Apartments in West Lafayette & Lafayette (sublease, rental, dorms)

[lilylirio]

I'm starting a PhD program at Purdue in August, so am wondering where to look for apartments in the West Lafayette/Lafayette area? I want to be somewhat close to campus, but not in the middle of undergrads either. I will have a car so transportation is not an issue.

[jalder]

I would definitely find a place in downtown Lafayette. It is just across the river, I walk to and from campus frequently, its a little over a mile hike. But there is also a great bus system here and living in downtown Lafayette it is easy to catch a bus across the river and up the hill to campus. Downtown Lafayette also has much better bars IMHO that are free of the nonsense of typical frat boys across the river.

Definitely stay on the Lafayette side of town, downtown preferably and use [url=http://www.boilerapartments.com/]Apartment Rental and Sublease Search for Purdue University and West Lafayette and Lafayette[/url] I have had good luck with that site in the past.

Happy Moving!

[sponger42]

Ditto what Jalder said.

Downtown is the place to be. You can walk across the pedestrian bridge to go to the movies, but the good bars and coffeeshops are downtown and not on the Levee, where the students are. You can also walk to campus.

Having a car does not solve your transportation issues as a student. In fact, it probably makes them worse. The bus is much more convenient than paying for a pass and then trying to find an open space in a lot on campus--then hiking a few miles in a blizzard from the student lots way out in BFE. Biking or walking is much better when the weather is good.

[boilerup1984]

You probably want to live in Lafayette, because any where in West Laf. is going to be flooded with undergraduates. Just browse around Craigslist I rent a nice studio about a mile away for 450 all utilities included.

[lilylirio]

Thank you for the information. Someone else told me to look in the area northwest of campus in West Lafayette. Do any of you have thoughts on that?

[sponger42]

It's a nice area. There are apartments along Sagamore Parkway (US-52) along with groceries, drug stores, banks, and a few mediocre eating places. Pretty quiet area. No coffee shops or bars (except hunter's Pub and a microscopic Starbucks)

[Southside Shrek]

I know a few years ago a lot of landlords in West Lafayette were complaining about all the new apartments being constructed to the north and northwest of campus. It made renting theirs more difficult because of the over-supply.

[sponger42]

D'oh! Ignore what I said. I was thinking NE of campus near University Farms.

NW of campus near Blackbird Farms (or maybe pond) is all cornfields. Well, it used to be. Now there's a bunch of new-construction apartments out there. It is definately a student area. There are a lot of undergrads out there in the complexes. Some have shuttle service to purdue. There are new bike lanes which lead to campus that you can use maybe 2 months out of the school year. The bike path system is actually quite good and you can use it to get from University Farms/Sagamore Parkway area (Aldi, Payless, Dog 'n Suds, banks, Goodwill, other resturants) all the way in a big loop past WalMart, PEFCU (good local bank), and then Celery Bog (the marsh NW of campus), past all the apartments NW of campus, then down Cherry Lane into Purdue itself without having to ride on the roads. Of course, it ends at the far end of campus where the dorms, rec center/fields, and airport are, so it's another 10 minutes to cross campus to get to the academic buildings.

As far as I know, there's no shopping of any kind (groceries, gas, etc) NW of campus except for a few gas stations on 52, the giant walmart I mentioned, and a Lowes or some other superstore all spaced way out from each other along 52. I don't like that area, but you might. Those apartments seemed to go up in a hurry, though they are new, and a lot of them have probably been abused by groups of undergrads sharing them over the years.

[lilylirio]

Thank you for the additional information. I'll be out in a few weeks to look for apartments, so all of this is helpful. I am anxious to see the area to get a better idea of how everything is laid out.

[hatfields01]

I have a 2 bedroom ground floor apartment with fireplace in the living room. It is centrally located between Purdue and Ivy Tech. We are looking to sublease it from August until March when the lease is up. rent is $610 a month and highest gas and electric was $140. Has onsite laundry, pool, and park. Two private ponds for fishing. Large walk in closet in main bedroom and bath. Allows pets(not aggressive breed) contact is [email]hatfields01@hotmail.com[/email]

No deposit needed just the $25 application fee