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There is a loft complex at Brightleaf Square where the units start at $750/month. That would be on the fringe of "Downtown" Durham and very close to shopping and plenty of dining options. Don't know about pet policies, but they do have a designated parking lot that has security.
I think the complex name is West Village.
There is a loft complex at Brightleaf Square where the units start at $750/month. That would be on the fringe of "Downtown" Durham and very close to shopping and plenty of dining options. Don't know about pet policies, but they do have a designated parking lot that has security.
I think the complex name is West Village.
I certainly wouldn't call West Village the fringe of downtown. It's right in downtown, a block from the bars and restaurants at Brightleaf, 2 blocks from the Amtrak Station, 3 blocks from the city bus station, on the Bull City Connector Route (which will take you right to Duke South Hospital, which is a ~3 minute walk from the chapel), and 3 blocks from the city center ("inside the loop") and Five Points. They do allow pets in some units, but as far as rent starting at $750 a month.... I think a 1 bedroom starts closer to $900.
I wouldn't call Brightleaf Square downtown any more than I call Glenwood South part of Raleigh's downtown. They are both outside of the historic outskirts of a real downtown.
peperoberto,
our son actually investigated that complex...now its true that this was in December, but the lowest rate apartment was $750/mo at that time...
Downtown Durham has a website that might be helpful. It's just downtown durham dot com. It has lots of info on restaurants and things to do and also lists properties (commercial and residential) for sale and rent. It's not a realty site, though.
I wanted to inquire also, and perhaps this deserves a topic in itself, the crime mapping of Durham. It seems like all the places I'd love to live and can afford (particularly on Main St. downtown towards East Durham) are characterized by a frequent amount of crime.
I thought you'd been given mostly recommendations near Duke, which are WEST of downtown. The east/southeast part near downtown is in fact the "sketchiest" part of Durham (as you might have guessed from the low prices).
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While I realize crime is a characteristic of any Downtown area, I wanted to get a fuller perspective on this issue and understand just how dangerous it really is? I don't want to just assume the downtown is riddled with ridiculous amounts of crime, but I don't want to land mistakenly in an extremely dangerous neighborhood.
Downtown itself is not "extremely dangerous"--surely you would come and look at any place before renting it, and would see right away if it were in a "bad" part of town. We're in a recession, and property crime is up everywhere. The areas near Duke that people have been mentioning are not "dangerous".
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On another note, based on all your recommendations so far, I figure that the entire Downtown region surrounded by I-85, the 501, and 70, is where all the excitement is with a little spill-over towards Duke's campus and with the except of the far east side of this described area?
First, never say "the [road number]" here (e.g. "the 501"); you will be immediately marked as an out-of-towner, probably West Coast . The road you mention is known as "15-501". All of those roads so kind of "define" the downtown are, as does 147 (aka The Durham Freeway) but more than that, it's individual road names. If you're looking at a map and cam make out the "downtown loop", of which at least part is Morgan St., that is the true definition of the "downtown" per se (on Google maps it even says "City Center"), but the "downtown area" itself goes as far as Brightleaf Square, the American Tobacco Complex, the Durham Bulls Park. Probably east/southeast of Fayetteville Rd/Elizabeth St is where you aren't likely to want to be. I would say that you seem to be a little overly focusing on "boundaries". Duke is just west of downtown and there should be plenty of places along the lines you describe in that area west of downtown. Ninth St. is the epicenter of the "crunchy" vibe. You can always go to Google Maps and use Streetview (the little "man" you pull to a map) and see actual photos, though I'm told that for Durham, they are a few years out of date, which is important because downtown Durham has undergone a HUGE Renaissance in the past 5 years or so, so many new restaurants and such popping up.
peperoberto,
our son actually investigated that complex...now its true that this was in December, but the lowest rate apartment was $750/mo at that time...
Wow! That's good to know. They got a new management company recently, and it sounds like they've re-aligned rents to be more in line with the market average.
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Originally Posted by Dire Wolf
I wouldn't call Brightleaf Square downtown any more than I call Glenwood South part of Raleigh's downtown. They are both outside of the historic outskirts of a real downtown.
Well, this is the city's official designation of downtown, which include Brightleaf. It's from a parking study currently on-going downtown, but it is the city's definition of downtown (and is easier to link to than a GIS map). But let's not argue semantics and instead focus on helping the original poster.
That doesn't make it an official designation. They just extend the study to include more than just downtown, which makes sense.
There is a reason West Village is called West Village, not Downtown Village, because it is west of downtown.
Again, it's really just semantics, but Brightleaf is officially designated as a part of Downtown Durham. It's one of seven districts within downtown as designated by the city. West Village is in the Warehouse District, between the Brightleaf District and the City Center (which you're thinking of as "downtown").
OP: as a resident of Old North Durham, a historic neighborhood just a few blocks from the downtown areas, I can confirm what others have said about crime. The only time I was a victim of a crime was a theft from my property a couple of years ago. Even in that case, the thief was promptly arrested and my property was returned. I've never felt unsafe in this area.
That doesn't make it an official designation. They just extend the study to include more than just downtown, which makes sense.
There is a reason West Village is called West Village, not Downtown Village, because it is west of downtown.
It *is* the city's official designation. That map is the same area as the business improvement district, Downtown Durham Inc.'s work zone, and the downtown design district.
There are more neighborhoods to downtown than just the City Center. Is American Tobacco downtown? Because by your definition it's not, as it's outside of the City Center district. And Blue Devil Ventures had plans to call it "East Village", before CBC won the development rights for the property.
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. The road you mention is known as "15-501". All of those roads so kind of "define" the downtown are, as does 147 (aka The Durham Freeway) but more than that, it's individual road names. If you're looking at a map and cam make out the "downtown loop", of which at least part is Morgan St., that is the true definition of the "downtown" per se (on Google maps it even says "City Center"), but the "downtown area" itself goes as far as Brightleaf Square, the American Tobacco Complex, the Durham Bulls Park. Probably east/southeast of Fayetteville Rd/Elizabeth St is where you aren't likely to want to be. I would say that you seem to be a little overly focusing on "boundaries". Duke is just west of downtown and there should be plenty of places along the lines you describe in that area west of downtown. Ninth St. is the epicenter of the "crunchy" vibe. You can always go to Google Maps and use Streetview (the little "man" you pull to a map) and see actual photos, though I'm told that for Durham, they are a few years out of date, which is important because downtown Durham has undergone a HUGE Renaissance in the past 5 years or so, so many new restaurants and such popping up.
