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Thank you so much for the link and it's really helpful!! There is no good apartment near by the college so I will go west of it. How is Colorado Blvd? It's in Hale and I saw there are a lot of apartments along that street?
Those apartments on Colo Blvd range from "blah" to "super sketchy". If you can find "blah" for $600/ month go for it. If you can find an extra $300 a month, it will really improve your options.
Much of the area around JWU is very nice. It kind of falls on the border between South Park Hill and East Colfax, with the borders of North Park Hill and Stapleton only a few blocks away.
With the exception of East Colfax, all of these areas are pretty nice. Stapleton is new, very affluent and low-crime. My parents live on its south edge, probably less than a mile east of JWU on Montview. I doubt you could afford an apartment there on your own, but if you could sublet or split something, you'd be fine.
South Park Hill is an older neighborhood. It's also very safe with some absolutely stunning old architecture, parkways etc. It's as nice as any neighborhood in Denver except that Colfax is its southern border, and the strip of Colfax between Colorado and Monaco is probably the safest stretch of Colfax in the whole city, although it starts going downhill rapidly as you go east. I used to cross it every day on my way to junior high school, and never had any problems. It used to be a middle class neighborhood when I grew up there. It's gotten fairly affluent, but there's probably a greater variety of housing opportunities than in Stapleton.
The border between North and South Park Hill is at 23rd Avenue, which is only 3 blocks north of JWU. I would say this
area is similar to South Park Hill, but a little less affluent and maybe a little dicier as you get towards the northeast corner.
(I should tell you that I live in NE Park Hill, the least safe part of Park Hill, and I have had absolutely no problems.)
The area you want to avoid is East Colfax. This is basically the area to the SE of JWU, especially east of Syracuse. There
are all sorts of seedy transient hotels and bars etc. If you move into this neighborhood, I'd try to stay as close as possible to Stapleton (away from Colfax).
I would NOT try to find housing in another part of the city or suburbs in the name of being safe. I think it's very possible you could move halfway across town and end up in a more dangerous area.
Great info, GFran. This should help the OP for sure.
If the OP were my niece, my suggestion would be to room with someone else for a temporary period of time (month-to-month, if possible), 'til she settles in the city, learns the layout & can move to another locale on her own. Once she begins school, she may even find a nice, fellow student looking for a housemate. I realize her other roommate experience wasn't perfect, but that can happen at any time one lives with another. IOW, a bad relationship doesn't stop most of us from trying again, at some point.
Thank you guys!!! All your comments are helpful. I haven't though of finding house near by JWU because I heard that area is not that safe and now I know basically what they mean is East Colfax area. I have both good and bad experience with living with roommates. However, I just want to have more privacy so that's why I'm not planning to have a roommate. I will consider to increase my budget if it's necessary. Anyway, thank you for all your kindly help.
Thank you guys!!! All your comments are helpful. I haven't though of finding house near by JWU because I heard that area is not that safe and now I know basically what they mean is East Colfax area. I have both good and bad experience with living with roommates. However, I just want to have more privacy so that's why I'm not planning to have a roommate. I will consider to increase my budget if it's necessary. Anyway, thank you for all your kindly help.
Very welcome, Two. I do understand the desire for privacy... having had a pile of siblings, when single, I always opted to live alone, regardless of costs. Just wondering, is there any sort of message board on the school's website so that you may contact previous students to ask where they might have rented? It may narrow down your choices.
In any event, there are bad sections in any city, large or small, but Denver is not as dangerous as many other similarly sized cities. Always be careful no matter where you are, particularly if leaving school at night, but I think you'll adjust to Denver quite quickly & nicely.
Very welcome, Two. I do understand the desire for privacy... having had a pile of siblings, when single, I always opted to live alone, regardless of costs. Just wondering, is there any sort of message board on the school's website so that you may contact previous students to ask where they might have rented? It may narrow down your choices.
In any event, there are bad sections in any city, large or small, but Denver is not as dangerous as many other similarly sized cities. Always be careful no matter where you are, particularly if leaving school at night, but I think you'll adjust to Denver quite quickly & nicely.
Good luck with apt searching & school!
Thank you PatanjaliTwist!! I'm trying to look at apartments near school but I couldn't find anything in those two areas online?! I know the school offers guideline in other campuses but not Denver which is so sad. My guess is may be because Denver campus is too small
Thank you PatanjaliTwist!! I'm trying to look at apartments near school but I couldn't find anything in those two areas online?! I know the school offers guideline in other campuses but not Denver which is so sad. My guess is may be because Denver campus is too small
In a roundabout way, that might be a good sign, meaning the other campuses have some rather iffy areas nearby, hence the school guidelines, but not as much here. To the other point, is there any way to contact previous students to ask where they rented specifically... bldg or neighborhood? Online school message board? A list of former grads with email addresses available to new students? (I know the latter is a stretch, but I have taken training classes out-of-state from time to time & they often offer each class member phone #'s/email addresses for other students (usually 30-days prior to the class) in the event some wish to room together short-term to cut down costs or carpool together to class if some don't rent vehicles.)
Since I've been in your position many times (moving to a new state, in some cases taking an apt sight unseen... not that I recommend it, but it always worked out for me), I've always found it helpful to get the shortest lease term possible. This way, if neighbors are too loud, you don't like the area/bldg for any reason or you just prefer other 'hoods, you aren't trapped into a 1-yr lease. I always opt for a 6-mo lease, if available (I prefer mo-to-mo but it's not often available or it is for a much, much higher rent), because even if I see the flat, I have no idea what it's like to truly live there until I move in. Basically, I've always felt my environs are only as comfortable as my neighbors (on either side, above or below) will allow them to be. Several times I've moved into a flat, all was well for 2-mos, then a bleedin' dolt moved next door... was glad to only have to tolerate them & their addictions/predilections for a short time... basically, I can handle almost anything for 6-mos, if necessary. That was one of the reasons for recommending www.roommates.com, just to get you here. I don't like to live with strangers either... but, if it kept me within a $600 rental budget, as you'd mentioned, I'd strongly consider it for 6-mos, or less, if possible.
