Relocating to johnson city rental in tree streets? help (Jackson: apartment complexes, rentals)

[solali]

Hi all we are relocating to work at ETSU with a baby this summer. We heard that tree street would be a good fit for us(people, school) but if you have any other suggestion... We like to use our bikes a lot so would rather stay close to ETSU. We have been online trying to find rental but it seems very hard to find anything. Does Anybody has an idea or contact for rental in the tree street? With the baby it would be nice to not be near a student/party house though. Budget is tight so between 700-900$ would be our range. We would move begining of August and wouldlike to rent for a year until we get a feel and start buying. Many thanks!

[jabogitlu]

Edit: Okay, ugh. The board erased everything I said. Here we go again

Rentals in JC can be very hard to find. It's usually necessary to drive around and look for rental signs in yards, but sometimes you can find a good deal on Craigslist. I lived in two 2/1.5 apartments and one 2/2 house in south JC, with an average rent of $650 or so. Your budget is definitely do-able. Most rentals "come online" here between May and August and they usually go pretty fast especially in the Tree Streets.

The Tree Streets is a good recommendation. Also check out: South Greenwood Drive/Ashley Road/Seminole Drive. Lots of students living here but you can also find some good apartment complexes which may be what you'll have to look into.

Mountain Home is another neighborhood you may want to look at, as it's easily bikable both to downtown and to ETSU. Just be careful because it's a neighborhood in the process of weeding out criminal activity. I lived on Highland Avenue (arguably one of the better MH streets) and never had any problems. Also, University Edge (huge apartment complex) and the ETSU Baseball stadium complex are being constructed on its perimeter, so it's an up-and-coming to be sure. See: Lamont St, Highland Avenue, Hamilton St., Wilson Avenue

If you were able to do the driving thing until you were more settled later, I would also recommend Cherokee road (bikeable, but it's a long haul on a pretty dangerous narrow road) and East Highland Road/King Springs area.

The Gump/Hillrise Park and West Davis Park/East Avenue neighborhoods are also excellent choices for a close drive to ETSU. You can Google these neighborhoods to get more info but here are a few streets to get you started:
Watauga
Unaka
Holston
Chilhowie
Hillrise Blvd
Baxter St
Lester Harris Road


A few areas I would avoid in the city, again just to get you started. Not necessarily due to high crime, mostly due to low resale value and/or "not knowing what you're getting into."
Keystone (intersection of East Main & Broadway)
Carver Park (Washington Avenue, Jackson Avenue areas)
The 500 and 600 blocks of East Fairview and East Myrtle Avenues
The intersection of Lakeview and Unaka Avenue

[solali]

so apparently the site is in a "erasing mood". here we go again.

Thank you very much for your insights! I will definitly look into the other streets you mentionned. It seems practically impossible to rent so far only buying seems to be an option so I am waiting May with impatience!
Any idea about the elementary school district and parks around the street you have mentionned?