Published August 10, 2010

I love this guy. (Matt Law/Flickr)

Here’s a possible cure for Boston’s New York inferiority complex: Average rent here has risen to $1,717 a month, according to a study cited today in the Globe. And vacancy rates have fallen, which means apartment-hunters have fewer options.

If you don’t have a place yet for Sept. 1, good luck. WBUR Web producer Jess Bidgood just managed to secure an apartment in Cambridgeport after three weeks of searching. She would call a broker, set up a viewing, and then get a call back with the news that, sorry, someone had signed a lease.

“I’ve never tried to find an apartment in New York, but I felt like it was New York,” Jess told me. “This did not feel like Boston.”

I recently moved out of Brookline because I could no longer stomach the astronomical cost of living there. When I moved here from San Diego two years ago, I was forced to take a place on short notice for Sept. 1.

Amazingly, I found a (much) cheaper place in Harvard Square. I feel fortunate. The Globe story quotes a man named Reginald Fuller, who faces homelessness after a recent pay cut. He can’t find an affordable home for his family.

Do you have a place for Sept. 1? How much do you pay in rent? Are you able to afford it? What neighborhood do you call home? Gloat or kvetch in the comments.