Best places to live in Albany for grad student couple (Ontario: real estate, apartment complexes)

[jgarran1]

I will be moving to Albany with my girlfriend in January to start the MPA program at UAlbany. I am looking for the best places to live as I know there are some good and bad places of Albany. We are looking for an area that meets the following requirements as best as possible.

~Safe area
~Decently affordable
~within a 10-15 min commute to downtown Albany
~maybe area with other young people/students
~and again, safe area

I know that the perfect place may not exist, but I know Albany has changed over the past years and am wondering where the new good places to live are.

Thanks!

[hock41]

I would look in Albany's Center Square, Pine Hills and Helderberg neighborhoods. All three areas are very close to downtown albany.

Center Square is the urban, artsy, young professional, area of Albany. Lots of people your age with a bunch of bars, resteraunts and shops on Lark street. The area is also right next to Washington park which is nice.

The Pine Hills neighborhood is more student-oriented. The areas around Madison Ave and Western Ave (and where those two streets bisect) is where you should look specifically. It's not as urban and walkable as Center Square but there's still lots of cool bars, resteraunts, stores and amenities in that area. This neighborhood is closer to UAlbany's uptown campus.

The Helderberg neighborhood is mostly young couples. The area surrounding New Scotland Ave is the area you should look at. This would be the "safest area" of the three listed (but honestly no area listed here is actual dangerous or anything) There's some nice shops and places on New Scotland Ave. this is also the most residential area listed.

All of the places listed are within 5 minutes of Albany's downtown, are safe and are relatively affordable.

[sarchivist98]

Pretty much what hock41 said. Center Square is the most urban (in the good sense of that word) and more grown up than Pine Hills. It can also be more expensive per square foot than the other neighborhoods, and parking can be difficult. Parking is not a problem in the other two neighborhoods.

Be careful about which part of Pine Hills you pick. Some of it is VERY student oriented and will be rowdy at night. Your best bet is West of Ontario Street. Between Madison and New Scotland and Ontario to Manning is good. Beyond Manning is very nice and closer to the UAlbany Uptown campus, but more sedate and suburban.

New Scotland between Ontario and Manning is also good. It is more family-oriented and owner occupied. There are lots of professional couples, med students, law students, families with young children and empty nesters. If you or your husband plan to take the bus to UAlbany (Uptown or Downtown), New Scotland/Heldeberg is a little more difficult. Not too bad, though, and all the CDTA busses (Not the UA ones) have bike racks.

A couple of decent apartment complexes are Adams Park off New Scotland Ave, and Stonehenge Gardens. Neither are super-close to UA or nightlife, and they are not luxury, but they are in safe and pleasant locations. I rented in another complex managed by Tri-City Rentals (the same company as Stonehenge Gardens) and they were very good.

[cshells72]

The New Scottland area is really nice--if you are renting it is awesome..only negative about the area is high real estate taxes if you own.

[lanhvtnymd]

Originally Posted by sarchivist98

Pretty much what hock41 said. Center Square is the most urban (in the good sense of that word) and more grown up than Pine Hills. It can also be more expensive per square foot than the other neighborhoods, and parking can be difficult. Parking is not a problem in the other two neighborhoods.

Be careful about which part of Pine Hills you pick. Some of it is VERY student oriented and will be rowdy at night. Your best bet is West of Ontario Street. Between Madison and New Scotland and Ontario to Manning is good. Beyond Manning is very nice and closer to the UAlbany Uptown campus, but more sedate and suburban.

New Scotland between Ontario and Manning is also good. It is more family-oriented and owner occupied. There are lots of professional couples, med students, law students, families with young children and empty nesters. If you or your husband plan to take the bus to UAlbany (Uptown or Downtown), New Scotland/Heldeberg is a little more difficult. Not too bad, though, and all the CDTA busses (Not the UA ones) have bike racks.

A couple of decent apartment complexes are Adams Park off New Scotland Ave, and Stonehenge Gardens. Neither are super-close to UA or nightlife, and they are not luxury, but they are in safe and pleasant locations. I rented in another complex managed by Tri-City Rentals (the same company as Stonehenge Gardens) and they were very good.

This area up to Brevator is called Melrose.

[FutureSoxFan?]

I'd second the Pine Hills area; the area right around Main St south of Madison is quite convenient (supermarket, some nice little bars and restaurants w/in walking distance).
I lived there when I was in school, but that part wasn't really "student ghetto" at all and was pretty quiet.

I would add this word of advice: You should really try to find a place that has off-street parking (driveway, etc). This will save you a lot of aggravation in winter when it snows and they have their crazy snow emergency parking restrictions (i.e., move it or lose it to the tow truck)!

[trebler]

It's been a couple of years since I lived in Albany, but I agree with everything that's been said in this thread so far. I lived in Pine Hills as a graduate student and recommend it: all the essentials (supermarket, laundry, bars and restaurants) are within walking distance and it's an easy car or bus commute to both the uptown and downtown SUNY campuses. The side streets are quiet and residential with plenty of on-street parking. (Just beware of snow emergencies!)

I would personally stay west of Partridge Street; unless it's changed since I've moved out, Madison between Partridge and Ontario has a lot of bars and can feel sketchy after dark.

IMO, it's not worth living in Center Square unless you want to be within walking distance of a bigger selection of restaurants and nightlife. It's expensive, compared to the rest of Albany, and parking can be a nightmare.

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by jgarran1

I will be moving to Albany with my girlfriend in January to start the MPA program at UAlbany. I am looking for the best places to live as I know there are some good and bad places of Albany. We are looking for an area that meets the following requirements as best as possible.

~Safe area
~Decently affordable
~within a 10-15 min commute to downtown Albany
~maybe area with other young people/students
~and again, safe area

I know that the perfect place may not exist, but I know Albany has changed over the past years and am wondering where the new good places to live are.

Thanks!

Just curious, why the MPA in Albany? Are you looking to get into state or local government? My understanding is that usually more than 1/2 of the MPA students at SUNY Albany are already working for state or local government. I assume most or all of those are in the part-time program, but a few maybe in the full-time program.

NY government has decreased dramatically in size in the last decade and likely the trend will continue.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Yuptag

Just curious, why the MPA in Albany? Are you looking to get into state or local government? My understanding is that usually more than 1/2 of the MPA students at SUNY Albany are already working for state or local government. I assume most or all of those are in the part-time program, but a few maybe in the full-time program.

NY government has decreased dramatically in size in the last decade and likely the trend will continue.

I believe that the program is nationally ranked and you can work for non profits or for other companies in regards to policy measures. Even if the OP wants to leave NY, it appears that it is a strong program to graduate from.