Single female grad student moving to Lincoln (Concord, Virginia: apartment complex, rentals)

[Momzo]

My daughter is moving from Virginia to Lincoln and would like to live in a safe, but fun area. A nice apartment complex where other singles live, in a safe area, and perhaps close to shops and restaurants. Can you recommend (a) a good neighborhood along these lines (and what would the price range be?); (b) any particularly nice places for singles to go and listen to music, meet people, etc.; and (c) any areas a single female should absolutely avoid? Thanks!

[Momzo]

I should clarify that she is on an internship, so she is not looking for a "student housing" type of atmosphere, but something that is more along the lines of young, single professional.

[SunshineSanity]

a) I would say that downtown somewhere would be her best bet. There's other smaller groups of young professionals around Lincoln, but we are mostly residential and there's alot of families.
The Haymarket is a highly desired place for single professionals. There are quite a few lofts/apartments/condos down there. There's probably a waiting list though.
I don't have the names of them - but alot of the downtown older buildings that are converted into apartments are great places to start.
Be wary of south of O st. (It's the street that cuts Lincoln down the middle. Alot of bars downtown are on this street.) It's really hit or miss when it comes to safety.
Here's the website for dt Lincoln: Welcome to the Downtown Lincoln Association

b) Downtown Lincoln has many many bars and restaurants. Some of the more "yuppier" bars would be Barrymore's and Yia Yai's pizzeria and bar (I love that place personally).
The Zoo Bar is pretty awesome.
Really it's just a trail and error type of thing. Places I think are cool she may hate and visa versa.
I hope I atleast gave you a place to start.

Tell your daughter good luck!

[mattpoulsen]

Agreed. The HayMarket area pretty much fits exactly what you described.

[The_Sage1]

The housing in the Haymarket (which is a small area) is super expensive. It all depends on what her preferences are, if she prefers to walk places or drive.

The majority of downtown Lincoln is geared towards college students especially the closer you are to UNL. There are some pockets of downtown Lincoln that are ghetto that should be avoided, but even then it's not like a bigger city ghetto. The "Bottoms" neighborhood is not that nice though I wouldn't say it's unsafe. Right around 27th and O Street there's some good pockets of ghetto. It seems like the ghetto is closer to 27th street but not right on it. Most of the downtown has a noisy college party atmosphere. It's not bad for meeting people but if she's not into the party scene try going to south Lincoln a bit.

[Momzo]

Thanks for the advice! We are checking out the areas you recommended...and thanks for the bar/restaurant recommendations!

[Momzo]

We visited Lincoln and it's a very nice city! We really enjoyed the Historic Haymarket area! She applied to an apartment in the downtown area and also some nice ones in the south part of Lincoln, but is probably going to take the downtown apartment if it opens up. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

[TXHusker11]

This is a month and a half late, but I was browsing and thought I could give some input. I live downtown in a condo above the Rococo Theater (13th St between O and P), the condos are called University Towers (no relationship to the University and not many students). There are some nice places here, pretty big and it is a great building. Unfortunately, not many are rentals since they are all privately owned but you might be able to make some calls. There are some similar buildings around downtown and they are mostly very nice, I don't know if you are looking to rent or own though. Most of the nicer places around downtown will have a nice mix of young professionals, older retirees and a few well behaved college students.

For rentals, you can search this website http://www.concordemgmt.com/Concorde (broken link). This company manages a few rental buildings in the Haymarket and around downtown, so give that a try.