<p>Our daughter is starting grad school this fall in Harvard. She just called because apparently the process is more complicated than she taught. University sponsored housing is an option but she wants to avoid it because it requires a meal plan.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure parents on this board studied or have children in the area.</p>
<p>Aside from the area around Harvard Square, which are areas to look for/avoid?</p>
<p>Any things she should do/not do during the process?</p>
<p>She has an option to leave with friends near Boston University but I think that may be too far.</p>
<p>Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>The Davis Square near Tufts is more affordable than Harvard Square, and is on the red line. Ditto with areas near Central Square. Arlington, Somerville, Medford, Watertown…There are sometimes good situations near Harvard, too, if she gets lucky.</p>
<p>I lived as a graduate student about a 45 minute walk from Harvard Sq just across the line in Somerville. I went back to visit the area a few years ago while at a conference in Boston and was amazed that I spent 1 and a half hour every day walking to/from school.</p>
<p>There are many Harvard grad student apartments which offer varied configurations, all over Cambridge, which do not require a meal plan. Contact the Harvard residential properties site online for all the offerings. She will have a much easier time building a social network and enjoying Harvard resources (lectures, concerts, exhibits) if she lives in Cambridge.</p>
<p>There are harvard apartments that don’t require a meal plan. I don’t know that they provide any more social life though, since it really just is apartment buildings and the larger complexes (ie peabody terraces) is mostly families. The smaller buildings seem to act just like normal buildings. The rent is also not particularly subsidized, so you can do better on your own or with some roommates. </p>
<p>A LOT of grad student live in somerville in the inman square area-- it’s a pretty cool area but far from transportation. It’s not very far to the campus though (~15-20 min walk?). People also live north of campus by the star-market. That’s not super far from porter and there are lots of grad student bar type things up there. Davis is a good choice, as is porter. A lot of people live north of mass ave between harvard and central. Cambridgeport (south of mass ave in that area) can be a bit sketchy.</p>
<p>There shouldn’t be any reason to have to move all the way out to watertown or arlington… plus if you are in those places you really need a car. If you stay in cambridge it’s pretty easy to get by without one. </p>
<p>Many of my classmates/lab mates have had success finding roommates on craigslist. Lots and lots of students around, so she should be able to find a house/large apartment with a bunch of other students at a relatively reasonable price.</p>
<p>I conveyed to DD some of the early suggestions including private messages I received from other posters. A private apartment appears to be outside her budget.</p>
<p>She will look at the university sponsored dorms and whether they require a meal plan (Bookworm, I just sent her an IM about the deadline. Thanks for the reminder). A good point that came in one of the conversation is the fact that many places will require a one year agreement. She is getting a M.Ed. which is a one year (rally 9 months) program.</p>
<p>Just wanted to add that Henry Kissinger lived “all the way out in Watertown” when he was a grad student at Harvard. He lived in the 3rd floor apt. of my mother-in-law’s house (it was HER parents’ house at the time.)</p>
<p>Agree with the above about subletting for the summer. My daughter has been living in Cambridge the past two years (I was just there two days ago in fact) and has a really nice apartment (two girls) in Central Square (that is both in walking distance to Harvard, but also one T stop away). Last summer, she sublet out her share and will this summer again. Actually, she is then leaving the apartment when the lease is up Sept. 1. Getting an apartment for nine months is difficult but subletting for the summer is not too hard. </p>
<p>By the way, I got my M.Ed. at Harvard and loved the Ed School, and I hope your D does too.</p>
<p>I would add that it is much easier to sublet an apartment that you find on your own than a harvard affiliated apartment (where I’m pretty sure that you need to find a harvard affiliate to sublet it to.) Most of the other apartments in my building are occupied by kennedy school kids and they seem to have no problem subletting.</p>
<p>I lived for my first year of grad school in a dorm on Ash Street. It was useful for meeting people not in my department. For the next few years, I rented somewhat shabby apartments on Putnam Avenue (between Harvard Square and Central Square). That neighborhood was very convenient – but it was probably less safe then and so the rents have probably gone up. This is a neighborhood that they call Riverside, and it is probably still on the relatively affordable side (at least vis-a-vis much of Cambridge). As SoozieVT suggested, Central Square could be a great neighborhood – lots of stuff to do and lower rents. Agree also re Inman Square: Great neighborhood. A cousin and his wife got an apartment there for their first year or two and then became Harvard RA’s, though they were pretty far out. There’s another neighborhood that you hit when you go out Kirkland Street and cross into Somerville that likely has a) cheaper apartments; and b) a bus into Harvard Square. If you go out Concord Avenue toward Fresh Pond, Cambridge cognoscenti, would there be some affordable apartments? If so, that would probably be reasonably convenient for the Ed School (although it is not clear your daughter will be at the Ed School).</p>
<p>There are a bunch of grad school apartments near Putnam Ave – Peabody Terrace is (was?) for married students but there’s a new dorm on Cowperthwaite St. that looks pretty fancy. </p>
<p>I think there are lots of options (none of them as far as BU). None are that inexpensive, but that’s the market. One key point: Harvard is not so small. I’d figure out where she will take classes and figure out a good walk from there. If she were going to take classes, say, in William James Hall, she could walk or take the bus up Cambridge St or Kirkland St. If she were at the Ed School, other neighborhoods might yield a reasonable walk. Best of luck.</p>
<p>didnt folks used to live in cambrideport, and of course central sq? How yuppified are those today?</p>
<p>And as many have said, slummerville is always a good option, though some parts had more grad students than others. Actually some of the parts without many students werent bad either.</p>
<p>When I went to Harvard Ed School, I lived on Harvard Street about halfway between Harvard Square and Central Square and walked to school every day. </p>
<p>Central Square has changed radically since my college and grad school days! My D lives there now. It is very gentrified. It used to be not too nice. But now there are cafes, shops, stores, and many apartments in walking distance. My D likes her apartment very much. Central Square is about two blocks. She walks to MIT, but one could walk to Harvard or choose to get on the T one stop, or ride a bike.</p>