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I am relocating from Copenhagen (capital of Denmark) to Cincinnati for 6 month to work on a research project (post-gradute level) at the University of Cincinnati. As this is a potential life-changing event and I have a lot of questions regarding practical issues I really hope that you will consider giving me some advice (I have browsed this forum for relevant info already).
About me: I am a 31-year old male, single and my main purpose with moving is to improve my scientific abilities why I obviously will work a lot while being in Cincinnati. That being said, I have many interests and I consider them equally important in order to sustain my work-motivation. I do a variety of sports, enjoy music (playing as well as concerts), nice food, going out, socialising and so on (basically I resemble most young people). As this is also my first time in the US I plan to spend some weekends seeing the country (by car/flying).
My plan is so far:
Flying to Cincinnati at the end of September (I start work October 3rd), rent a car in the airport and spend 5-10 days looking for a place to live for the whole period. I have browsed Craigslist but apparently a lot of nice places are only to be found by actually driving/walking around in the neighbourhoods. First priority is to find an apartment/shared apartment (preferable with a little furniture) around Ludlowe Ave./Clifton Ave./University area (Clifton Gaslight District). I might also want to try and look around Mt Adams and/or Hyde Park – but I THINK I will prefer living in the Clifton Gaslight area.
So my question to you is, if you have got any advice regarding temporary housing where I can stay (relatively cheap but still decent) while I search for a permanent place? I also seek advise for the cheapest deal to rent a car for a period of 1 week – 1 month. I will have to get a car for the whole period, as I need it to go to work (located around E. Gallbraith Road). That is, by the way, a major deal for me, as I (like all young people in Copenhagen) bike everywhere and have never owned a car.
So ANY advice regarding my preliminary plans are much appreciated. Is it realistic (or do i need to stay somewhere temporarily for a longer time?) I must emphasize, that a nice place to livee and the possibility to generate a social life and meet other "young" people are very important to me.
All inputs are highly appreciated.
Thank you
PS: Maybe it does not display while reading my post, but I look extremely much forward to the whole trip and living in Cincinnati.
First off, welcome to the area, you will surely enjoy your stay here. Cincinnati is smaller than other cities in the U.S. but you will find that there are plenty of activities and a lot of history.
As far as your housing, I can help you find a place to rent short term because I'm an agent. If you would like, view my profile and contact me through there. Give me a call or shoot me an email. Once I know exactly what you're looking for, I can have a few places ready for you to look at when you come here. Hope this helps and thanks!
Thank you CincyEnthusiast. I will consider to contact you during the next couple of weeks.
I hope someone has input on temporary possibilities (besides hotels.com) related to where I can stay while i search for more permanent solutions.
Also i remember Craigslist being mentioned (in here) as a bad site to search for housing/cars. However, the general idea among danes, in the US, I have spoken to, is that they generally have had great success using the site (not in Cincinnati though). Comments ?
I feel Craigslist is quite a good site and now may be dominant when it comes to selling many things. Items such as used cars are just about confined to it. Just recently I sold a powered wheelchair on Craigslist and purchased a used wheelchair conversion van. If you use your wits, make the necessary inquiries, and validate the articles being offered, to me it is a great place to buy/sell stuff, particularly items which are not easily shipped. The scam artists know this too and you have to be careful. But most private sellers who are not trying to make a business of it are more than happy to exchange information directly, let you view the article in person, etc.
You comment your place of work will be on East Gailbraith Rd. So is this actually part of UC or affiliated with UC?
Six months is in the realm of a short-term living accommodation here. I would consider investigating extended stay hotels as an alternative to actual apartment. Get their rates for a 6-month stay. If your time-frame is as stated, arrive in Oct. and leave end of Mar. most apartments are going to consider you a less than 1 year occupant - not what they want.
Similar for renting a car. Car rentals are just plain expensive any way you want to cut it. Enterprise is the one I have the most experience with for longer term rentals. But I would be looking for a six-month lease rate. Try some of the dealers around Cincinnati who are stuck with lease turn-ins because nobody wants to buy them in the lousy economy.
I feel Craigslist is quite a good site and now may be dominant when it comes to selling many things. Items such as used cars are just about confined to it. Just recently I sold a powered wheelchair on Craigslist and purchased a used wheelchair conversion van. If you use your wits, make the necessary inquiries, and validate the articles being offered, to me it is a great place to buy/sell stuff, particularly items which are not easily shipped. The scam artists know this too and you have to be careful. But most private sellers who are not trying to make a business of it are more than happy to exchange information directly, let you view the article in person, etc.
Thanks for the reply.
I will be careful using Craigslist - and i am only planning to actually consider to buy something from people i can meet in person (in Cincinnati). So i guess that is fine. I have heard that KBB.com should be great in order to search for cars though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjbrill
Just a couple of questions.
You comment your place of work will be on East Gailbraith Rd. So is this actually part of UC or affiliated with UC?
Six months is in the realm of a short-term living accommodation here. I would consider investigating extended stay hotels as an alternative to actual apartment. Get their rates for a 6-month stay. If your time-frame is as stated, arrive in Oct. and leave end of Mar. most apartments are going to consider you a less than 1 year occupant - not what they want.
Similar for renting a car. Car rentals are just plain expensive any way you want to cut it. Enterprise is the one I have the most experience with for longer term rentals. But I would be looking for a six-month lease rate. Try some of the dealers around Cincinnati who are stuck with lease turn-ins because nobody wants to buy them in the lousy economy.
