Hello fellow dopers,
I recently won a Fulbright scholarship to finish off my PhD research at the University of Kansas. So I am looking to move in Lawrence this September. However I am having a difficult time trying to decide/find a place to live. First off, since I will only be in the States for 6 months (I am from Hong Kong), I am not going to buy a car. So I am looking for a place to live which is close to campus. I did my research and looked at different apartment options and sent out email inquiries (over 10) but the agents either don’t write back, or they write back to basically tell me there will “most likely be no apartments in September as people generally move in August” or that they don’t do 6 month lease. A few of them weren’t helpful and only provide vague answers to my question (I asked whether there are shops near the apartment within walking distance I got answers like “I am not sure about that”) I mean, what’s the deal?
I know it’s a long shot to ask for opinions/help here on the dope, but I am looking for any advice basically about where I could stay if I don’t have a car (I basically will only commute to KU and get groceries). Since I am going there alone and being a female, neighbourhood and safety is also very important to me. I will be really grateful if any of you can provide me with names of apartments as those of you from the area may already have a few good ones on top of your heads whereas I need to do a lot of googling/guessing on google maps to gather my data.
So, please help me out!:D:confused:
Bus system in Lawrence is very good, and is normally free to KU students with an ID. The campus is very spread out.
You could try going to the university website and finding ads for students looking for roommates. Lawrence isn’t a large town and there are lots of multi-tenant homes and apartments near KU. Have you looked into university housing in the dorms?
You might also check with the U itself regarding any possible faculty vacancies during that period. Faculty can be very mobile and often take guest lecturer positions or take some time off for research at another university. Sometimes they offer their homes up as rentals to avoid security issues by leaving them vacant.
The problem with a college town is that so many of the tenants arrive at the same time and leave at the same time. Many landlords may be reluctant to consider a non-standard six-month lease period, because of the difficulty of finding a tenant for the remainder of that academic year.
hey folks, these are all great suggestions! Well , I am not really looking to share a flat with others as I may wish to really be on my own and concentrate on finishing off my thesis during my sojourn at KU. I am really glad to hear that the KU bus system is good- I have heard otherwise.
Well, does anyone know if it is more sensible if I look for a place to stay after I have arrived? Afterall, it’s going to be somewhere I will live in for 6 months. I am not sure about the rental market there, like how early I should start looking. The thing that bugs me is the fact that most standard lease starts in August whereas I will move in in September. So I am not sure if its a reason I should start securing a place early. I asked a few international students there, and I have heard mixed suggestions!
Any thoughts?
If you have the $, the Rockland – http://therocklandku.com/properties/the-rockland – is a nice set of apartments, at a bus stop and pretty close to campus (or you can bike, or occasionally walk). It has a good mix of foreign and US students, and I think their start/end dates are flexible enough – you might have to offer to pay for your share of a shared room for an extra month (August) even if you’re not there yet.
(Try to not be put off by the fact that the complex, before it was refurbished, was called “Colony Woods” – but universally known as “Felony Woods”! I’m told it’s quiet and high-class these days.)