East Riverside?? SAFE? (Austin, West, Howe: low income, apartments, lease)

[envision09]

So, I am thinking about moving to Austin in the next few months. I am on a budget, so I was looking into student living apartments, specifically this one called Longhorn Landing. It's cheap (around $400 a month-- with 3 other roommates) but I looked online and it mostly got horrible reviews. My first instinct is to look elsewhere, but right now this is about all I can afford.

My question is for anyone who has lived in these apartments or in this part of Austin- Is it really as bad as it sounds?

I don't really care how the apartment looks so much, I would not really mind doing some deep cleaning when I moved in. The main thing that I am worried about is safety. It seemed like every review had a story about some crime (from theft to rape to murder) Now, I am moving from Los Angeles, so yes, I know that crime happens. But I do not want to be constantly worried for my life. I am smart enough not to leave my car unlocked, or walk around by myself at three in the morning.

I just need to know before I sign the lease if I am getting myself into a bad situation.

[joejitsu]

Can you visit it first? I would recommend checking out the apartments and talking with any residents you see there. I remember seeing some apartments right outside of St. Johns on the I35 feeder going south. They looked nice, but once inside I realized that I would never live there.

[kenneth.richard]

I have a handful of friends who sons and daughters live in Longhorn Landings. I caught up with them over a few holidays back and asked about school and how apartment living is. I recall bringing up the crime in the area and one of them actually came home from work to find a robber in his apartment. Luckily, he didn't have a weapon and my friend's son wrestled all his life. Neighbors heard all the yelling and called the cops, if I recall correctly. The others have complained about car windows being smashed. They said they take all their valuables in at the end of the day, but still had their windows smashed. Robbers didn't take anything since there was nothing inside, but the damage has been done.

I don't want to say that's life out in East Austin, because I'm sure that it's not like that everywhere around there. But if you're worried, Far West studio apartments can go for $400-$600. You get to live alone in a safer area. It's actually an area with a majority of graduate students. My nephew actually lived there 4 years. However, crime happens everywhere. He did have his radio stolen from his car, but I believe it was his own fault for leaving his doors unlocked and his radio intact. Other than that, he never complained about anything while living there. I visit him every two-three weeks and never worry about safety.

As you stated, no matter where you live, crime happens. But crime happens less in some areas compared to others. Far West also has a bus route if you plan on being a UT student. If not, you are still surrounded by necessity stores (HEB), have easy-access commute (Mopac), and still get to live in a rather safe neighborhood.

Hope this helps, and good luck on the apartment hunt.

[CptnRn]

The east Riverside Drive zip code 78741 had the highest number of crimes in Austin last year. http://malford.ci.austin.tx.us/polic...e/zip_2008.pdf

We lived there when I first moved to college years ago, and moved out as soon our lease expired.

EDIT: Out of curiosity I looked at LA crime statistics and compared them to those for 78741. 78741's crime rates are worse then those for LA. Granted the rates quoted for LA are the average for the entire city, and I'm sure there are worse areas in LA. But the numbers still seem significant.

I compared the LA crime rates/100,000 reported here http://www.city-data.com/city/Los-An...alifornia.html with those for 78741, multiplying the number of incidents in 78741 by 2.2 to get the rate per 100,000 people, 78741 has a population of roughly 45,000.

LA 78741
Murder 10 11
Rape 26 75
Robbery 348 530
Assaults 334 525
Burglary 507 1,918
Theft 1,506 5,256
Auto Theft 608 697
Arson 57 18

Conclusion: the crime rates in 78741 are significantly worse then the average areas in LA.

[readymade]

I think it depends on where you live. I live in a really cute pocket and I feel very safe walking around during the day. I would NOT want to live ON Riverside, Woodland, Oltorf, Parker, etc...

That being said, I hear a symphony of sirens almost every night. That doesn't make me feel safe.

[ILikeSmartHippies]

Originally Posted by envision09

but I looked online and it mostly got horrible reviews.

I dont know about the place you mentioned. Though I looked at the review sites when I first moved to austin. Allllll the places had some really bad comments on the reviews. Later on I got the hint from many people that angry tenants go on the web and trash the review pages. So after that, I no longer trust the review sites. Which is sad. Even the place I live now, has half a dozen "do not live there!! there's this problem and that problem and everything is horrible!!" type comments on it's review page, which is rather ridiculous.

I found it much better to physically talk to people in town. unfortunately, cause that is a slow way to find a place. But at least you know where the opinion is coming from.

[gpurcell]

I would NOT live off East Riverside or Oltorf. It was bad enough when I moved down here in 1995. Since then, with expanded housing in West Campus, a lot of the students have left that area and it is much worse.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by gpurcell

I would NOT live off East Riverside or Oltorf. It was bad enough when I moved down here in 1995. Since then, with expanded housing in West Campus, a lot of the students have left that area and it is much worse.

This is true, it is not as student heavy as it once was. And it is not utopia but I live nearby and I regularly work and volunteer all over East Riverside, SE Austin, and central east Austin and I always feel safe.

There are poor people in these areas (where gentrification isn't pushing them out) but it is not a crime to be poor and I have always found kind helpful people in these areas. Yes, there is crime but in this case, I believe that people have positive enough relations with the police to report crimes and also have enough pride in their community to do so. In many communities not all crimes are reported particularly in poorer neighborhoods. Crime statistics reveal and they conceal.

Everyone's street smarts varies. I would rely on an apartment locator rather than reviews if you have to lease sight unseen.

[theloneranger]

If you can afford the $500 or more a month it is definitely worth it to live in West Campus rather than Riverside. North Campus is slightly more affordable than West Campus and is just as convenient to UT's campus as West Campus is.

Longhorn Landing is so cheap because it is built in the midst of a low income area, rather than right next to UT or in an upscale area. It can be unsafe but if you are intelligent it won't be any worse than anywhere else students congretate.

[dburatti]

A friend's daughter used to live in an apartment just off Riverside. She moved her daughter to the Far West/360 area b/c of the crime in the E. Riverside area. I'd make every effort to find a place NOT in that area.

D