September 1 marks a holiday in one Boston neighborhood, and nope, it's not Labor Day. It's Christmas…in Allston. It's the weekend that leases end, and new ones begin. Students are moving in and out…and the curbs are filling with their trash and furniture.
The streets of Allston are full of UHauls, dumpsters, double-parked cars and of course, students.
"I'd like a better desk. I have a desk but it's a little too small for me. It's metal and I'd like a wooden one but I'm wary of the bed bugs."
Sam Sutherland is a senior at Boston University. He's 21 and moving from one side of Allston to another, leaving some things on the curb and picking up more along the way, including a bookshelf from his neighbors.
"You gotta like scope out all the areas. Stuff goes everywhere. Cause I don't want to carry all my stuff down. I have a lot of stuff in my room that I'm just going to leave cause other people will want it, I guess."
It's that thought that has landlords renting dumpsters and tossing clothes, CDs and furniture from the windows. They don't seem happy, but trash pickers like Sam are. City sanitation workers are putting large orange stickers on mattresses, cushions and other soft furniture, warning people of bed bugs. Resident Deirdre Rooney says Allston Christmas brings a mixed reaction from neighbors like her, who are no longer students.
"It's kind of chaotic. I basically, if I'm not at work, want to stay inside and lock the doors or go elsewhere. Last year I went home to New York to avoid this. Wading through stuff when you just want to get home is kind of irritating."
Technically, it is legal to put mattresses, furniture, rugs and even some appliances out with the regular trash. But there are things - such as computer monitors, TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners - that require adhering to a pick-up schedule. But no matter when it's put out, most of that stuff is long gone before the trash workers come.
