I know we have some people on this board that go to UofH or live in the area. Does anyone know what rent is like, specifically for around campus houses that are rented out to multiple parties?
If you don't live in the campus associated housing (Cullen or Cambridge Oaks) or the Quad, you'll have to get something a distance away from campus if you don't want bullet holes in your wall in the morning.
I go to UH, and next year me and a couple buddies were thinking about renting a house. Sounds kinda like we're in the same boat, here! Personally, I don't mind being about 10 minutes or so away from campus, because really, it can make all the difference in the quality of the neighborhood. Sometime in early Summer I'm going to check with some realtors to see about some decent houses for rent. I actually think that neighboor hood directly across from the quads isn't too bad, I've driven through it a bunch, and there are a few fraternity houses right there on the front of it. It's at least worth looking into.
I go to UH and live at Cambridge Oaks. I used to live in the dorms, next year I'll be at Cullen Oaks.. do you have AIM?
Check the neighborhood on the east side of 45, across from UH, behind Finger's. There's lots of duplexes and the rent is cheap. It's a decent area, reasonably close, and close to Good Food in a decent, working class Hispanic area on the rise. Also, just minutes away from downtown, neartown, or whereever you want to go. And great Thai at Kanomwan.
Students on campus are pretty wary of that area.. We refer to the Kroger's over there are "Kombat Kroger" because so many people get mugged there.
If you go off of MacGregor behind U.H. the neighborhood is not that bad. There are some really nice houses back there. There is a complex called "The Savoy" at MacGregor and Sampson, they are luxury apartments and they are priced pretty well. It is about 1-2 miles from campus.
Hahahaha. Beautiful. There are some really nice, really affordable apartments by the rejuvenated Gulf Gate area. I don't remember the name of the complex exactly...I know its close to the big Old Navy though.
I remember when I went to Rice there were some UofH students living in the same apartments I was in. I was at Harvest Hill apatments and Parque View apartments, which are just on the east side of the Astrodome south of the Med Center. Rent was pretty cheap and it was a fairly safe place to live. I did see somebody get runover in the parking lot one time, but I guess one incident in 2 years ain't too bad.
We live in the Third Ward, right by Southmore and 288. It is rather safe on this side and there are a lot of places to rent. Honestly, I don't know what sort of shape they're in but some don't look too bad on the outside. In fact, the apartment right next door to us is for rent - and we're not bad neighbors. I get the impression the area right near U of H is a bit worse but over here there are a lot of near-mansions and a lot of home owners. There is some prostitution and drug dealing but the dealing seems to be inside peoples homes because I never see it.
I stayed in Cullen last year and am now living in Cambridge. Why are you moving over to Cullen if you don't mind me asking? I think Cambridge is a hell of a lot better than Cullen...
The only bad area is the area right across Scott, when you exit 45. From 45 to Wheeler. Other than that, the area's not that bad and actually there are some very nice places especially going back towards McGregor.
Cambridge is overpriced.. this place is a dump, I swear. Everything is broken, moldy, or stained. The management service is awful too.. I put in a work order to fix a light fixture that's broken in november and it still hasn't got done yet. Cullen is just much cheaper and nicer, cleaner, and well kept. The Kitchens are bigger and better, you get free furnishings, and all bills paid.. seems like a hell of a lot better deal than Cambridge to me. I'm only living in Cambridge right now because I got screwed out of a reservation in Cullen last year. What don't you like about Cullen Oaks? Should I beware?
Cambridge is evil! I got my car towed from there two weeks ago! I was very mad, cost me 130 bucks to get it out. Stupid visitor parking lot! I've been parking there for an entire semester, and now they decide to start towing. I've spent a lot of time in both Cambridge and Cullen, and from what I can tell, they're both about a wash. Cambridge is more of an apartment feel, more privacy. However, the management there are nazis. But there are a decent number of cool people to meet there. Cullen, well, no one can dispute that it's much nicer than cullen. But it feels like a dorm room still. The walls are paper thin, so don't even think about having a party. Or a decent one, at least. But the furnishings are nice. I'd recommend Cambridge I think, it's just a better environment. I hear those new Bayou Oaks apartments next year are pretty decent, I have friends moving out of Cambridge into those. Although if at all possible, I say find off-campus housing...
My roomate for a warning that his car was going to get towed. Apparently they have some guy come in and inspect the cars, any car he deems "not driveable" is considered abandoned, even if you have a permit. I get really tired of people that don't live here taking up precious parking spots near my complex on saturday and friday nights.. so I don't mind them towing.. but just as long as they don't tow legal cars.
Funny...I have the exact opposite relationship with the management at Cambridge. My roommates and I are pretty friendly to management and the maintenance crew, when we see them, we talk to them, ask them how things are going, etc. Anyway, when we have an issue, we just go directly to the maintenance guy and let him know of a problem, and he's pretty prompt at getting back to us. Management's equally as nice to us... In my opinion, Cullen Oaks is more of a dorm than it is an apartment. The management I dealt with when I was there (I hear the main guy was fired) was terrible. They basically treated us as if we were in a dorm as well. I remember one time, they tried to get everyone to show up to a apartment meeting by lying to everyone. We were told that we needed to show up to this meeting so we could have our cards ran through to get the gates to work for ourselves. We show up to this meeting, and they yap and yap about policies, then the meeting ends, and not one time did they mention needing our cards for scanning. The place looks nice and all, but it's just a facade as far as I'm concerned. Free furnishings is a nice selling point, but I lucked out with my roommates because they basically had everything we needed in furnishings. I also found the parking situation annoying, I like having my car in front of my apartment and not out on the other side of the complex... I think it's funny I'm reading stuff about Management being Nazis at Cambridge because they've been nothing but nice to me. I totally hated management at Cullen when I was there, but again I heard that they fired the main guys a couple months ago, so I have no clue how management is now.