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Some of you may remember me, I was accepted at UNM's family studies graduate program earlier this year, and am flying out tomorrow morning for my first experience of ABQ! I'm very excited. My mom is meeting me there (she lives in San Francisco) and we're renting a car and staying at the Plaza Inn downtown. It was the nicest looking hotel near the university, and only $72 a night before taxes.
My plan is to get a city map and literally drive up and down the streets of the student ghetto (Aries, I believe, gave me good boundaries a few months ago) looking for "for rent" signs. Just in case I can't secure a place over the weekend, I'm going to mark the streets I don't want to live on (since everyone says that ABQ isn't a good neighborhood/bad neighborhood kind of a place) so I can cross-reference anything I find online when I get back. Although I really hope I can at least find someplace I can look at in person Sat or Sun and apply when I get home...
A girl I met on craigslist recommended a bunch of restaurants and bars, but I'm always open to alternatives! My mom recently opened a restaurant with her husband and my brother, so anything local or family-owned would be awesome. Also, any general suggestions about getting around, or if you know of a particular street that has a lot of plexes in the student ghetto. I have a cat and a dog, and am looking for a one bedroom with a fenced yard. It's going to be my first time living alone!
I'm moving in just a couple of weeks- leaving Portland, Oregon on the 28th, stopping in Sonora, CA to pick up my mom, then two days over to NM. All with a dog and a cat in the back of my station wagon. We'll see. I'm totally sedating the animals... and yes, I have air conditioning. And I'll probably give them ice packs too.
Well, this is far too long of a post, so I'll sign off.
hey congrats on the school and first time living alone, you're really going to enjoy it.
we are also going to be there next week to look for housing. We're driving from Illinois, so it's going to be a nice trip and we can't wait to find a place and move.
Some of you may remember me, I was accepted at UNM's family studies graduate program earlier this year, and am flying out tomorrow morning for my first experience of ABQ! I'm very excited. My mom is meeting me there (she lives in San Francisco) and we're renting a car and staying at the Plaza Inn downtown. It was the nicest looking hotel near the university, and only $72 a night before taxes.
My plan is to get a city map and literally drive up and down the streets of the student ghetto (Aries, I believe, gave me good boundaries a few months ago) looking for "for rent" signs. Just in case I can't secure a place over the weekend, I'm going to mark the streets I don't want to live on (since everyone says that ABQ isn't a good neighborhood/bad neighborhood kind of a place) so I can cross-reference anything I find online when I get back. Although I really hope I can at least find someplace I can look at in person Sat or Sun and apply when I get home...
A girl I met on craigslist recommended a bunch of restaurants and bars, but I'm always open to alternatives! My mom recently opened a restaurant with her husband and my brother, so anything local or family-owned would be awesome. Also, any general suggestions about getting around, or if you know of a particular street that has a lot of plexes in the student ghetto. I have a cat and a dog, and am looking for a one bedroom with a fenced yard. It's going to be my first time living alone!
I'm moving in just a couple of weeks- leaving Portland, Oregon on the 28th, stopping in Sonora, CA to pick up my mom, then two days over to NM. All with a dog and a cat in the back of my station wagon. We'll see. I'm totally sedating the animals... and yes, I have air conditioning. And I'll probably give them ice packs too.
Well, this is far too long of a post, so I'll sign off.
When I was moving/driving I made the huge mistake of letting my old cat out of the car to pee in a beautiful wooded area. She is very smart and almost acted like a dog, but the little poop wouldn't come back in the car and after hours of calling her I had to stay overnight (I found a $30 hostel among high priced hotels) and thank God by the next day she was hungry and came for food. It was very distressing, it was on a weekend and no services available, no one would help me and no one cared, they actually thought I was making up the story. Anyway, don't make the same mistake I did. Stay at a Motel 6 on the trip out and your cat can pee in her box inside the room.
I'm not sure if you're a girl or guy, but make sure you get a very safe and well-lit place to live. I hope your mom will stay until you get a place. Check for gas leaks, have your mom buy you a bunch of Combat Max roach disks at Walmart for the kitchen and bathroom plumbing areas (just in case! But don't put them on the floor because of the pets). Also caulk everywhere and get great stuff foam gap filler from walmart to fill cracks around pipes where buggies can enter. I have zero tolerance for bugs, plus this is my first summer in Albuq. I saw on palmetto bug big cockroach in the kitchen sink after I moved in and I went on the attack. I haven't seen one since I lived in Miami.