It is a part of UC - but a research institute.
I see your point regarding being in town for only 6 months. However, it is important for me, to feel "at home" during evenings and weekends why i hope to be able to find something shared or temporary (a "nice" place). I imagine most "extended stay hotels" are not something that you would not want to spend unnecessary time in. But i might be wrong. However, I don't want to have to "build" an empty apartment with furniture and stuff - that would be stupid in relation to the short time period.
However, i considered the following for the first 1-2 weeks. Any experience with the place or comments ?
CINCINNATIS BEST RESIDENTIAL EXTENDED STAY-furnished (http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/sub/2537357342.html - broken link)
About the car. I think I will rent a car in the airport for 1 week to begin with and ASAP see if I can buy one. However, the lease you mention sounds interesting as I would not have to worry about selling my car around marts/april again. But I guess it cannot compare cost-wize to buying a car (as I don't expect it to drop that much in value in such short time - at least not comparable to a lease price for the same period).
Elvirus... Do not have any direct experience with the extended stay you referenced. But at $1,600 a month for what I view as a single room with bath and use of a common area it is not cheap. For that amount I would want a full 1-2 bedroom condo and everything private, including a garage
You can rent furniture for a short time to fit the need. I agree most extended stays are kind of shlock when it comes to privacy/amenities, but keep looking.
One comment, just about anything in the E. Gaibraith Rd area will be a safe neighborhood. Hyde Park, Norwood is doable but not necessay for your job location as they are most conducive to jobs downtown.
Keep searching and I hope you experience here is a good one.
Kjbrill -> I am aware of that it is expensive and maybe i did not make it clear, but it was meant as a 1-2week solution as my plan is to search for an apartment while I am in Cincinnati. I know it is a bit risky to wait, but I hope that being able to walk/drive around in the different neighborhoods will make it easier to judge whether it is a place that I would want to spend 6 months in.
I'm just searching for alternatives to a hotel.
It is good to hear that E. Gallbraith rd. is a "safe" area. However, I HAVE to stay somewhere close to shops, cafe-shops, gym, restaurants and bars. I come from a city where everything is available everywhere and everybody gets around by walking, biking and metro. So I hope that is possible at least to find something somewhat similar, and I imagine (but dont know) that I want to look for places around Clifton gaslight, Hyde Park, Mt. lookout, Norwood, Mt Adams.
Last summer I encountered a young person from the Ukraine who came to Cincinnati on a student/work arrangement for 4 months. The Russian operated outfit they signed up with was fleecing them for living and transportation costs, literally eating up all their earnings. As soon as I realized this I attempted to contact several apartment complexes in the area where 2 or 3 of them could split the cost, only to be informed they did not rent for less than a year. I do not know how prevalent this is, but thought I would mention it. As it turned out my home was close to the work location and I took the one in as a no cost border to help out and she bicycled back and forth to work. My wife had a great time showing her Cincinnati on off days, and we are maintaining a constant dialogue today.
Obviously housing near a University is less likely to have severe restrictions on time limits. But we are already nearing the school year and many available units may be taken.
I never had the pleasure to visit Copenhagen, and am not familiar with the topography. I caution you to read everything on this forum concerning the topography of Cincinnati, as it affects daily life here quite a lot. The Ohio River is a remnant of the ice age, when the glacers scraped everything north of Cincinnati flat and left the mountains in KY south of the river when they melted. The erosion of the river valley and its tributaries since then is what makes all of the hills around Cincinnati. Literally nothing is in a straight line as everything follows the natural terrain. I would expect Denmark to be similar but am not familiar with Copenhagen itself. If you want to bicycle in Cincy be prepared to climb a lot of hills.
Another caution regarding plans to visit locations in the US during your visit. Most visitors from Europe totally underestimate the size of the US. For example, the distance from Cincy to Chicago is 300 miles (480 km) and requires about a 5 hour drive. Do some research and try to determine specific points of interest you would like to see and consider the time/expense traveling which deducts from the actual experience.
In my later working days my company was bought by a Japanese concern. We had a large trade show every 2 years in Chicago which lasted for 2 weeks. The middle weekend, Sat & Sun was free time. The Japanese were the same way, they wanted to sight-see. So us unsrcupulous characters would tell them - Oh Yes, you must see Niagra Falls. Chicago to Niagra Falls is 534 miles (854 km) if you take the Canadian route. By the time they left Chicago on Friday evening after the close of the trade show, drove to Niagra Falls, they would be lucky to see the falls for 15 minutes before having to turn around and drive back. If we were particularly vicious we would send them to New Orleans, Chicago to New Orleans is 930 miles (1500 km). For that round trip they would have hardly any time to sleep other than in the car.
Another comparison, Denmark is 43,094 sq. km in area, Ohio is 116,096 sq. km. Several of the US states are larger than entire countries in Europe.
I hope you enjoy your time in the US, just be realistic in what you can expect to see/do.
Back to the original posting. I was an apartment community manager for a few years and I always would accept a short-term tenant, but at a cost. From $50 to $100 more per month is pretty standard.
If you want to go the standard apartment route, some big companies in town are CMC Properties, Towne Properties and the The Hills. Get on their website and shoot some emails, I'm sure you will find something that suites you. Be warned though, most of these properties are in the suburbs, or outside the city proper. Call Uptown Rentals for rentals that are more inner city, they deal with a lot of student housing and I'm pretty sure they would do short-term.
Hope this helps.
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