looking for an apartment (Columbus, Hudson: section 8, affordable apartments, rentals)
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hi~ i will be coming to columbus to study in CSCC next month. but i haven't found my apartment yet. as i am a newcomer to ohio, can you please give me some suggestions? i would like to live in a safe environment with efficient transportation system and reasonable rent. thank you very much.
For what your looking for you need to live near Columbus State and near downtown. I would honestly look into living just north of downtown in what is known as the short north or around the South Campus gatway, but only WEST of high st. on south campus. Anything near High St. would get you very good bus use.
I was taking classes at CSCC and always took the bus from the neighborhoods just north of downtown. Also, the neighborhoods just north of downtown (WEST of 71, they are known as the short north, Victorian Village, Italian Village, Dennison Place, and Harrison West) are very well off, have some decent rentals, and are in walking distance to shopping, eating, movie theaters, grocery stores, and bus transportation.
There are also some apartments just east of Columbus State. These would be very close to the school. However, the area of east downtown is very boring and quiet. You really have not transit at night, other than a Taxi, to take you the more happening areas of downtown or the north or south areas of the central city where theres more "neigborhood" activity. If you don't mind this though you can find some okay apartments around Jefferson Ave. and Broad St. behind Columbus State and CCAD. Also, theres some apartments by the Deaf School park, in walking distance to CCAD, that are along what is known as historic Town St.
Downtown Columbus
this website has a listing of rentals in the downtown area, any of these rentals are in a safe area (for a downtown) and would be pretty close to CCAD. The rentals on town st. are all listed on this site.
Now for the rentals I was talking about in the neighborhoods just north of downtown, you would have look them up on maybe craigslist.org or a local columbus paper like the columbus alive, the columbus dispatch, or drive around the neighborhoods looking for "for rent" signs.
Thanks for your reply, streetcreed.
you said that "the neighborhoods just north of downtown are very well off", so i guess the price level of that area should be quite high, right?
also, "the area of east downtown is very boring and quiet". i don't mind being bored but my main concern is whether this area is safe for a person living alone.
so, between these 2 areas, which one do you think it's the safest?
The neighborhoods appear to be about equal in safety. The areas just north of downtown are very safe for an urban area. The neighborhood just west of Columbus' main street called High st, north of downtown, are just a bit safter the east side, but the east side has more rentals and is always getting nicer.
As far as the apartments behind CSCC and nearby in the eastern part of downtown, the area appears safe, but because it is so quiet sometimes you may be the only person walking at night. The short north neighborhood and the German Village neighborhood (another great neighborhood but south of downtown) have more street activity all hours of the day and late night.
A lot of Columbus' central city "activity" is in these neighborhoods just north and south of downtown along Columbus' high street. I personally would recommend those areas as bus service is great until even late.
The neighborhood in eastern downtown is decently safe as long as you stay in the "downtown boundary." Bus service is alright. If you go further east (over highway 71) then you get into an area that is known for having some crime issues. So I would stay to an apartment WEST of 71.
I hope that helps, I would recommend looking at the apartments in downtown, and in the neighborhoods i metioned north and south of downtown and seeing which one is more your style.
It depends on where on the east of high st. you are speaking of?
I can give a quick overview using street boundaries and neighborhood names.
Generally anything east of High st is nice all the way from high st. (from the west) to Interstate 71 (to the east). And nice from south to north from the neighborhood south of downtown called Merion Village to a neighborhood north of OSU called Clintonville.
To explain why this post focuses on the east side of high st:
Until the most recent decades, the areas west of high st. had a higher income, more high end housing, and less crime, than the areas east of High St.
However, Columbus gentrification is now changing the demographic of the east side of high.
This post in no means states that the areas west of high are not sought after, actually many areas west of high have some of the highest property values in the older Columbus city limits.
However, there are a FEW spots that are east of high you want to avoid.
Speaking of closer to downtown...
IN DOWNTOWN
GOOD
Most places east of high all the way over to highway 71 is nice in downtown.
NORTH OF DOWNTOWN
GOOD
The area east of high is now, just in the last few years, decent north of downtown. The neighborhood east of high, north of downtown, is called Italian Village. This neighborhood goes from downtown (to the south) to E. 5th ave. to the north. This area is full of a good amount of nice rentals and now many nice condos/lofts/and homes.
NORTH OF DOWNTOWN
NOT SO GOOD
The neighborhood that exists just north of E. 5th ave is called Weinland Park. Crime rate there is very high, but the area is getting nicer and some of the section 8 in Weinland park is being changed over to rentals at market rate. I wouldn't advise someone looking for a very safe area to live there now.
The good news is this neighborhood is small and is only east of high from e 5th ave. to e 11th ave.
OKAY
The "student" university district is the next neighborhood east of high, once you get north of E 11 th ave. This area has many affordable apartments and, in the northern section of the university district, some good homes for ownership. The university district is very diverse and has a nice mix of older couples, hippie types, music/arts types, students, and is very mixed race. The northern section of the university district is nicer (meaning once you get to maybe E 17th ave and north)
VERY NICE AND GOOD AGAIN
Once you get north of the university district you get into some very nice, family oriented, and sought after neighborhoods east of high. They are called Old Columbus, Clintonville, Beechwold, and Sharon Heights. These neighborhoods start around E Hudson and High St., and are very nice, all the way north up till the starting boundary of the suburb Worthington. These neighborhoods have been nice and sought after for a long time. The city schools are known for being good here too.
SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN
Everything east of high is now nice and safe until Highway 105 and west of Parsons Ave. The first neighborhood south of downtown is German Village and is a little higher end. Then south of German Village is Merion Village, this east of high neighborhood, is decently safe until you get to Parsons Ave (to the west), then it is more mixed income.
To summarize, there is really only ONE area just east of high st. to totally avoid and that is the small Weinland Park neighborhood (that sits between the University District and Italian Village/short north.) To, also, note the neighborhood that is west of high (across from Weinland Park) is okay. I live there and would recommend it. It is the area between W. 5th ave and Ohio State. The neighborhood is close the nightlife/shopping full short north, downtown, and Ohio State, yet affordable.
I know this was very in depth, but I hope these boundaries can help you in looking for a place. I know there are many options for places to live near downtown, but that is why Columbus is so great. We do not have just one "nice, safe" area near our downtown. We have many options.
Last edited by streetcreed; 12-03-2007 at 04:02 PM..
However, to add a bit of advice, if you go east of High Street in the campus area, I would try to stay west of Summit. I think of Summit and Fourth as "sex offender alley." There are a lot of halfway houses or something (maybe just cheap rent), because if you look at the sex offender registry there are high concentrations of sex offenders in those areas.
how about Chittenden Ave? i have just got a reply from someone who wants to rent out her room and the cost is very low---$250+utilities. is Chittenden Ave within the sex offender alley?
how about Chittenden Ave? i have just got a reply from someone who wants to rent out her room and the cost is very low---$250+utilities. is Chittenden Ave within the sex offender alley?
I haven't lived on campus for a few years, and that area is SO much better than it used to be with the addition of the Gateway, but I personally wouldn't live on Chittenden. It might be ok if you stay west of Summit, but speaking from the perspective of someone who's 5'6, 115, I wouldn't be comfortable. But that's just me. Obviously you have to take precautions everywhere, and not all sex offenders are registered. For $250 plus utilities I would think you could find a room in a house closer to North Campus, or perhaps even an apartment complex.
However, posters on this site can only give you advice, which doesn't substitute for you visiting the area.
how about Chittenden Ave? i have just got a reply from someone who wants to rent out her room and the cost is very low---$250+utilities. is Chittenden Ave within the sex offender alley?
Yes the area your talking about has gotten better, and I live just across High St. and two blocks south from the address your talking about.
Can you please give me an address?
Quote:
However, to add a bit of advice, if you go east of High Street in the campus area, I would try to stay west of Summit. I think of Summit and Fourth as "sex offender alley." There are a lot of halfway houses or something (maybe just cheap rent), because if you look at the sex offender registry there are high concentrations of sex offenders in those areas.
I generally agree on the topic of staying west of Summit, but only until you get to about 19th ave. Then it gets much nicer east of summit st. On Chittenden, though, I would recommend giving me the address so I can tell you what I think. My first guess is that it may be a little too far east and too far from High St. I would recommend looking for a place just a little bit north, or further south of 5th.
Also, this halfway house that buckeye speaks of may not even exist at this point. Also, while i don't doubt there are some sex offenders on south campus east of Summit, it is not ALL sex offenders, sex offenders can live almost everywhere and I have never known the south campus area to have an overwhelming number, though I don't doubt there's some east of summit on south campus.
If your looking for something pretty cheap there's a great place I know of that has studio one bedrooms called the Star & High Apartments. They are in the short north at about 2nd and High St. It is a great, safe location, but this apartments are some of the cheapest in a nice area in the C-bus. They can run as low as $350, but you can't tell them your in school when you sign up and have to prove you have a job earning a lower income. You gotta pull some strings to get a cheap place in a nice area of the C-bUS these days.
There is also some great apartment complexs in Victorian Village behind the Giant Eagle. I think one is called Sonnenblick? (not sure how to spell it im sorry) and the other Village West, and Thurber Gate. All of these apartments are near the bus line on Neil ave, not far from high st., and in a nice area (victorian Village.)
All of the following apartment complexes are in the area I was just talking about, you can walk to get food, the bus, and your near downtown but in a more "mature" area that is not full of students. I think that any of these apartment complexes would let you avoid the hassel of trying to look for a privately owned place. It can be very hard to search the thousands of private places.
It could be great but in a bad street, or vice versa. It may work for you to get a place in a complex and get to know Columbus better so you can then move out and know where to look and what area you like. Victorian Village is a great, safe area to get adjusted to living in the city. I highly reommend looking into these apartments (they are literally right next to each other.) I was only able to find information about three of them online, but maybe you can call the and ask for the information about the other apartment complexes nearby.
Village West, these are townhomes, but okay if you get a roommate or can afford them alone. Village West Apartments
These have one and two bedrooms, they are more affordable I would highly recommend looking here.
Sonnenblick Apartments
730 Thurber Dr W
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 221-5921
And there is a place called thurber gate or thurber village, they have affordable one bedrooms, they are located right nextt o Village West and Sonnenblick, but I couldn't find their number.
Last edited by streetcreed; 12-05-2007 at 01:50 AM..
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looking for an apartment