Someone may have mentioned it in this thread, but have you checked www.padmapper.com? It's incredibly helpful in seeing a very large or small (you define the selection criteria) overview of an area for rents. You can also choose or exclude from where your ads come... Craigslist, rent.net & 1/2-dozen+ other places.
Keep looking. Each day you get closer to a new apt. It will all fall into place soon enough.
In a roundabout way, that might be a good sign, meaning the other campuses have some rather iffy areas nearby, hence the school guidelines, but not as much here. To the other point, is there any way to contact previous students to ask where they rented specifically... bldg or neighborhood? Online school message board? A list of former grads with email addresses available to new students? (I know the latter is a stretch, but I have taken training classes out-of-state from time to time & they often offer each class member phone #'s/email addresses for other students (usually 30-days prior to the class) in the event some wish to room together short-term to cut down costs or carpool together to class if some don't rent vehicles.)
Since I've been in your position many times (moving to a new state, in some cases taking an apt sight unseen... not that I recommend it, but it always worked out for me), I've always found it helpful to get the shortest lease term possible. This way, if neighbors are too loud, you don't like the area/bldg for any reason or you just prefer other 'hoods, you aren't trapped into a 1-yr lease. I always opt for a 6-mo lease, if available (I prefer mo-to-mo but it's not often available or it is for a much, much higher rent), because even if I see the flat, I have no idea what it's like to truly live there until I move in. Basically, I've always felt my environs are only as comfortable as my neighbors (on either side, above or below) will allow them to be. Several times I've moved into a flat, all was well for 2-mos, then a bleedin' dolt moved next door... was glad to only have to tolerate them & their addictions/predilections for a short time... basically, I can handle almost anything for 6-mos, if necessary. That was one of the reasons for recommending Roommates, roommate finder and roommate search service, just to get you here. I don't like to live with strangers either... but, if it kept me within a $600 rental budget, as you'd mentioned, I'd strongly consider it for 6-mos, or less, if possible.
Someone may have mentioned it in this thread, but have you checked www.padmapper.com? It's incredibly helpful in seeing a very large or small (you define the selection criteria) overview of an area for rents. You can also choose or exclude from where your ads come... Craigslist, rent.net & 1/2-dozen+ other places.
Keep looking. Each day you get closer to a new apt. It will all fall into place soon enough.
Thank you PatanjaliTwist! No, at this point I have no way to contact previous students regarding housing info so that's why I'm here and asking for help.
I'd like to do month to month rent but I know it's heard to find and most of them are required 1 year lease.
I've tried padmapper before and got some great idea from it.
Recently, I've increased my budget to $700 because I found more apartments are available within this budget.
As I do more research, I have one new question comes out. How bad is the break-ins in Capitol Hill/Congress Park area? I found some good apartments in unsecured buildings and kind of worry about the break-ins problem. I'm living in Pullman which is very safe and has very low crime rate. I have no problem to walk by myself during night time here and I'm sure it will not work in Denver.
Recently, I've increased my budget to $700 because I found more apartments are available within this budget.
Great idea.
Quote:
I'm living in Pullman which is very safe and has very low crime rate. I have no problem to walk by myself during night time here and I'm sure it will not work in Denver.
Since I've lived in large cities my entire life, save for a few years, I assume any area (big or small... there's crime in small towns, too) can be a danger to a young girl. For example, I live across the street from a beautiful, huge park with may hidden trails... I oftentimes want to walk at 5:30-6am... but, I don't. My BF thinks I'm a bit too cautious... but, I keep reminding him, he's a 6' tall lad. No one's going to bother or follow him. They may not me either, but, I'm just cautious, reasonably & understandably so, because I've lived in dodgy neighborhoods which often require the utmost personal safety. Rather to be safe, yeah?
I'm new to CO so am not sure if Pullman is in CO? But, if you are in the state, I just thought I'd throw something out there. It may be useful or not. Each week, my complex has flyers people post near the outdoor mailboxes for different services... sometimes on our doors, too... dog walking, babysitting, house cleaning, selling various items, charity info, school donation requests, scout donation requests, restaurants, lost pets, etc. They may or may not live withing my complex. It might be worth your while to post a personal ad sans personal info like being a woman, saying you'd like to either take over someone's lease upon approval from the rental office and/or find a temp mo-to-mo roommate. Repeat, do not say your are female initially, otherwise you may invite dicey calls. I'm saying this from personal experience... to that end, make sure your VM's outgoing message (should you leave phone # rather than email) isn't your voice, but instead uses the default voice to repeat your phone #. If you use VM & have a female sounding first name, create another 'dummy' email for free on hotmail, gmail or yahoo, just for your apt finding purposes.
I'm unsure which areas you're focusing upon... but, if you could take a day to drive around & post a sheet with a bit of info & a contact #, you might more easily & quickly find what you need. Of course, if you're not in the area or aren't close enough if in CO, I understand. Just thought I'd mention it for this main reason... paying 1/2 the rent ($600-700) on a $1,200-1,400 apt will certainly assure you're in a better unit, more than likely in a better 'hood. Just a thought...
Last edited by Count David; 05-31-2013 at 10:26 PM..
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