Miss Marple Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) My son is looking for apartments off campus, in the midtown area, for his time there as a graduate student. If you live around there or have lived there in the past, do you have any opinions? He's definitely open to suggestions. He is also hoping to room with at least one other person. I think some of the apartments have roommate-matching programs. Any suggestions will be helpful. His semester in LA at SpaceX was enjoyable. He learned a lot about management and life. His biggest complaint is that SpaceX has a very lax attitude about dress. He said that those who dressed down (sometimes showing up in jammies) were the least productive. He felt that there was a direct correlation to the amount of work that got done and how casual/business dressed a person was. I was surprised that this bothered him, but I've also noted that he is dressing less like a college student and more like a businessman now. It really bothered him. On the other hand, the cafeteria was fantastic. He could eat supper for $5-7 which often included steak/prime rib/salmon/shrimp. He ate most of his meals there. The "life" learning was good as well. He discovered bad neighborhoods, crazy people, and the trash that washes up on Venice beach each night. He learned that the online pictures of apartments are not representative of the apartment one will get lol. But the biggest shock was seeing a dead body on the ground outside his balcony window. It was an eye-opening experience for this kid from small town Oklahoma. I'm thinking that this LA experience should have prepared him for Atlanta :) Edited February 16, 2016 by Miss Marple 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 There are several complexes that are adjacent to campus. 100Midtown is one of the closest. My daughter is looking at off-campus housing as well (not that she would be an appropriate roommate!), and this is the one that she and her friends were considering most seriously. They also were considering WestMar, which is a little farther away and across Northside Drive, but I vetoed that when I read couple of reviews about pot smoke in the hallways on weekends. She and a different group of friends are now looking at houses in the Home Park neighborhood, which is adjacent to campus. Reddit seems to have reviews of a bunch of options, but as always, if you read too many of the reviews, nothing looks suitable. A lot of apartments and houses rent by the bedroom, which was new to me. I'm used to seeing rents for the apartment or house, and the tenants divide it up however they decide, but there are a bunch that rent to Tech students, have everyone sign a separate lease and then be responsible only for rent for their room. Utilities are either included or divvied up by the tenants, but there seems to be no real consensus on how that is done. When budgeting, keep in mind that a parking permit on campus is nearly $800, so if you can live close enough to campus to not need to park there, you've just saved a month's rent. We have a friend who owns a five or six-bedroom house in Home Park that they rent by the room. The tenants share the common areas. I don't know if they'll have an opening in the fall, but I can check if you're interested. PM me if you are. As for roommates, has he asked the grad student coordinator for his major if he or she keeps a list? One of the math grad students told my daughter that the math department will do some informal roommate matching. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Thanks - I mentioned your suggestions to him. While discussing the benefits of on campus/close to campus he made the comment: "I want something that caters to 30-something professional; anything that caters to students will have borderline illegal activities." I think he hated his campus housing during undergrad :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Can a grad student afford something catering to the thirty something professional? Is it a matter of finding the right roommate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Can a grad student afford something catering to the thirty something professional? Is it a matter of finding the right roommate? He's looking for at least one roommate. He found a fella on craigslist who is in the same situation - going to GT for grad school, from Boston, age 27 - sounded positive - but, hey, it's Craigslist - who knows lol. He thinks he can afford about $800-900 per month (probably dipping into his savings from his SpaceX internship) and the other fella says he can go up to $900 per month as well. We have found several 2 bedroom places for $1600 and up. Not sure if they have figured in utilities or not. He really wants to be in the Midtown area because it's close enough to campus to walk or catch a bus (or bike), but far enough to avoid the 'student housing' areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I would be really careful about waking or biking to spots that are not adjacent to campus. GT is not, shall we say, in the best of neighborhoods, and students are regularly mugged, at gunpoint and otherwise, off of campus. GT police patrol the campus zealously, but all bets are off a block or two away. And it is not just girls; the last two victims I have known personally were men. