I'm currently trying to find an apartment to live in, in Austin for school. Any recommendations on nice complexes, anything near campus, and affordable?
I used to live at the Falls on Bull Creek apartment complex which was great for the price, but not near campus. It's on the very north side of town off Capital of Texas Hwy. Link to prices and floor plans
Look around the area just east of the campus and just east of I-35. my son is sub-letting a room while he goes to summer school at UT, and he rides his bike to class. His rent is around $400 a month. Now this is for a room, and he has to share a kitchen and bath with a roommate, but the neighborhood is nice. Actually, we're footing the bill. It's better for our sanity, and his, not having him stay at home, so it's money well spent. Good luck!
Riverside will tempt you with furnished, all bills paid rooms for $300 a month but don't live there dear god. Look on craigslist or any other subletting website and damn near half the ads are people trying to get rid of their crappy riverside apartment because the place is a high crime area and full of drunk, idiot freshman. Ask any local about Riverside and most horror stories start with "Well, my friend got raped....." West campus is the best place to live if you can afford it. You'll spend a minimum of $600/mo even if you live with roommates, but the biggest problem is loud, fun parties. North campus is like West Campus for the grad students, but the buses dont run that often unless you live along guadalupe. East austin pretty much sucks for the same reasons as riverside.
Will you be a freshman? If so, live in a dorm. If you are older, west campus is the best but most expensive. Riverside isn't bad at all, the UT shuttle gets you to campus in like 10 minutes, and it's a lot cheaper.
North Campus is fine if you live along Speedway. That's where the Intramural Field bus runs, and it's quite often. It was at most a 10-min wait. I rented a 1/1 along Speedway called El Dorado for $570/month 2 years ago. That company owns about 3 other properties all in North Campus. Super cheap, good management.
hispanic hater?? to OP: West Campus around Montrose (at least there was a montrose when i was there). near zilker park, whole foods, guadalupe, cesar chavez. nice quiet area near campus. they shot part of a natalie portman movie (Where the Heart is) right by my house there a long time ago.
Just east of I35 off Manor, north of campus up to the North Loop area...these are close enough to bike and also have ample bus services to campus. There should be affordable places in either direction. AVOID: West campus is too expensive and full of frat/sorority danger. Riverside area is too far and gross. Good luck.
While I never lived off of Riverside, my wife did. I was there all the time and never had any problems nor did she. It is definitely more run down than a lot of Austin, but I wouldn't classify it as dangerous (to be fair this was 9 years ago). It all depends on how close you want to live and how much you want to pay. I had a terrible terrible apartment that was literally across the street from the law school and paid $500 a month (I shared it with a roommate). I hated the apartment, but couldn't beat the commute. Decide what is more important distance to campus or amenities and go from there.
Relax, dude. It was a joke. Sorry I forgot to use the sarcasm font. The only "danger" is the annoyance, really. West Campus is very congested and full of idiots and kids with rich parents at this point. Long gone are the affordable, old apartments along Leon and San Gabriel.
I've been wanting to move back to Austin for years... but this time I would buy one of those bungalow houses on the west side of downtown (west of lamar) and become a hippie who bicycles everywhere. I've lived in Round Rock and near the Arboretum. Neither feels like "the real Austin" to me... and I'm at a point in my life where I don't care about the big houses in the 'burbs... I want to live in the city as close to the heart of Austin as possible. Of course I don't have kids right now - so that could easily change in the future.
Haha I just thought it was funny. Anyways, I will agree with you to the point that its become largely unaffordable. I was hoping that with the passage of the west campus/university neighborhood overlay, we would see a more regulated and controlled student-friendly rent structure. Sadly, it's just allowed the Quarters and Block to buy out plots and build massive expensive complexes, while pushing the price of the older units up as well. That being said, PM me if you need housing in the area. I work with a real estate company in west campus, and my services are free to the tenants. Edit: Yao11, there are some good pointers in this thread and a few others I can't find right now.
Avoid those big apartment complexes in west campus like J26 and the block. They are overpriced and the quality of the building is really really poor. My friend lived there last semester and he had to move to a hotel for 3 weeks because of mold problems due to busted water pipes.
I lived in Far West for 3 years and enjoyed it. There is a UT shuttle route that goes over there so transportation is very easy. It's pretty safe, good essentials nearby, etc.. Although apartment prices shot up after the housing bubble since a lot of families started moving in. I also lived in the Hyde Park/North Campus area and had no issues as well. Apartments were cheap, didnt have any real safety issues. Apartment prices were pretty damn good. The Intramural Field bus is also really convenient. I also lived in a co-op in west campus one year. That was definitely an interesting experience. Good way to meet people (and in my case people who I typically wouldn't hang out with). The only advantage West Campus has is that its in walking distance of UT. But honestly, the apartments there are older and more expensive than other areas. Price wise I don't think its worth it.
