Finding Female Roommate (Trenton, Camden, Collingswood: apartments, city hall, rentals)

[ssKunya]

Hi I am a Public Affairs Ph.D and moving to Rutgers Camden this August, looking to find a roommate (or two) to swing down the price. Prefer to live in the Victor lofts, does anybody has any other suggestions for renting or want roommates?

[The Winter Soldier]

From what I've heard, The Victor Lofts are VERY expensive. You really might be better off looking at towns outside of Camden to get a nicer neighborhood + something a bit more reasonable in price.

I'd suggest Collingswood, Westmont, Haddon Heights, Oaklyn or Audubon as alternatives. All of these towns are pretty close to Rutgers-Camden and PATCO service is available.

Take a look at the map below...If you use PATCO from Collingswood to City Hall stop, you're within walking distance to the campus:

PATCO

[NJhighlands87]

Some Rutgers Camden students live in Collingswood. The Victor is expensive, close to 1100 for a studio I think, and there is nothing else in the area besides the Rutgers Campus; you'll either take PATCO into Philly or drive into Cherry Hill for everything. If you can find roommates, it might be better to rent in Philly itself and take the outbound PATCO to campus.

[bellmark]

Collingswood. No other choice
Plenty of apartments. Large homes converted to multiple units.

Biggest thing... Patco train to Camden AND all Center City Philadelphia.
You can go to school, work and night life, all without driving a car.

[ssKunya]

Thank you guys I appreciated it a lot!!
Yeah I guess living in the Victor loft is too much expensive, any recommendation in Collingswood's apartments?
Honestly the safety issue concerns me a lot…i was told that one might even need to call the police for escort walking from metro station to destination….so is it safe to commute by PATCO?

[The Winter Soldier]

For simplicity sake...I would consider looking at apts / home rentals along (or nearby) Haddon Ave in Collingswood, NJ..The PATCO station is just about 1 block away. Sorry, I can't recommend specific places to rent per se, but perhaps a realtor in the area can help...I'm not a fan of Craigslist for this kind of stuff, but it IS an option.

Since I drive, I don't use PATCO to travel into other parts of S. Jersey or Philly...but I did have jury duty last month at Camden Hall of Justice / Courthouse on 5th St.

The City Hall (Market & 5th St) PATCO stop was literally in back of the public parking lot (mostly used for jurors and court employees) where I parked ..which is directly across the street from the Courthouse. I believe the RiverLine Light Rail (which runs from Trenton with several stops along the way before reaching Camden) also runs to that same general area, if I recall correctly.

That area seemed to be safe IMO...I had no concerns leaving my car there or walking in that area. I don't recall seeing any crazies in the area and there was a police presence around the Courthouse area.

I think the commute via PATCO to Rutgers will be fine from what I can see...There will likely be a regular flow of city hall workers and other professionals as well as students day and night...so I really believe all will be well

Best of luck with your studies..and in finding a nice place to live here!

P.S. Check out the map below to give you idea of the proximity from Rutgers Campus to the PATCO Stop (lower right of map):

[ssKunya]

Thank you so much!!! a lot of information for me!!! I will take note of it!!!

[NJhighlands87]

Craigslist will have a lot of garden complexes and the Heights of Collingswood spamming daily, but there's usually an nice affordable place off Haddon Avenue that pops up once a week or so. Haddonfield is even worse, maybe one or two a month. Haddon Township listings you have to be careful since searches will often turn up places in West Collingswood, rather than Westmont. Zillow and Trulia have few rental listings for the region. I'm told going to a realtor directly will yield better results, you here stories of nice Victorian houses having apartments available, but I've encountered that rarely. The whole strip could use some more modern rental options, IMO.

[Gerania]

Is there some sort of student bulletin board for people looking to share?