<$550/mo Apartments Either Downtown or <.5 Miles from a CAT Stop? (Harrisburg: cheap apartments)

[alamosakid]

Hi everyone,

I don't have a whole lot of time right now to research as my internet access is limited. Anyway, I'm in the middle of a 2 month roadtrip that's taking me all over the USA because I have no idea where the heck I want to go when I graduate college. I spent my first five years in Detroit and have since moved over 40 times, living in WI, OH, TN, FL, CO, Uganda, and Jamaica as well as spending 4 months in a semitruck traveling coast-to-coast non-stop.

Super long story short, I wound up making a somewhat unexpected stop in Harrisburg, PA, and absolutely love the place for many reasons I won't bother to list here. It's my favorite place I've been to thusfar on this trip.
It reminds me a lot of "home," Detroit.

When I was walking around, I just had a bad feeling that I wouldn't be able to find housing in my price range should I wind up deciding on the place anyway. I'll have my BA in political science next spring but expect to continue working min wage-$10/hr jobs, and I'm not willing, under any circumstances, to pay more than $550 a month in rent (hence, I was avoiding the state of PA entirely as well as New England until I just happened to come here) heat/electric/etc included or not.

I picked up 2 apartment magazines on my journey through the city and while 90% of them didn't list their rental rates ("rates change daily" was a weird albeit common theme), the cheapest thing I saw was $520 a month! No way!

In the little bit of time I have, I've been looking around on apartment websites as well as Craigslist and only on craigslist have I found a few places in my budget. For those of you in Harrisburg who know more about housing there than I do, would it be all but impossible to find a place in my budget? Wherever I decide to go, I'll be moving in December and will probably rent a room for a few months and then look into getting an apartment once I'm more confident with my decision. With the colleges and all, I was thinking May would be the perfect time to start looking.

I don't really care whether or not I live in the suburbs, in the ghetto, in downtown, or anywhere inbetween. My first choice is downtown, followed by the ghetto and then the suburbs. My one requirement would be that I either be downtown, or be right on the CAT line (or any other public transportation) within a 1/2 mile walk or so.

Thoughts? I know I'm definitely counting my chickens before they hatch, but I need to know if I should just forget about Harrisburg or really consider it. Like said, wherever I go, my first concern is making sure I can afford a place to stay.

[DowntownHarrisburg]

Originally Posted by alamosakid

It reminds me a lot of "home," Detroit.

This made me chuckle.

I don't really care whether or not I live in the suburbs, in the ghetto, in downtown, or anywhere inbetween. My first choice is downtown, followed by the ghetto and then the suburbs. My one requirement would be that I either be downtown, or be right on the CAT line (or any other public transportation) within a 1/2 mile walk or so.

You will definitely not have a hard time finding a < $550 apartment in the city, but it will most likely be a dump in the rough part of town. Downtown and midtown have a number of individually-owned apartments, but finding one under $550 will be a challenge (though probably not impossible). Towne House has studios starting in the mid-500s plus utilities.

The Grayco, which is actually one of the most desirable buildings downtown, has studios starting in the mid-500s, but also includes ALL utilities -- even electric. If you can squeeze out an extra $10 or $20 / month, The Grayco is a massive upgrade. You have both a CAT (local) bus stop and a Greyhound bus stop within a half mile, plus you're within easy walking distance to everything downtown and midtown has to offer.

There are also some recent redeveloped apartments in midtown. There are some "new" studios around the area of Third & Herr that I believe are going for around $520. CAT is < .5 mile and the area is decent.

If you truly don't care about living in high-crime areas, you will find plenty of apartments in and below your price range up in Allison Hill and the surrounding areas (roughly the area east of Cameron Street, between State St and I-83). We're nowhere near as bad as Detroit, but I would definitely expect to have your car / home broken into at least once. And don't move in there unless you know how to handle yourself.

I know people who have found dirt-cheap apartments out along Walnut St / Route 22 around Penbrook. Follow Walnut St east out of Harrisburg, and when you get to the top of the hill, you're in Penbrook. Look in the area between there and I-83.

Finally, every single time I've looked at Craigslist, most of the listings are crap. They're either grossly exaggerated (there are NO loft apartments downtown for under $800) or straight-up scams. Tread very, very carefully. If you find something interesting on there and want our opinion, feel free to ask.

Good luck!

[alamosakid]

Originally Posted by floor9

This made me chuckle.



You will definitely not have a hard time finding a < $550 apartment in the city, but it will most likely be a dump in the rough part of town. Downtown and midtown have a number of individually-owned apartments, but finding one under $550 will be a challenge (though probably not impossible). Towne House has studios starting in the mid-500s plus utilities.