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I would be really careful about waking or biking to spots that are not adjacent to campus. GT is not, shall we say, in the best of neighborhoods, and students are regularly mugged, at gunpoint and otherwise, off of campus. GT police patrol the campus zealously, but all bets are off a block or two away. And it is not just girls; the last two victims I have known personally were men. I totally agree with this. My kid lives in an apartment on campus because, quite frankly, I think he is too lazy to cook for himself. He likes the 24 hour a day unlimited food plan. I do know a couple of undergrads who live in apartments off campus, but they are adjacent to campus. A few kids we know live in home park. When DH and I were grad students, we lived in an apartment near Emory and then moved to the suburbs, where we still are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 When my husband attended GA Tech, he shared an apartment in a complex a few miles north of campus off Howell Mill Road. He drove and/or biked to campus every day, but that was 30 years ago & safe neighborhoods have probably changed since then. Like Caroline, I lived in an apartment in a pretty & safe area near Emory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 (edited) I'm more comfortable with him being on campus, but he thinks (based on the GT interview) that the midtown area is pretty safe - the area just east of the campus. There are a lot of high end apartments there. But I'm pretty sure he knows nothing about the area lol. I've been on Hotpads.com, Zillow, and other sites. I'm even thinking about purchasing a unit and then renting out a room...it looks like the market there is pretty good for rentals. I'm looking at one in the MidCity Lofts - would this be too far to be safe? http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/82627788_zpid/2-_beds/2-_baths/any_days/globalrelevanceex_sort/33.802651,-84.364315,33.769979,-84.421134_rect/13_zm/0_mmm/ or would something in this area be better? http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/65470113_zpid/2-_beds/2-_baths/any_days/globalrelevanceex_sort/33.784337,-84.376481,33.768,-84.404891_rect/14_zm/0_mmm/ Edited February 18, 2016 by Miss Marple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I'm more comfortable with him being on campus, but he thinks (based on the GT interview) that the midtown area is pretty safe - the area just east of the campus. There are a lot of high end apartments there. But I'm pretty sure he knows nothing about the area lol. I've been on Hotpads.com, Zillow, and other sites. I'm even thinking about purchasing a unit and then renting out a room...it looks like the market there is pretty good for rentals. I'm looking at one in the MidCity Lofts - would this be too far to be safe? http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/82627788_zpid/2-_beds/2-_baths/any_days/globalrelevanceex_sort/33.802651,-84.364315,33.769979,-84.421134_rect/13_zm/0_mmm/ or would something in this area be better? http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/65470113_zpid/2-_beds/2-_baths/any_days/globalrelevanceex_sort/33.784337,-84.376481,33.768,-84.404891_rect/14_zm/0_mmm/ I think midtown is as safe as any urban neighborhood. It's probably on the safer side. It's expensive, though. (Did you see the $500+ per month HOA fee on the first condo?) I think Elton John still keeps a place in midtown or Buckhead. I can't remember which one. (I did attend a wedding in his building once. Didn't run into him in the elevator though.) I just remember as a grad student not having the money to live in midtown. I think that is coloring my thoughts. I do know exactly where that first condo is, and I think it would be fine. I am not a girl who is afraid of urban areas. I grew up outside of Baltimore and spent a lot of time in areas of Baltimore that most people would be afraid of working Habitat. My mom taught at a college where pizza places wouldn't deliver because it was too dangerous. But I do tell my kid to always walk with a friend when going t and from the fraternity house. His frat house is in home park about a block from the pizza place that is in the movie The Internship. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I agree that Midtown is as safe as any other urban neighborhood; it is the biking or walking to and from campus at night that would be the issue. If he's planning to be tucked in before dark every night, or if he has a car and is driving to and from campus, no problem. I would be surprised if rents were $900, though; Midtown is pricey these days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Looks like we've got a lot of digging to do. The grad student housing is about $9000 for the school year. That just seems like a lot of money to spend just to have nothing to show for it in the end. I guess that's why my mind goes to the idea of purchasing a property. But, YIKES!, those places are expensive. But if one could keep them rented...well, it might be a good investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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