You may tire easily in first month or so and it's your body getting used to the altitude/less oxygen in the air so don't overdo it and drink lots of water (you and pets). It's been hot here and the summer's just begun but it probably won't get as hot as Seattle got last summer!
If the Plaza doesn't allow pets, Motel 6 does $39 night in Albuq. I've heard there's a nice swimming pool at also a duck pond at UNM in case you miss looking at water. Nob Hill's Hyder Park is a good place to walk your dog...there's also a dog park and I've heard it's nice. Good luck with school!
Local newspaper classified section for Rental housing
Student newspapers
Student Union cafeteria bulletin boards
I agree with the idea of driving around the area.
Have fun and good luck.
PS: whenever we traveled with our cat in the car they were terrified at being let outside. Each animal is different. I suggest keeping them in their travel box when the car doors are open.
Welcome to ABQ and good luck with your search. As Greg said, check out the back page of the student paper (Daily Lobo) if you're on or around campus. It may be tough to find a place that will accept both a cat and a dog, with an enclosed yard. I haven't seen many "for rent" signs in the ghetto lately, but at least you can get the lay of the land. In addition to the traditional student ghetto area south of UNM (south of Central), you can also look in Spruce Park (west of University Blvd. from campus, close to the Plaza Inn) and the Monte Vista area (east of Girard from campus). The north campus area (north of Lomas, east of the hospital) may also have possibilities.
It may be exhausting (and depressing) to drive around all day and not really find anything that looks good, so I hope you've also got a plan to have some fun, like taking the Sandia Peak Tram, or poking around Old Town, perhaps a museum, or spending half a day in Santa Fe, driving up on the Turquoise Trail.
All of the non-fast-food restaurants in Nob Hill are local, try the area on Central between Girard and Carlisle, close to campus.
BTW, Plaza Inn calls itself "downtown", but it's on the opposite side of the freeway from downtown, not in a convenient location for walking there. Just take your car if you want to get downtown.
This weekend Santa Fe is having its International Folk Art Market on Museum Hill, billed as "the largest international folk art market in the world." This may be a reason to go, or a reason not to, if you don't want to deal with crowds. I'm not sure exactly how many people will flood in for it.
i would also suggest the area east and a bit north of the university.
"copper" runs through campus. take copper east (toward mountains). go to "washington" (it's a light). turn left. go 1 block to "grand", turn right (east) and now you are in a neighorhood that has Lots of apartments, duplexes and triplexes for rent.
here are the boundaries encompassing 2 quadrants that have lots of apts., duplexes and triplexes for rent. most are cool in that they have thick walls, wood floors and lots of windows.
south boundary: copper
north boundary: constitution
east boundary: lomas
west boundary: washington
i recently knew someone who was living in the "adams street apartments" in that quadrant and they might be what you are looking for. there is no private yard, but there is a shared grassy courtyard that a "U shaped" number of single story apartments w/ private porches share. and actually, i think they each might have a teeny tiny backyard. i know thye accept cats and dogs. they are super small, but also offer garages for rent. they have wood floors, which is nice. i know they're cheap.
this is all less than 2 miles from campus. i foudn this area to be more open, more likely to have a yard of some sort, less noisy, less prone to drunkards leaving beer bottles on teh curb or on your car than the ghetto proper. also, the apartments were generally in better shape and bigger.
i would also suggest the area east and a bit north of the university.
"copper" runs through campus. take copper east (toward mountains). go to "washington" (it's a light). turn left. go 1 block to "grand", turn right (east) and now you are in a neighorhood that has Lots of apartments, duplexes and triplexes for rent.
here are the boundaries encompassing 2 quadrants that have lots of apts., duplexes and triplexes for rent. most are cool in that they have thick walls, wood floors and lots of windows.
south boundary: copper
north boundary: constitution
east boundary: lomas
west boundary: washington
You probably just mistyped, but I don't see how lomas can mark the east boundary of anything, since it runs east-west. (Northmost boundary, maybe.)
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We'll see. I'm totally sedating the animals... and yes, I have air conditioning. And I'll probably give them ice packs too.
