🎁 Happy Allston Christmas, Boston
Today’s the day! If you’re one of the thousands of renters hauling boxes up three flights of stairs while dodging a U-Haul convoy right now, you already know exactly what this post is about.
For anyone who’s never heard the term, September 1st is Boston’s unofficial moving day, and it’s not a small thing. Most estimates put it at somewhere between two out of every three Boston leases turning over on this single date, a habit that traces back well over a century to when people used to return to the city from summer in the countryside right before the school year started. The nickname comes from what happens on the curbs: renters ditch whatever couldn’t come with them, and it becomes free pickings for whoever walks by next.
The “holiday” leaves a real mess behind too, past years have racked up dozens of tons of curbside trash and well over a thousand discarded mattresses in a single day. The city has had to build a whole playbook around it: longer MBTA service hours, permits for movers who need street parking, and rerouted traffic in the neighborhoods that get hit hardest, such as Allston, Brighton, and the Back Bay.
It’s a genuinely fun piece of Boston culture to witness. It’s also, by most accounts, a logistical nightmare if you’re the one moving. So if today isn’t your day to move, here’s how to make next year easier on yourself. And if you’re in the thick of it right now, some of this is still worth filing away for the next lease.
1. Lock in your lease early. The best apartments get listed as early as March and are usually gone by June. Waiting until August can sometimes mean picking through whatever’s left. In rare cases, you might score a bargain – though those are few and far between, and maybe not worth chancing.
2. Plan for a gap night. You typically have to be out of your old place by a set time on the 31st, but you can’t get keys to the new one until sometime “to be determined” on the 1st. Every landlord and property management company has different guidelines. Line up a friend’s couch or a short-term stay ahead of time so you’re not scrambling.
3. Book your moving truck early. Rental trucks get scarce across Greater Boston in the weeks before September 1st. Reserve yours as soon as you know your dates or you might find yourself picking up a moving truck across state lines, or way out yonder in Massachusetts.
4. Consider a storage unit. Instead of one massive move on the busiest day of the year, a storage unit lets you move out gradually and move in gradually, on your own timeline. Just be sure you can get the unit for only a month or two and won’t have to be in contract for an entire year. Some even offer great deals on the first month.
5. If you’re curb shopping today, act fast but check first. The decent stuff doesn’t sit out for long, so if you spot something you actually want, don’t wait around to think it over. That said, not everything on a sidewalk is actually free. Look for a “free” sign, or knock and ask, before you load something into your car. And be honest with yourself about whether it’s really worth hauling home. Someone else’s trash isn’t always someone else’s treasure. Always avoid mattresses – we shouldn’t even have to tell you that!
Allston Christmas is one of those only-in-Boston things, chaotic, a little gross, and honestly kind of great to watch unfold. But if today has you thinking there has to be a better way, there is. Owning a home means September 1st becomes just a normal Tuesday. No lease renewal stress, no scrambling for a truck, no wondering where you’re sleeping that first night. If that sounds good to you, I’d love to talk through what buying could look like, whenever you’re ready.
Happy Allston Christmas, and good luck out there today.