Is my rental experience in Boston normal?

I confess: I’m a girl from a small western state. I moved to Boston in 2017, and I have mostly lived with roommates with various levels of good/bad experiences. In the summer of 2023 I signed a lease to rent a studio, and the experience traumatized me.

I was shown not the exact studio, but “one like it”. The studio seemed appealing enough, so I agreed to sign the lease, pay fees, etc. I know this was a dumb move, but the rest of the story is the point: I move into the assigned studio, and needless to say that it wasn’t in great shape. I figured: “I get what I paid for”, and tried to take it stride, and enjoy my own space.

Except it didn’t remain my space for much longer. Even as I lived there and paid rent, not only did I learn that there would be construction in the complex, but also…In my studio. I would return home from work with sawdust covering my belongings, the construction men coming in and out, and sometimes leaving their personal items in my apartment. To add to it, since construction was done in the neighboring studio, the bathroom tiles in my shower fell from the wall, and to install new tubing, they cut a hole in the wall letting any bird/insect into the studio. I tried calling and emailing the landlord, but dead silence on their end.

In desperation I Googled my options, and I came across the Boston Health Commission. I told them about my plight, and they promised to investigate. Suddenly, the landlord got in touch with me: “why are you unhappy with the construction? I thought you wanted a in-unit washer and dryer”. I told him No, not while I was using the unit. We agreed to cancel the lease, and I moved into…An AirBnB in a rough neighborhood…And I’ve been living there ever since. I made an agreement with the owner to pay him directly, and so I share a house with AirBnB guests while having my own large room and personal bathroom. In general, this place has been a blessing in disguise. I even prefer these guests (usually) to having roommates: if I don’t like them, they’ll leave soon anyways!

And for years, I’ve been afraid of officially renting my own place again, for fear of what happened before. I’ve seriously considered looking into purchasing the next few years, not because I want my own property, but to avoid having to deal with toxic landlords and management. Yet lately I’m getting tired of my current situation: tired of living in a rough part of town with lots of trash, broken glass and gross things on the streets; I’m tired of having my mail stolen; and I’m tired of having my things in a shared space, where anyone can/has taken kitchen things.

Is my studio rental experience normal? An acquaintance told me this year, “you should sue them”, which I didn’t have the frame of mind to do then, and it’s probably too late now?