Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-04-2018, 04:01 PM
 
34 posts, read 36,364 times
Reputation: 58

Advertisements

Hey, everyone!

I'll be attending Columbia for grad school this coming fall and am starting to look for places. Morningside Heights is of course the closest to campus, and I won't be bringing a car, but I've also heard good things about Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights.

My budget is no more than $1,000 a month (utilities included), so I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a private room in a shared apartment rather than a studio or one-bedroom to myself, but that's fine. I don't mind having suitemates, just don't want to share my actual room with anyone else.

Can you guys help me figure out which neighborhood I should zero in on primarily?

About me: I'm a 26-year-old white male, will be studying Elementary Education at Columbia's Teachers College, I don't smoke, don't do drugs, only rarely drink at social events (yeah, I'm making myself sound like a goody goody, but I guess I kinda am), I'm an architecture buff, I like being outdoors and having access to green space and nature, I'm a writer and like to go to different coffee shops to work, I don't care if there are nightclubs or bars around but would enjoy if there are museums/theaters...yeah, I guess that's about it!

Based on the above, would you particularly recommend any of the three neighborhoods over another?

Thanks for any input!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-04-2018, 04:16 PM
 
Location: New York, NY
6,660 posts, read 5,925,358 times
Reputation: 5882
With your budget, I would recommend the west side of Inwood - as it's quiet and still relatively decent in price for a studio. One bedrooms go for 1700 and up, though. You may have to work part time or do an internship. I doubt Hamilton Heights or Morningside Heights have anything cheaper.

By the way, Columbia may have resources available to you - such as student housing, where they actually help you look for a room share.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2018, 04:26 PM
 
34 posts, read 36,364 times
Reputation: 58
Quote:
Originally Posted by stormgal View Post
With your budget, I would recommend the west side of Inwood - as it's quiet and still relatively decent in price for a studio. One bedrooms go for 1700 and up, though. You may have to work part time or do an internship. I doubt Hamilton Heights or Morningside Heights have anything cheaper.

By the way, Columbia may have resources available to you - such as student housing, where they actually help you look for a room share.
Thanks! I have a part-time job lined up that actually pays pretty decently, though I still doubt I'd be able to afford a studio or one-bedroom, so I'm primarily just looking for a good neighborhood where I can rent a private room for $1,000 or less.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2018, 04:46 PM
 
25,556 posts, read 23,809,039 times
Reputation: 10119
Quote:
Originally Posted by incandescence View Post
Hey, everyone!

I'll be attending Columbia for grad school this coming fall and am starting to look for places. Morningside Heights is of course the closest to campus, and I won't be bringing a car, but I've also heard good things about Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights.

My budget is no more than $1,000 a month (utilities included), so I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a private room in a shared apartment rather than a studio or one-bedroom to myself, but that's fine. I don't mind having suitemates, just don't want to share my actual room with anyone else.

Can you guys help me figure out which neighborhood I should zero in on primarily?

About me: I'm a 26-year-old white male, will be studying Elementary Education at Columbia's Teachers College, I don't smoke, don't do drugs, only rarely drink at social events (yeah, I'm making myself sound like a goody goody, but I guess I kinda am), I'm an architecture buff, I like being outdoors and having access to green space and nature, I'm a writer and like to go to different coffee shops to work, I don't care if there are nightclubs or bars around but would enjoy if there are museums/theaters...yeah, I guess that's about it!

Based on the above, would you particularly recommend any of the three neighborhoods over another?

Thanks for any input!
Hamilton Heights is best. You have Riverbank and Riverside Park there, plus Hamilton Heights is a lot cheaper but still walkable to campus. You won't find rooms under 1000 in Morningside Heights. I graduated from Columbia in 2017 with my MA.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2018, 07:27 PM
 
34 posts, read 36,364 times
Reputation: 58
Thanks, NyWriterdude! I'm leaning toward Hamilton Heights myself.

Anyone else have other opinions to consider?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2018, 07:46 PM
 
Location: New York, NY
12,740 posts, read 8,160,299 times
Reputation: 7046
Columbia University also has apartments for grad students in Riverdale. They run shuttle buses to and from regularly. That could be another option.

http://www.cuf.columbia.edu/arbor/ri...portation.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-05-2018, 01:49 AM
 
3,063 posts, read 2,632,783 times
Reputation: 2439
Not sure why you would skip over Manhattanville (or whatever you want to call the area between Morningside Heights and Hamilton Heights) altogether...? West Harlem is West Harlem, really. You're going to need to be flexible with that budget.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-05-2018, 02:23 AM
 
25,556 posts, read 23,809,039 times
Reputation: 10119
Quote:
Originally Posted by randomperson2 View Post
Not sure why you would skip over Manhattanville (or whatever you want to call the area between Morningside Heights and Hamilton Heights) altogether...? West Harlem is West Harlem, really. You're going to need to be flexible with that budget.
Manhattanville is mostly bought out by Columbia, or is housing projects. With a budget of 1,000 he can easily find something in Hamilton Heights and it's still a walkable distance to Columbia itself. I did that for the duration of my masters program at Columbia.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-05-2018, 02:42 AM
 
Location: New York City
83 posts, read 120,797 times
Reputation: 135
I'd recommend giving PadMapper & Facebook apartment groups a shot. Great combo for apartment hunting. Morningside Heights seems to be the better area out of the others & commute would be a couple minutes. Of course, whichever you can find and afford. Wouldn't recommend going pass Washington Heights, as I'm not too familiar with beyond that point, but keeping a shorter commute is ideal. Manhattanville & Central Harlem (say, below 125th & around 8th/7th ave) are also nice areas.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-05-2018, 09:23 AM
 
453 posts, read 313,855 times
Reputation: 256
you can walk from Hamilton heights and save that communing money. As NyWriterdude was saying there is not much housing available in Manhattanville and Washington heights is too far to walk. There is plenty to do in HH, bars, restaurants ect.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top