I'm partial to the northern side of the river. I love living in Cambridge... you never have too far to walk, and the T connectivity is great. That said, Cambridge doesn't end up being very T compatible with campus, as you either have to take the train downtown and then back out again, or take a slow, infrequent bus, either to campus itself or to Reservoir before taking two shuttles. Sad, but true. Unless you can drive.
Don't knock Watertown, though; it may not have too many of those commercial corners people know and love in Allston, Brighton, or Cambridge, but it's close to campus, reasonably close to the city, and cheap.
Or if you don't know what to do with a mountain of cash, you could always live in the Sheraton inside the Circle of Death...

You really can't beat Brighton. Its convenient to the city, Harvard Ave, Coolidge Corner, etc. And close enough to campus where you're not spending so much time commuting every day. I really like Brookline too, especially the Washington Square area, but I couldn't find anything in my price range when I was looking. I'd recommend it though.

If you dont own a car, there are some great places in Newton. I am on Lowell ave, the prices are not cheap but all utilities etc. are included and I am only a mile from the law school. It is a bit of a pain to go out at night (35$ cab ride down town) but other than that it is great.

Whatever you do, have a car. Beg, borrow, steal, just bring a car with you when you come to BC Law. For some reason, BC has not been able to perfect the complex system of having a bus stop somewhere near the T stop, so if you live in A-B, you need to take the T to the end of the line and then trudge up this enormous hill to the shuttle stop. Adding to insult and leading to numerous episodes of frustration and depressing, the bus actually drives down this hill to turn around before heading to Newton. This means that as you are climbing the mountain to the stop, you often see it stop and are left with two options:

1) Sprint with 80 lbs. of books on your back, only to have the bus pull away right as you get there and head in the direction from which you just came.

2) Give up and go home.

In addition, law school students are like second class citizens when it comes to undergrad vacation weeks, good luck with the shuttle then.

As for where to live, I'm very happy living in A-B. I pay $1000/month for a nice 1br (central air and a pool outside) Plenty of street parking (can be a gamble during snowstorms) and its like a ten minute drive to campus.

Just a bit of anecdotal evidence about the benefits of owning a car: many of my closest friends living on the B-Line in Brighton didn't own a car 1L year. By 2L (and now 3L) most of those carless people bought cars.

As Noah says, having a car on the B-Line (or, for that matter, the C-Line and the D-Line) makes life a lot easier.

Still, it's still certainly possible not to have a car and commute (that's what I do).

Just as a rough estimate, I'd say that one could make it from Cleavland Circle to BC Law School in about 30 min. on most days.

As far as market prices go, it's anyone guess. In Allston-Brighton my best guess is that shared apartments will cost ~600 and studios ~900.

For non-traditional students with spouses or children, Newton can have some nice two-family homes for a reasonable price if they aren't located near the T stops.

I pay approx. $1450/mth for a 2BR Colonial w/off-street parking, basement, and a backyard about a mile from the law school.

I'd also recommend Newton. As David said, it's a bit harder if you don't have a car but I really like the residential feel and the relative quiet of it. If you live in Newton Centre, there's access to the D-line and the village shops. However, I'm biased towards the north end of Newton because it's closer to I-90, and during winter storms, traffic tends to be worse towards Commonwealth Ave.

In terms of distance to the law school, it's about a 5 minute drive from I-90 (exit 17) to the law school, so it's a fairly easy walk if you live south of I-90.

Regardless of where you decide to live, try to find a place that includes at least heat, if not all utilities.

I think that your needs as a law student will evolve over your three years at BCLS. As a first year, I lived in Newton and found it incredibly convenient to the law school (where I spent the vast majority of my time) but very inconvenient to everything else (bars, restaurants, grocery store, T stops).

For 2L year, I moved to an apartment in Allston. My apartment there is larger (though more expensive) and definitely more convenient to shops, bars, restaurants, and the T. I also like that I have a neighborhood (gritty and over-populated with students though it may be), which I missed in Newton's suburbia. It takes me between 15 and 20 minutes to get from my apartment to the law school, but I enjoy the slightly-longer commute as a way to warm up for my early AM classes. It will also be much easier when I begin my summer job downtown to be on the T line and closer into the city, particularly when one is on the B-line (I've clocked my trip downtown at about 40 minutes door-to-door during rush hour).

If you are a prospective student currently living in a city and are looking for an affordable area with more of an urban feel, than Allston is a great place to be for law school. If you are more flexible, I know many students who lived in Newton their first year to be close to school and then moved elsewhere for their last two years. Just don't throw out your 1L moving boxes. :-)

Hi everyone. I'm a rising 3L and my roommate will be moving to NY (he just graduated from BC Law). I live in Brookline (37 Claflin Rd) in a 2 bedroom apartment a couple blocks from Washington Square. The apartment is only a couple of minutes walk from the C line and a 10-15 minute drive to BC Law. I am not sure if I will be able to make it to the housing fair but if anyone is looking for housing and will be in town for the fair, I will be around Friday evening as well as Saturday during the day. Shoot me an email at taborja@bc.edu if you might be interested and would like more info.

Thanks,

Jake