Daughter accepted to UofMD for grad school. She has a pit bull. (Baltimore: apartment complexes, rentals)

[autiger92]

My daughter was accepted to UofMd to their AudD program. We are here until Saturday, so she can attend open house on Friday. It's hard enough to find large breed friendly rentals... She has a pit mix and a chihuahua mix. 60lbs and 6lbs respectively. If she had known about the ban, she probably wouldn't have applied. She is looking at 2 other schools but hasn't heard back on acceptance.

Where do most grad students live? We know nothing about the area except that crime is an issue.

[NJ2MDdude]

UMD has on-campus graduate housing, but the two complexes I'm aware of (Graduate Hills off Adelphi Rd and Graduate Gardens on Guilford Dr) were pretty slummy when I attended undergraduate school at UMD in the mid-1980s. I imagine many graduate students today live in one of newer apartment complexes along Route 1. One particular complex, Landmark Apartments, I believe is available only to graduate students. Not sure if its pet friendly, but you can't beat the location.

Alternatively, there are two off-campus apartment complexes that attract a lot of students. One is Seven Springs, and the other is Westchester Park. The former is connected to UMD by way of a paved walking/biking trail. I used to ride my mountain bike through that area many years ago. It is used mostly by students. The latter is connected to UMD by university shuttle bus, although I've seen students walk to school via Berwyn Road. This complex abuts Greenbelt National Park. I believe both are pet friendly.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by autiger92

We know nothing about the area except that crime is an issue.

Crime is not an issue in College Park, Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, Adelphi, Greenbelt, or Riverdale Park - all cities and towns surrounding UMD. All major cities like DC including their suburbs have crime. UMD is a great institution just like those great schools in NYC, LA, and Boston and it continues to grow its student population because of its great academics. I would send my own daughter to UMD with no problem and have her live in College Park. I live within walking distance from campus.

If you decide to try other schools in the area, that is fine. But the DC area Metro system makes the area a lot smaller than other cities with little to know mass transit systems. So, your daughter doesn't have to locate in College Park proper while attending UMD. She could live near any Metro accessible apartment building in the DC area and commute. Any number of UMD grad students could potentially live anywhere in the DC area and commute via Metro.

Other grad student communities are being built in College Park but won't be available until 2022 or 2023 at the earliest.

Silver Spring is not that far from the campus and is in pitbull-friendly Montgomery County and is minutes away from College Park by car/bus. The Purple Line will make commute times between the counties shorter. But it won't be operational until 2022.

[autiger92]

Thank you both for the insight. We drove through Berwyn Heights this evening, and it seemed quaint--nice. The rents on a single family home are probably too high for a student, but I'll look. A house or a room in a house would be ideal--assuming there is a yard to walk the dogs.

We will take a look at the apartment complexes you mentioned, too. That's the plan for tomorrow.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Crime is not an issue in College Park, Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, Adelphi, Greenbelt, or Riverdale Park - all cities and towns surrounding UMD. All major cities like DC including their suburbs have crime. UMD is a great institution .

1) BS on the crime, it's not Chicago but beware.

2) UMD is a very good School make no mistake

3) Dump the dogs , it will make life for her much easier while she is at school.

[autiger92]

I'm laughing right now.

When we first arrived and got off 495 onto Baltimore Ave, we both looked over to the right and saw this large, unappealing building. This is our first impression of the area. My daughter said, "That looks like something you would see in the Soviet Union." Turns out--I think that's Seven Springs. I just looked it up on the map. We will go check it out tomorrow. The website looks nice, so maybe you can't judge this book by its cover.

[autiger92]

Originally Posted by G1..

1) BS on the crime, it's not Chicago but beware.

2) UMD is a very good School make no mistake

3) Dump the dogs , it will make life for her much easier while she is at school.

She won't dump the dogs. When she was a freshman at Auburn, she started a dog rescue. The primary mission is to save dogs on death row at high kill shelters in rural Georgia and Alabama. They also have events and go to schools to educate the communities around them of the importance of spay/neuter. They have taken on many dogs who were medical cases or abused and neglected or in hoarding situations. This pit bull was found dragging a chain, nearly starved, scarred, teeth ground down, severe heartworms. He was very, very sick. My daughter took him and nursed him back to health. He was the one foster she couldn't give up/ adopt out.

We'll figure it out.

www.pupsontheplains.com

[NJ2MDdude]

I don't think Seven Springs is visible from the intersection of Route 1 (Baltimore Ave) and Cherry Hill Road. The complex is located at the bottom of the hill and is comprised mostly of 2-story garden style apartments. The complex must be 50 years old, and the rents reflect its age. I imagine the lower rent is why some students choose to live there.

As for College Park, it's an old Route 1 town that once catered to out-of-state automobile travelers before I-95 was built. For whatever reason, it never developed into a true college town like Chapel Hill, Ann Arbor, Athens, etc.

Keep the pit bull for protection. Property crime is an issue.

[Teacher Terry]

I hate when people say dump the dogs. I want to ask them if they dump their kids. We ended up with a 80 lb husky/shepherd mix and drove across the country to get him when my son’s circumstances changed. We had him 6 years and it was worth it. They are family.

[Harpaint]

[quote=Teacher Terry;57425200]I hate when people say dump the dogs. I want to ask them if they dump their kids. We ended up with a 80 lb husky/shepherd mix and drove across the country to get him when my son’s circumstances changed. We had him 6 years and it was worth it. They are family.[/QUOTE