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(I've read through a lot of other forum threads but haven't quite found what I am trying to, so I thought I'd try my luck.)
I am about to start work in Durham and have been trying to find a place to live, but without much success. I'm not really familiar with the neighborhoods, and reading online reviews of various apartment complexes has been both fruitless and depressing - seems like only the people with the worst possible experiences take the time to say anything.
Ideally, I'm looking for someplace within a 10-15 minute drive of where I'll be working (south of Duke, in what seems to be the Lakewood-Tuscaloosa neighborhood). I have a car, but it would be nice be able to walk places occasionally, which means being near things and having the streets feel fairly safe. My budget tops out around $550 or $600/mo, which I realize excludes me from a lot of the really nice places. I just need some more info about the geography and neighborhoods, and what sort of places I should be looking.
(Neighborhood vibes so far have been confusing at best: I really liked the feel of the Trinity Park area, and it's within walking distance of a ton of places, but I looked at some notably cheap apartments there on W. Trinity Ave and was kind of freaked out - ceilings crumbling, no flooring, etc. Is this just an iffy pocket in an otherwise swell place?)
(Neighborhood vibes so far have been confusing at best: I really liked the feel of the Trinity Park area, and it's within walking distance of a ton of places, but I looked at some notably cheap apartments there on W. Trinity Ave and was kind of freaked out - ceilings crumbling, no flooring, etc. Is this just an iffy pocket in an otherwise swell place?)
If it's in the area of W. Trinity that I think you're talking about, then yes, it is an "iffy" pocket. There is an area of Trinity in Old North Durham (just east of Trinity Park) roughly between North Ave. and Foster St. that includes several run-down apartment buildings, many of which are owned/managed by the same company. On that stretch, though, there are also very nice older homes as well as better apartments. The rest of Trinity is just fine, and the location is great for walking to downtown, Central Park, Brightleaf, Ninth St., etc.
There are some other posters on this board that are more familiar with Trinity Park proper, so perhaps they have some advice on places to check out.
I lived in Tuscaloosa-Lakewood for 3 years and I LOVE that neighborhood! I was single then and always felt very safe. I would walk to restaurants in the evenings, go jogging at night, whatever. There are rental houses in that neighborhood for around $600/month and lots of cute duplexes. The neighborhood organization there is very active.
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