[Computerpro3]

Well there was a screwup with my lease for my apartment next year so now I am looking again. I have a budget of about $1000 a month to work with.

Basically my situation is this - I was going to live in University Park Apartments, which are decently nice apartments right on campus. This would have been great because they are near the piano practice rooms, and I am a piano performance major. Now I have to decide how far off campus I am willing to live. The problem is that the neighborhoods around campus (cincinnati) are really really bad; most apartments are $300 a month and a dirty and with no security systems (theft is common and there have been 2 shootings this year). If I wanted to live really close to campus and in a nice apartment, I really only have one option and that is in a studio 500sqft apartment (not a big fan of studio's). I am also worried about parking my car outside as it has a multi thousand dollar stereo system in it.

If I am willing to live just 5 or 10 miles away from campus, I can get apartments that are 900-1000sqft, 1 bedroom, and fully furnished with all carpet, nice hardwood floors, ceramic tile kitchens, etc. I do have a car, but I would have to stay on campus pretty much all day because of the spacing of classes. I suppose I could practice during those times, but I would have to adjust my schedule pretty significantly as I would no longer be able to practice piano past 8:00 or 9:00 (when I would go home). On the other hand, I would probably practice more since I would have nothing else to do. One huge plus for this is that I would get a garage.


Opinions?

 

[thische]

I'll just live in the studio. I don't need much space and I prefer to stay close to campus.

 

[YamiTenshi]

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. The school I'm going to is situated in a not-so-nice part of town, but it was considerably less expensive to live there (for obvious reasons); however, there were nicer and safer apartments about 5-10 miles away from the school. I seriously considered living closer to school, so that I would be able to walk to school and walk back for lunch, thus saving myself gas and food money and time.

But when it came down to it I decided to live in the nicer part of town. Yes, I'm spending a bit more money and my travel time to and from school is doubled (a total of 15-20 minutes

); but in the long run I don't have to worry about leaving my car outside, or about my apartment being broken into. Sometimes peace of mine and personal and property safety is worth more than a few bucks every month. Plus, the tenants here are much nicer and are less likely to have a criminal background.

My advice is that if there's no huge inconvenience and you can comfortably afford the better apartment, then go for it.

 

[LostOne.TR]

I drive about 15 minutes to class everyday.

Previously I've also lived within walking distance of school. Closer to school seemed to give me more rundown apartments + I had some neighbors that'd be running up and down the stairs drunk every other night at 4am, also slamming their doors. They'd frequently complain about noise from us though, (i.e. one of us trips / drops something / chair falls over -- we'd hear from them within a few minutes). Very glad to have gotten away from that.

With my new place, staying here for a 2nd year now, it's nice a quiet (as quiet as a house of college kids can get); not counting the few guests who come over more than they should, it's been alot more peaceful. The parking is less of an issue, and the rooms are quite a bit bigger than the rooms you'd get for comparable price near school. I think it's worth it for the added comfort, just make sure you're familiar with your school's parking setup. Get the right permits, kuz those tickets can add up.

 

[Uncle Erik]

It pays to live in the better part of town. Your safety is most important. Besides, there's probably lots to do on campus, like a gym or other activities. I never had trouble killing time in undergrad.

 

[Dimitris]

Where are you going to park the car while commuting? Is there a safe place?

 

[dantztiludrop]

When I 1st read your thread title, my immediate reaction was "ya gotta live as close to school as possible", being worth it for the convenience & the freedom of going back & forth between classes. But, changed my mind...this is where you're going to be living & spending a good chunk of your time. In addition to not worrying as much about the criminal activity, you'll come home from school & just feel better all the way around about the nicer place you're living in. Otherwise, it kinda gets under your skin in a general depressing way. Probably not a great analogy, but I know when I haven't cleaned up around my place for a little while, I'll come home & immediately upon walking thru the door I'll get a crappy attitude & my spirits will take a dump. I think that kind of thing could also happen in your case.

Good luck!

 

[stewtheking]

Staying on campus (if US campuses are anything like UK ones) shouldn't be too much of a chore. Just make sure (in addition to the practice) that you've always got a relevant book for your course on you, so you can go into the coffee-shop (or bar) and settle down to some reading. I ended up doing a lot of this last semester when I had 2-hour gaps in-between my lab work (damn lazy cells needed incubation), ended up getting a lot of extra reading done, that I almost certainly wouldn't have done sitting at home.

I was in a similar situation house-wise for this year, trying to find a balance between convenient houses that were crappy and less convenient houses that were nice. Always go for the place that's going to make you feel safe and comfortable when you get home.

Also, your schedule may not have to take too much of a hit, I mean, if you live 5 miles away, you're looking at maybe 10 minutes each way (especially in the evening when traffic will be non-existent) and you can always nip back to campus if you feel the urge for some late night practice.

 

[Computerpro3]

I think I'm going to go for the off campus location. It just makes more sense safety wise I think. My friend was robbed twice in a 2 hour timespan a couple of weeks ago, and then her catalytic converter was stolen right off her car later on that night. I don't want to deal with that. The local high school kids also have this game where they walk up to people on the sidewalk and suckerpunch them in the face. They see who can knock over the most people with one hit. I'm just not going to play those kind of games.

Anyway, what websites would you guys reccomend to find apartments? Most of the ones I'm using aren't that great...especially when it comes to furnished apartments.

 

[thische]

Check craigslist.

 

[vibin247]

I had the fortune of staying in the cheaper dorms during freshman year. After that, I had to drive everyday to school from home, which was approximately 35 mi. and at times would take 2 hours with the So Cal traffic. It wasn't so bad, but it was nice to walk for only a few minutes to campus during freshman year.