People in the North

People in the North,

I'll be moving to the North in the Fall, most likely to Cambridge, MA. Anyone have car owning experience here? I'm moving from the south where I never deal with snow and I'm hesitant to bring my car to the city where I will pay an arm and a leg to park and register the vehicle.

Not only that, parking is a bitch to find and street parking can easily damage the vehicle and I'm sure to get rust damage eventually.

What do you guys recommend? Any personal stories from a similar situation?

Nice IS.

My gut recommendation is any kind of Subaru that isn't the BRZ.

I went to school in back bay and had a car in Boston for 5 years.

It fucking sucks. Cambridge in particular is a parking nightmare. I used to live in lower Allston and had several evenings where I'd get off of work at 11 and spend an hour circling my block looking for a spot.

If you want your car available look farther away than Cambridge, as you might have luck finding a place with a driveway. I eventually ended up south on the edge of JP and was fortunate enough to get just that.

Regarding the snow: yeah it sucks, but it's not that bad. They are quick to clean the roads compared to down here (I am in VA), and worst case there is decent public transportation.
One of the things I always liked about driving with massholes is that everybody goes fast, but they actually cooperate on the road.

I definitely don't miss trying to cross the BU bridge or get through kenmore square during rush hour.

Well, I literally live in Cambridge so I could fill you in on some things

As far as the whole city driving meme goes, having a card is definitely worth it if you can afford it. Plenty of stores have parking so it's actually practical to take your car out for the day and do some shopping.

Parking is a bitch. I have a garage so it's easy for me. I have street parking too but I never use it because apparently it's commonplace to "get your bumper fucked up from parking in the street"

Snow, salt, rust, etc... will all fuck it up and your problems will be further compounded by the meme snow plow/street cleaning laws/parking bans

But, you can find parking if you need it.

I ride my motorcycle so it doesn't even matter.

by the way, don't expect to park anywhere you aren't supposed to. i had people yelling at me for parking my miata for 2 seconds outside of my own fucking house in the shared alley. fuck this place

>voluntarily moving to a big city
Don't move to the land of cucks

>Boston
>big city
Lolwut

I don't think I'll be living far from the city. I know that would be the best thing for my car, but I think being close to campus as possible would be the best. I've heard using the T isn't too bad for most places in the city.

I've heard parking is bad too. That's something I hate dealing with. I grew up in metro Atlanta with lots of parking and it was the same in Athens when I went to Uni.

I just got the IS in the pic during the summer before I even knew I would be moving up North, and I would hate to ruin it with the environmental hazards in the city.

Unless universities can magically move to the South, I think I'm stuck.

Yeah it is always a good idea to stay by campus IMO

That being said, I didn't mean moving way out of the city, I just mean a few stops down the red line. Worth a look.

What campus?

There are plenty of good schools in the South.

Yo, driving in Massachusetts is an absolute fucking melee, have fun.

The pussy bro. Think of all the pussy.

Or cock if that's your thing.

MIT. I was accepted into a doctoral program there. I'm still looking at other universities, but it's my #1 pick right now.

Oh definitely. I loved going to college here.
However, when looking at PhDs, the department itself is more important than than the university. Typically, strong universities will still have strong departments for each subject, but it gets even more specific than that. For example, I study inorganic chemistry, so I need to look for schools with a strong inorganic emphasis, not just a solid chemistry department.

So you have to find a school that not only has a strong department, but also make sure it has the right professors, research, and the sub-discipline you want to study.

>MIT

WE GOT A SMARTY MCSMART PANTS HERE

jk awesome tho, I knew a kid that went to MIT for undergrad kid was stupid intelligent.

>MIT
Congrats. Unfortunately for the driving situation that puts you in the thick of it. Like Said, it can definitely be done but wouldn't be ideal for such a nice car.

To keep this more car related, what do you guys think is more important for snowy weather, winter tires or AWD?

Obviously having both would give the best performance in winter weather, but let's say you can only have one. I've read it's more important to have winter tires than AWD.

Thoughts?

I would say it's more diligence than being smart. After working in some labs for the past 2-3 years, I know jack shit. That's not to say I didn't study in school, but undergrad leaves you with little knowledge to perform proper research and address contemporary problems.

I'm still surprised I got in. My application was pretty damn good, but I figured everyone applying would have:
-6 papers published
-Be fluent in multiple languages
-Already found a cure for cancer
-4.0 GPA with a perfect GRE score and near perfect GRE subject test score

I might leave it with one of my parents, if they're okay with it. I would just really hate to sell it after just buying it, but unless I can get my own private covered parking, I'm not bringing it with me.

Winter tires, because they actually have grip in the snow

>driving
>Cambridge

Wew my lad. Everyone here uses a bike my man. Are you going to be on Sloan campus by any chance? Off of Memorial Drive, there is hardly any parking available at any point of the day (at least, when I've driven down it to go to Newton or go to based Micro Center).

No idea where I'll be. My first time visiting the city is at the end of March