How many rooms for rent are available in Roslindale right now?
Roslindale sits in a crease between four other neighborhoods, and it takes on the character of whichever one it touches, which matters more to a room search here than the price does. The western streets blend into West Roxbury's one- and two-family houses, while the northern end runs to denser two- and three-family blocks closer to Jamaica Plain. Roomster has 44 rooms for rent around Roslindale. Decide which of those two Roslindales you want before you filter, because a room on Metropolitan Hill and a room on the northern blocks are different living arrangements at similar money.
How much does a room for rent in Roslindale cost per month?
Most rooms here sit between $950 and $1,250 a month, with the full range running from about $800 for a small bedroom in a shared house up to roughly $1,850 for a large room in a renovated floor near the Village. You can still find rooms under $1,000 a month further out from Roslindale Village and the rail platforms, toward the Hyde Park Avenue side and the Mattapan edge, where the walk to a train is longer. Because so much of this housing is owner-occupied, ask early whether the price quoted covers heat, since arrangements vary house by house.
Can I find a room for rent near Roslindale's commuter rail stations?
This is the unusual part of renting here: the Needham Line runs straight through the neighborhood, with Roslindale Village station sitting in the middle of it, which is more commuter rail than most Boston neighborhoods get, and Bellevue and Highland follow a short ride down the line in West Roxbury. All three are in Fare Zone 1. Roslindale Village station stands at 1 Belgrade Avenue in the middle of the business district, with 144 parking spaces and ten bus routes meeting it. Rooms within a walk of any of those platforms carry a premium worth paying if you work downtown, so search by station name rather than by neighborhood alone.
Are there rooms for rent within walking distance of Roslindale Village?
The Village is the reason many people choose this neighborhood, so those rooms go first. Roslindale Village Main Street began in 1985 as one of the first urban offshoots of the national Main Street program, and in its first three years it drove 43 commercial building rehabilitations and 29 net new businesses. The results are still the draw: a Saturday farmers market at Adams Park from June through November, and the Substation, a former trolley power station left empty from 1972 until its restoration, now a beer hall and event space. Rooms in the Ladder Streets and around the Village put that on your doorstep.
Are Roslindale rooms for rent on a bus route, or do I need a car?
You can manage without a car, but you will use buses more than trains. Ten routes run along Washington Street between Forest Hills and Roslindale before fanning out to the south and west: the 14, 30, 34, 34E, 35, 36, 37, 40, 50 and 51. Forest Hills, just past the northern edge, gives you the Orange Line. Away from those corridors, particularly on the hills, service thins and a car starts to earn its keep. Ask a prospective household which bus they actually use and how long the walk to it is in winter.
What should I check before renting a room in a Roslindale house?
Most of this stock is Victorian houses built between the 1880s and the 1920s, two and three stories with porches, so the questions are about the building rather than a management company. Ask how the house is heated and whether your room is on the top floor, which in these houses is the hottest in August and the coldest in January. Ask about parking, since driveways are shared and street space is tight. And confirm whether you would be on the lease or subletting from a tenant, because in a house where the owner lives downstairs that distinction decides who you answer to.
