[kentoh]

I am looking to rent a Studio or one bedroom apartment that cost $1000-$1200/month, start in August 1, 2015, in a safe area, within walking distance to the School of Medicine. Will be first time in New Haven. Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[JayCT]

The Yale School of Medicine is located on Howard Avenue in what is commonly called the Medical District. This is not really a residential area but there are a couple of apartment buildings there. They may however be more expensive than you want to pay.

IF you cannot find an apartment in the Medical District then you will need to be careful where you go. The areas nearby can get sketchy very fast. I would look in downtown next for a place. Good luck, Jay

[richrf]

I was shopping around for a while in Fairfield County for an apartment and unfortunately New Haven at this time has the lowest vacancy rate in the nation. I think you will have to compromise on location and price which is what I finally did when I landed in Stamford. When looking for an apartment I used a combination of Zillow, Craigslist, and Realtor. I lucked out and found a no-fee Realtor in Stamford who was able to show me a dozen or so apartments and condos for lease in 6 hour chunk of time. Found a decent place considering the overall market situation but I definitely had to compromise a lot.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by richrf

I was shopping around for a while in Fairfield County for an apartment and unfortunately New Haven at this time has the lowest vacancy rate in the nation. I think you will have to compromise on location and price which is what I finally did when I landed in Stamford. When looking for an apartment I used a combination of Zillow, Craigslist, and Realtor. I lucked out and found a no-fee Realtor in Stamford who was able to show me a dozen or so apartments and condos for lease in 6 hour chunk of time. Found a decent place considering the overall market situation but I definitely had to compromise a lot.

I don't think any agents charge fees to find rentals here in Connecticut. If you do have to pay for the agent, walk away. You can find one that will help you find a place without a fee. Jay

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by richrf

I was shopping around for a while in Fairfield County for an apartment and unfortunately New Haven at this time has the lowest vacancy rate in the nation. I think you will have to compromise on location and price which is what I finally did when I landed in Stamford. When looking for an apartment I used a combination of Zillow, Craigslist, and Realtor. I lucked out and found a no-fee Realtor in Stamford who was able to show me a dozen or so apartments and condos for lease in 6 hour chunk of time. Found a decent place considering the overall market situation but I definitely had to compromise a lot.

Use Hotpads or Apartments.com next time, a lot of stuff shows up that doesn't on Zillow/Realtor and is generally more reliable than Craigslist. Sometimes you just have to call the apartment complexes. Many don't advertise much since it's such a hot market. Pike International is one company that owns tons of apartments.

OP - if you won't have a car, I would definitely look at downtown. Don't go west of the School of Medicine, it's not a great area.

[richrf]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Use Hotpads or Apartments.com next time, a lot of stuff shows up that doesn't on Zillow/Realtor and is generally more reliable than Craigslist. Sometimes you just have to call the apartment complexes. Many don't advertise much since it's such a hot market. Pike International is one company that owns tons of apartments.

OP - if you won't have a car, I would definitely look at downtown. Don't go west of the School of Medicine, it's not a great area.

Yes, this is correct. I should have mentioned that the Realtor I used had a cooperative agreement with all of the candidate apartment buildings that I found on apartments.com and others like it. This made it very easy on me. The buildings she didn't work with, e.g. Avalon, I could see on my own but I wasn't interested in Avalon so it didn't matter. Thanks for pointing this out.

[kentoh]

Thank you all so much for the info.
I used "Walk Score" and got three apartment locations within walking distance to the School of Med. But there are no vacancy at this time.

Apt 1: 85 Orange St.
Apt 2: 265 College St.
Apt 3: 33 Sylvan Ave.
I do not know if these locations are in the "safe" area. Please advise.

I found one apartment at 109 Church St. It costs about $1350/month. Is this a good place to live?

Also, it will really help me if you can refer some Realtors with phone number for me to call.

[JayCT]

109 Church Street is in the heart of downtown, a block from the Green. It is an excellent place to live if you want to be near the action. Tons of restaurants and bars. Transportation is right there too. 85 Orange is also good. It is in the area they call Ninth Square which is close to a lot of things too. And 265 College is just off the Green right near everything. The only one I would not consider is 33 Sylvan. The area gets sketchy in that direction, south and west of the hospital. Go with one of the others if you like the apartment. Jay

[Stylo]

Avoid Sylvan.

All the others are fine but 85 Orange might be the best location. Nice mix of relative quiet and walkability.

Church Street apartment is near bus stops so lots of commotion and noise there, maybe some minor crime issues. College street location is near bars, theater so might be loud.

[AnonChick]

I'll add my vote for Orange Street. It's just a block away from the "noisiest" part of town, so you have relative peace and quiet when you're home, and as much activity and noise and "life" as you like just a block away. That specific part of Orange Street will feel a little spooky late at night if you're walking around, but that's only because it's not tree-lined, it's a former retail store block, no one really drives down that part of Orange at night, there are a couple of alleys leading to parking areas off the side, and any stores there are closed at night so it's unusually quiet.

It's right behind the government buildings. You'll get the random crazy homeless guy hobbling up the sidewalk from time to time but they're mostly harmless and a couple of them are actually pretty interesting to talk to