The Grayco, which is actually one of the most desirable buildings downtown, has studios starting in the mid-500s, but also includes ALL utilities -- even electric. If you can squeeze out an extra $10 or $20 / month, The Grayco is a massive upgrade. You have both a CAT (local) bus stop and a Greyhound bus stop within a half mile, plus you're within easy walking distance to everything downtown and midtown has to offer.

There are also some recent redeveloped apartments in midtown. There are some "new" studios around the area of Third & Herr that I believe are going for around $520. CAT is < .5 mile and the area is decent.

If you truly don't care about living in high-crime areas, you will find plenty of apartments in and below your price range up in Allison Hill and the surrounding areas (roughly the area east of Cameron Street, between State St and I-83). We're nowhere near as bad as Detroit, but I would definitely expect to have your car / home broken into at least once. And don't move in there unless you know how to handle yourself.

I know people who have found dirt-cheap apartments out along Walnut St / Route 22 around Penbrook. Follow Walnut St east out of Harrisburg, and when you get to the top of the hill, you're in Penbrook. Look in the area between there and I-83.

Finally, every single time I've looked at Craigslist, most of the listings are crap. They're either grossly exaggerated (there are NO loft apartments downtown for under $800) or straight-up scams. Tread very, very carefully. If you find something interesting on there and want our opinion, feel free to ask.

Good luck!

Thank you!!!! Exactly the kind of informative post I was looking for. If I could give you +10 rep, I would, lol. Thanks!!!!

With ALL utilities being included, the Grayco definitely sounds like an option.

[DowntownHarrisburg]

Glad to help.

One more thing -- there are a large number of individual rentals and small apartment complexes in the area between Liberty & Second and Forster & Third. If you're going to find a better downtown deal than The Grayco, you're going to find it there.

[alamosakid]

Also...

When are you moving? December, 2011
Where are you coming from? Rural, desolate, south-central Colorado. The part of Colorado that they never put in the commercials and brochures.
Why are you moving? Graduating college, sick of the small town (8k people) with NOTHING to do...or even look at minus Blanca peak.
Where will you be working? Most likely as an administrative assistant or secretary but I'll do almost anything since that's a minimum wage job anyway.
Have you been here yet? Yep.

Will you buy or rent? Rent
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo?
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? Don't care, whatever is cheapest. And up to $550/month. I'm willing to rent a room at first, but DEFINITELY want to be in an apartment (efficiency/studio or 1 bed) within a few months.
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? ^

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Single, and no. I'm 19. Lets keep it that way....
Do you prefer public or private schools? --
Do you have pets? Nope, but would consider a cat.
Do you want or need a yard? Prefer no yard unless I don't have to do the upkeep.
Are you keeping a car? Not sure. Probably not.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Don't really care so long as I'm within walking/p. transportation distance of things to do and see.

What do you want to be closest to?
Work #5
Shopping #3
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) #2
Nightlife #4
Train or subway stations #1 (or bus station)

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? I'm all about diversity, but I MUST be somewhere that's socially liberal

Phillies, Pirates or Mets? Pfffft, could care less about baseball. RED WINGS!!!

[alamosakid]

Originally Posted by floor9

This made me chuckle.

To clarify before anyone gets angry, I like that it has that rust belt feel to it. It's a shipping hub, plenty of (so it appeared) manufacturing, and some places that looked a bit worn down.

---------------
But even better, the people I met seemed totally down to earth (minus the b*tchy customer service agents at the Greyhound station, but I've been on the Greyhound for 2 months now and that's DEFINITELY a universal thing LOL) and to my surprise, really friendly! I was just walking around and at least 60% of the people I passed made eye contact, smiled, said "hi," or something along those lines. In the short 3 hours I was there, 4 people stopped and made a conversation with me.

That definitely doesn't happen back in Detroit. I was raised not to make eye contact with people and to leave people alone. And so...to be honest, when I go down south I feel really awkward around people who seem, ahem, almost fake in their attempts to be so nice and welcoming.

But for whatever reason, in Harrisburg it just felt nice. Everyone--from the smiling Muslim woman to the pants-to-his-knees "thug" who tipped his hat and smilled to the working-class man wondering what I was doing walking around to the attorneys at Capital Hill wondering what brought me to Harrisburg--seemed genuine.

I traveled a LOT when I was a kid, even spending 4 months living in a semi-truck traveling coast to coast, and I always dreaded going anywhere east of PA. Louisiana, Kentucky, California? Bring it on. Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia? FORGET ABOUT IT.

Maybe I just got lucky one day, but Harrisburg was a really nice break from that.

Anyway.......