Moving from Chicago to Northern Kentucky (Newport, Alexandria: apartments, neighborhood, school)

[cm_iozzo]

I am moving from Chicago to Northern Kentucky this summer to go to school there. My boyfriend and I are looking for a 1 bedroom apartment, that has spacious rooms, and that allow pets (we have 2 cats). I really hope to find something affordable, but I also want it to be in a decent neighborhood. I've only been to the area once, and it looked like Newport wasn't a good neighborhood to live in.

But if you could let me know what areas are nicer than others and more affordable I'd appreciate it!

[cm_iozzo]

Also, I forgot to mention..

I'd like to be within 5-10 miles from Northern Kentucky University.
And we're moving to Kentucky to get away from the city (which is kind of hard because Cincinnati is close to the school, but it's nothing like Chicago). But we'd rather not live in Cincinnati. We're looking for a more relaxed lifestyle here.

Thanks!

[RuralGuy]

There are a lot of apartments in the area immediately surrounding NKU's campus, and I would imagine that the prices are reasonable since most of them cater specifically to students. If I were you, I'd focus my search in Highlight Heights (where NKU is located), as well as adjacent towns like Cold Spring, Ft. Thomas, and Wilder. All these places would put you within 5-10 minutes of campus. If you want to get a little farther out, you might try Alexandria which just a little bit south (about 10-15 minutes from campus). Southgate also is pretty close and probably has the cheapest apartment options, but it's a bit seedy compared to the other towns I mentioned.

Edit: I did a search on the Cincinnati Enquirer's website for 1 bedroom apartments that allowed pets in Cambell county, and here's what came up: http://www.apartments.com/partner/Re...nebdrm=1&am4=0