BOSTON (WHDH) - Hundreds of new and moving residents swarmed the streets in Boston Sunday in the annual “Allston Christmas,” as the lease turnover day of Sept. 1 had people scrambling to haul their possessions to new digs.
That’s if they can find a moving truck in the first place.
“We couldn’t afford a moving van because they’re like 600 dollars,” said Isabell VanRoy, a Boston University Medical School student.
“It’s like a ritual kind of thing,” said BU grad student Swabmil Bhagat. “All the trucks, the U-Hauls are booked so you have to manage it.”
About 70 percent of rental units in Boston turn over on the first of September, according to Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s office. Landlords are required to provide clean, sanitary and safe units, post the owner’s contact information and provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
But getting to the apartment itself remains a huge hassle for many students, who questioned why the turnover is crammed into one day every year.
“Why do they have everything on the same day? It doesn’t make any sense,” said Berklee College of Music junior Gus Wolf.
“I really wish that they were staggered a little bit, but it’s mostly because the schools all start after Labor Day,” said BU Medical School student Isabell VanRoy. “If the schools wanted to change their school years, then maybe the landlords might change after that, so it’s kind of a chicken-and-egg-type thing.”
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