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Readers: Tell us your moving horror stories
As September 1 approaches, we want to hear about your moving horror stories.
Like clockwork, chaos descends upon Boston every year on Sept. 1, when an estimated two-thirds of the city’s 165,000-plus apartment leases turn over.
The Great Boston Move is the result of a decades-old precedent created to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of college students who arrive en masse in Boston every fall.
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The day has become an iconic (but dreaded) phenomenon for movers and non-movers alike, with sidewalks stacked-high with furniture, discarded household items strewn about, and plenty of curious mounds of trash – or treasure, depending on who you ask – to pick from.
The phenomenon has been dubbed “Allston Christmas,” a day to go “shopping” for new furniture among the sidewalk heaps. But despite its name, the trend is not unique to just the neighborhood of Allston.
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Across the city, students, parents, and commuters will face streets clogged with U-Hauls and moving vans, and several unlucky trucks might even find themselves “Storrowed.”
Why does Boston move on September 1? “[It’s] an open question for sociologists and economists everywhere,” Doug Quattrochi, the executive director of the Massachusetts Landlords Association, told the Boston Globe last year. “It doesn’t really benefit anyone,” he said.
Other cities, like Montreal, have endured similar city-wide disruptions because of mass moves. Move-in day for the city used to occur there every May 1, but decades ago the date was changed to July 1, which falls on a national holiday. As a result, there is less traffic and people don’t have to take off work to move.
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As Friday, Sept. 1 approaches, we want to know about your moving day horror stories if you’re moving in or even if you’re not. If you’re a student, what’s the worst move you’ve experienced? Did you snag a couch off the street only for it to infest your new apartment with bed bugs? Did you find yourself stranded when your lease ended on Aug. 31, and your new lease didn’t start until the next day? If you’re a parent, how did you manage the stress of the day? Were you horrified by your child’s choice in accommodation? If you’re a driver commuting through the city, do you have a memory of sitting in traffic, or watching someone getting Storrowed?
Fill out the survey below or send an email to [email protected], and your response may appear in an upcoming Boston.com article.
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