include The Burren, JJ Foley's, Brendan Behan Pub. The Black Rose is fine too. If you're up for something a little different, The Haven is a Scottish Pub that is adored.

Wal-Mart has tried to build “city stores” like Target, and they all mostly failed. Within cities like Boston or NYC, Wal-Mart simply has too bad a reputation of ruining local economies and paying substandard wages. They weren’t drawing enough customers to justify expenses, they weren’t attracting enough workers. Most city residents preferred groceries at an actual grocery store - and other goods at Marshall’s and TJ Maxx (which, btw, do great here). For everything else, there’s Amazon.

As well, there is a Wal-Mart in nearby Quincy, Lynn and a massive one in Saugus. These are Boston suburbs no different than Watertown, and heck - Quincy has T access. You don’t have to go far to get your Walton fix.

In Fenway, you’re probably not going to find it. Max & Leo’s is fine, but their Newton location is measurably better.

If you don’t mind exploring, there’s a Frank Pepe’s in Chestnut Hill for New Haven style. My favorite pizzeria in Boston-area is Ciao! in nearby Chelsea for neapolitian style. I also really dig Ernesto’s which has a second location in Assembly, and they should deliver to Fenway.

Windsor Dim Sum is always a win.

You probably went to NETA in Brookline. It was the only rec dispensary in the area for a while, so it was pretty much a hassle unless you pre-ordered.

RISE in nearby Chelsea is kinda tucked away. Good shop, plenty of parking, will have everything you’re looking for, never a line.

This isn't California. People mostly use public transportation here. Unless you have guaranteed downtown parking, driving to/from downtown for work will be more expensive than the increased cost of having an apartment near the T.

As well, driving here is not easy. Between the traffic, the aggressive drivers, the confusing navigation, the awful road maintenance and general batfuckery and the winter - you'll spend more time boiling blood in traffic than on a train. For your own mental health, I don't recommend it.

Look into one of the farther, cheaper suburbs like Braintree for T access. Or if you want to be further out along Commuter Rail, places like Lowell are affordable and walkable.