Congratulations Boston, on surviving yet another Allston Christmas! In case you’re not familiar with this move-in day of massive proportions, 63% of Boston leases turn over on September 1st due to the thousands of students returning to university. The result is the biggest moving day in Boston, traffic jams of Uhauls, and sidewalks littered with belongings deemed not worthy of new apartments. Click here to learn more about September 1st Boston move in.

2015 was the year that Boston took the tradition to the next level. Social media and the press eagerly anticipated the horde of moving trucks and chaos, trending #AllstonChristmas on Twitter well before the 1st. Local residents made the day more festive with holiday-themed signage. Local companies also marketed the event more than ever, especially new neighborhood grocer bfresh market with a series of clever marketing stunts. The city of Boston also did their part to alleviate the gridlock by putting moving permit requests online and carefully monitoring Storrow Drive to prevent trucks from getting stuck under low pedestrian bridges.

For those lucky enough to avoid this annual relocation event, we compiled the best Allston Christmas stories, tweets, and instagrams:

The streets, especially Commonwealth Avenue, were gridlocked with rental trucks, students, parents, and unlucky commuters

Bostonians are finally learning that rental trucks are too tall to drive on Storrow and Memorial drives – not a single truck was “Storrowed” this year! Perhaps it was partly in thanks to this infographic from Boston.com:

Infographic from Boston.com
Infographic from Boston.com

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few close calls:

And though a truck didn’t get stuck under a bridge, a budget truck did get stuck on the B line T tracks, severely delaying the MBTA green line for two hours. Details in this Boston.com article.

Photo from El Pelón Taqueria
Photo from El Pelón Taqueria

Residents began to wonder which was worse, mountains of snow like Boston experienced in February, or mountains of abandoned furniture and some pretty disgusting finds:

Some Allston residents got downright festive and decked the halls for the occasion:

— R. L. Allison (@robdamnit) September 1, 2015

Some clever jokes were made, like this 12 Days of Allston Christmas carol written by redditor amletakase

Local businesses welcomed new residents with Allston Christmas specials and marketing stunts, to the joy of some residents but the chagrin of others who felt that just as Christmas has been commercialized, so has Allston Christmas.

This WGBH reporter tried his hand at Allston Christmas shopping

There were some unique Allston Christmas “gifts” to be found:

A few “celebrity appearances”


Some Boston residents encountered some obstacles during their move

But it wasn’t all bad, a few Boston residents experienced some Allston Christmas miracles in the form of helpful strangers and good vibes:

Of course, we like to think that the people who had the best Allston Christmas were those who moved with Olympia Moving & Storage

If you want to avoid the Allston Christmas madness next year, or really any kind of moving madness, click here to request a free, no obligation moving estimate from Olympiua Moving & Storage. Our professional movers will make your move painless!

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