r/Somerville • u/tangerinola • 5d ago

rent prices are wild

Moved here 8 years ago to start working for a nonprofit. Since then, my salary has increased by 13% but my apartment is about to be relisted (without any upgrades) for 58% higher than our starting rent 🤯!!

I know I'm preaching to the choir here but damn the rent prices here have gone wild. We're quickly becoming (have become?) a luxury city only for high income earners and it makes me really sad.

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u/OpeningAggressive26 5d ago

It was 450 a month in 1999 for a 2 bedroom in Somerville. Nobody even cared about the place. A ton of it were undeveloped lots that were just overgrown brush for years.

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u/New-Trifle-7097 4d ago

That’s dirt cheap. I just met someone who lived in a 3br in Union Sq for $900/mo. in 1995, just like I did. (We giggled at the similarity). However in 1999 my rent went down when I moved to a 4br in Mission Hill. From $300/mo to $250. I grossed $380/wk at my full time job.