I doubt anyone will be taking the train from western MA to Boston everyday unless it’s a high speed rail. It’s already what, an hour or more from Worcester to Boston via the commuter rail? And it’s not even guaranteed to run everyday. Worcester is convenient for migrating Bostonians because it’s cheaper and not unreasonably far for a work commute. Any further west and that appeal starts to break down.

Yup. When I lived on Washington street 15 years ago we partied with some train hoppers who hung out there. I also remember the old Salty Dog saloon. Wild times lol.

I don’t know how it would fall into classification, but I live on Blackstone river road in an old building. There’s a big complex being built and some old apartment buildings being gutted and renovated across the street from it. There were a few drug raids there last year and then one of the houses was lost to a fire, and I’m pretty sure the owner sold them after that. I’m mostly worried about the parking as my building already has zero off street parking and there’s tons of traffic from the school nearby.

Lol what part of the country doesn’t have a racist history? As to what we have to offer, we have lower rent prices than Boston and Cambridge so that’s always going to attract people.

Most of the other Wal Marts in the area have beer and wine but yeah, the thought of doing it at the Worcester location gives off a lot of “this is why we can’t have nice things” vibes.

I lived in Rutland for a little while, and my apartment was right off Main Street near the post office. I could hike all those trails from home, all the way to the ruins of Rutland Prison camps into Oakham and Barre. If you go all the way to 122 in Barre the Ware River rail trail goes further north. It’s such a vast and beautiful expanse in a largely unrecognized part of the state - a true hidden gem!

I lived in Rutland for a little while, and my apartment was right off Main Street near the post office. I could hike all those trails from home, all the way to the ruins of Rutland Prison camps into Oakham and Barre. I think if you go all the way to 122 in Barre the Ware River rail trail goes further north. It’s such a vast and beautiful expanse in a largely unrecognized part of the state - a true hidden gem!

I don’t know about gnarly, but if you get on the central Mass Rail Trail in Rutland it’s very bike friendly and goes for a long distance.

Any prices in Worcester are going to be preferable to pretty much anywhere east of 495 lol.

They can’t deny anyone because they’re on section 8 but I think the applications are still subject to things like the credit/background check, eviction history and having enough for the move in deposit - basically every other criteria besides income because that would be taken care of by section 8.

My first apartment was a 3 bedroom on Washington street between Kelley Square and Crompton park, for $845/month that I shared with two other roommates. That was in 2010. Now I pay more than that for a 350 square foot studio and my rent is still on the low end of the spectrum.

Sometimes you get lucky with certain places. On average though that’s way below market value for the area. Go on the Trulia app and set your max price at $1200, and see how quick most of the apartments disappear. On average 50k would get you the bare minimum qualification for rent being 1/3 your gross income, then after state/fed taxes, insurance and 401k savings it’s going to be closer to half of your actual income going towards rent. I’d say the 60-70k range is more like what you need to live comfortably in your own place.

Anything in Worcester under $1200 is fair game for some kind of infestation.

I just had to drive my friend from Worcester to Milford NH and the roads were absolute crap from Leominster north. Down power lines and I couldn’t stop at Cumbies on the way back because their power was out. I’d say they were pretty spot on.

I’m honestly surprised casinos in the area haven’t picked up on this - it is New England after all lol.

My sister actually moved to Ohio a few years ago - Athens county near the border of West Virginia. Having lived in MA all my life I was blown away by how low the rents were in OH. She rents a 3 bedroom house for about what I pay for my 350 square foot studio an hour west of Boston. I’d like to move out there myself but there isn’t nearly as much in the way of work for my field as there is here in the industrial northeast. You’re literally moving from one of the lowest cost of living regions of the country to one of the highest, so unfortunately your housing will be significantly higher.

Are some places only doing Doordash or Uber Eats after a certain hour? I had a legit hard time finding anyplace even open. Personally I don’t prefer the extra fees and waiting at home for my food. We were just out and about anyway and wanted to stop somewhere on the way home.

No worries so am I. I’m old enough to remember partying in Worcester and ordering wings at 1am before the Canal District became a ghost town after 11 lol.

Craigslist used to be good back in the day before smartphones and apartment hunting apps. Now it’s mostly a hot bed for scammers.

I looked into Eastview last year and they said they were full, I’m not even sure if the prices on their website are updated. Most of the new places being built are out of reach if you make much less than 6 figures. Under 1k for anything is rare, unless you know someone there’s probably going to be 20 people showing up just for the open house.

Just a heads up, I had a next to impossible time finding an apartment that allowed dogs on my budget. Depending on what’s in your price range though I think 145 Front street and some of the other big places are more pet friendly

Yeah, probably. I guess those 20 somethings I was standing next to today at the Saint Patrick’s parade who were 3 sheets to the wind are a dying breed lol. I figured at least with legal weed now we’d have more people up late with the munchies ordering out. I guess cooking at home is more of a trend with the next generation?

I was looking for Midnight Munchies lol. GPS said it was on Millbury street but it wasn’t there anymore, then we did a Google search and somewhere said it was at southwest cutoff. So we went there and didn’t see anything open but Parrot Pizza. Walked in and asked where Midnight Munchies was and the guy said “this is it, it’s the same place but we’re closing.” I was like WTF lol.

We couldn’t even find takeout, it was like 12:30 lol

Yup