Where one can live car free in the Boston area; the map
Hi internet. Here is the map no one asked for, but I made anyway when procrastinating from the duties of life. My map of where I think a person could live in the Boston area relying on the MBTA as their main way to get around. This is based on my personal experiences of living here for multiple decades in various stages of life as well as some hours of poking around at the MBTA system map and various schedule PDFs.
Blue is definite. Orange is places I was on the fence about and kept removing and replacing from the map as I tweaked.
Yes, if you were dedicated to the no car lifestyle, or liked to bike, you could live in additional places, but my goal was a life where you are not consumed by reading timetables and just go about your day. I hope this map might be useful to people moving to Boston and deciding where to live. Would love feedback!
My criteria:
- Redundancy: If you don't have a car, you need back up plans. Any location too dependent on a single mode of transit didn't make the cut. To make the cut, each location had to have about 2.5 options: One primary go to with frequent headways (either a rapid transit line, or a high freq bus line), a secondary option that is minorly inconvenient (such as a longer walk, or a longer headway) and a third option that would be a total pain in the ass, but could get you to work or get you home in a pinch (1mi walk, low frequency).
- Local walkability: Your local neighborhood must have some amount of walkable amenities (some stores, a few restaurants etc). Part of living car free is also generally not traveling as far for small everyday errands, chores and basic Saturday afternoon recreation.
Notes on some places that didn't make the cut:
- Southie by the beach: Too reliant on the #11 bus without a lot of back up options.
- Neponset: Too far from the Red Line and the busses in this area have awful frequency. An infill station on the Braintree line would work wonders here.
- The Dorchester/Mattapan gaps: There are several gaps through Dot where people get left behind. I think this illustrates perfectly how great it would be if the Fairmount line ever got up to true rapid transit frequency.
- Tobin Bridge Area: There is a hole near the Tobin Bridge where despite being so close to downtown, you get left behind. Luckily this area is mostly industrial, but I think it would be tough to live on the Northern side of Charlestown if you weren't a young able bodied person who didn't mind walking a lot.
- Subways Without Options: Part of the blue line, a lot of the Riverside line and the area around Boston College didn't make it. While they have subway service, they lack redundancy. If you woke up to major delays on your subway line, you would probably have to get an Uber to work.
Surprising Islands:
- Hyde Park: The two commuter rail lines create a pretty impressive service frequency when you add them together and you have a high freq bus line for redundancy, plus a vibrant main street.
- Braintree: The West side of Braintree station ain't bad. Its a neighborhood with some stuff and you've got a big mall next door. Red Line + commuter rail + busses add up to a lot of service.
The Maybes:
- Parts of Quincy: Downtown Quincy has enough redundancy to meet my criteria, thanks to the commuter rail, but I was on the fence about most of the Braintree line. The neighborhoods are vibrant enough and when things are running right, it would be great. But, how screwed are you if the Braintree line has major delays? Not a lot of back up plans to be had.
- Lower Mills: Again, nice neighborhood and on a good day you've got the Mattapan line, but what is your backup plan?
- Past The Mystic River: I don't know Medford well enough to make the call. Do the busses work well in West Medford and Medford Square? Is the commuter rail at West Medford useful? Looked pretty good on the map, but I'm not knowledgeable enough about the area to decide.
- Oak Square/ Newton Corner: I think Watertown Square is enough of a place and has enough bus option to be a viable option. Same about Brighton Center. But what about in between? Are the express busses to downtown useful?
Please comment with your thoughts! Would love to do a v2 with people's input. Specifically, my own knowledge is weakest in the Malden/ Everett/ Revere area. Would love to hear from people who know that area well.