Student moving to Houston From OKC (McKinney: apartments, rent, crimes)

[o_4]

I am currently living in Oklahoma City and I plan on moving to Houston soon to finish school at U of H. I have family in Houston so Im familiar with the highways and the areas they live in but what would be a safe not too expensive area for me to live in thats not too bad of a commute. Im not going to live on campus and Im looking for apartments.

[monkeypony]

stepson lives in pearland. its typical white flight suburbia....cookie cutter homes that give you the impression of safety snd money although like most suburbia, folks are in debt up to their britches bumps up to a huge mall. and u can jump onto interstate and get nearly anywhere.
sorry u have to live in Houston....

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by o_4

I am currently living in Oklahoma City and I plan on moving to Houston soon to finish school at U of H. I have family in Houston so Im familiar with the highways and the areas they live in but what would be a safe not too expensive area for me to live in thats not too bad of a commute. Im not going to live on campus and Im looking for apartments.

Where in Houston does your family live? If it's a suburb, I would not recommend it. My commute by car takes 45-50 minutes garage-to-classroom. In the middle of afternoon rush hour, that trip takes up to 1.5 hours (double) in traffic.

The best solution is to live 30 minutes away garage-to-classroom; not too far but not in the ghetto either (considering the on-campus crimes this week). That means something relatively near Beltway 8/SH tollway.

[David Dollar]

You can find a lot of dirt cheap apts. around in Second Ward.

[Oildog]

Look for cheap apts in Montrose, try Craigs list.

[likeeveryoneelse]

Originally Posted by David Dollar

You can find a lot of dirt cheap apts. around in Second Ward.

i second this motion. I live just up the street from U of H. cheapest area of town. safe, but not exactly the nicest looking. decent homes that are more rundown, and converted into small apartments. perfect for a college student. less than 10 minutes to campus. 5 minutes if i hit the lights right.
half the price of the montrose/heights area, and 1/3 the price of midtown.

Check in eastwood along Polk or Leeland or McKinney. Cross streets, Lockwood, Dumble, Milby, and Eastwood. some of those areas are only 3-5 minutes from campus.

[Svensk08]

Please note: Eastwood neighborhoods are not considered Second Ward. This part of Houston is across the Gulf Freeway from the UH main campus and has historic homes dating from the early 1900's to the 1940's. It's an area that's being revitalized -- UH professors and staff live there. The area area is relatively safe and quiet, but lacks good grocery and retail stores.

Some homeowners have garage apartments which they rent to students. There are also some pre-1950 apartment buildings to consider. Vacancies often are not advertised; landlords simply place a sign in the yard.

You might check with your UH faculty adviser, major department chair and student housing office to see if they know of any available off-campus housing.

[likeeveryoneelse]

i beg to differ. Eastwood generally is considered to extend to harrisburg on the north side. Eastwood park is on harrisburg. Eastwood community center is also on Harrisburg. Second Ward as an official "super-neighborhood" of houston has its boundaries marked south of harrisburg.
The wikipedia for Second Ward even mentions this statement
"One of Houston's first master-planned communities, Eastwood, where Howard Hughes lived as a child, is located in this ward [2]. "

I know its probably up for discussion, but i think in general eastwood is considered part of 2nd ward. People who live in eastwood though seem to want to distance themselves since second ward carries a scary unsafe ghetto tag since it used to be bad in the 80s and 90s

Also, there is a Kroger right smack dab in the center of eastwood on cullen and polk. So there is a major grocery store.



You could also try Idylwood, which is just east of eastwood. thats more single family homes, and nicer neighborhoods. Also closer to fast food and shopping (in the gulfgate area or down lawndale)