<p>Are there apartments close to the University that are safe, and reasonably affordable? Are they expensive? Is it easy to find reliable roommates? Is it worth it compared to living on-campus?</p>
<p>There are plenty of places to live close to the university that are safe, and much cheaper than on-campus housing. Most tend to be rooms in houses - 7-9 people in a house, and you could get together with some friends to rent out an entire house. Finding roommates for off-campus living is tough - I would recommend finding friends you want to live with first. (You can find subletters etc in the DP though)</p>
<p>All freshmen have to live on campus. By the end of the first semester (when housing stuff begins) you’ll know what you want to do.</p>
<p>I highly recommend living on campus, at least for your first year and especially if you are new to the city. Philadelphia is not like any other big city, and if you’re from the suburbs it will be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. There are definitely a lot of places that you shouldn’t go after dark (and some places you shouldn’t go during the day). If safety is your prime concern, your best bet is to live on campus.</p>
<p>^^^ That isn’t really accurate. All freshmen have to live on campus. Living in the city is an adjustment for some people, but you face that adjustment living on or off campus. Off-campus housing presents different risks later on, but it’s really not any more dangerous. Living off-campus means there’s no penncard swipe or security guard at your door, but you also don’t have to worry about theft from students on your hall.</p>
<p>No, but you do have to worry about theft from other sources. I didn’t realize when I posted that all freshmen have to live on campus, but they have that rule for a reason. They want incoming freshmen from out of town to take the time to get acquainted with the city, its nuances, and even its dangers before they make the decision to live off-campus. If the rule wasn’t in place I would still recommend a freshman who is coming in from out-of-town and is completely unfamiliar with the city to live on campus first.</p>
<p>Although admittedly I am not a student at Penn until next fall. I’ve lived in this city for 17 years though, and I think it can be intimidating if you don’t know your way around.</p>
<p>Does anyone actually get things stolen in dorms during the regular course of the year? Besides like, panties?</p>
<p>The only incident I’ve heard of is the theft in the highrises during Thanksgiving break.</p>
<p>I went from a stepford suburb to Philadelphia with no difficulty. Philadelphia isnt exactly Sin City…</p>
<p>There are 2 kinds of off-campus apartments: snazzy expensive ones (Radian, Hub, etc) and ghettotastic ones (hellooo Hamilton court). They each have obvious pluses and minuses. Right now I am living with my friends in an off-campus rowhouse and loving it.</p>
<p>I think there are very few thefts other than the major publicized ones. I lot of people on my hall leave their doors unlocked. One guy left his unattended laptop in the common room for a few hours and it was fine. I’m not saying it’s a good idea to do these things, but if you forget to lock your door sometimes, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m actually pretty impressed by the people here. I know multiple people, including myself, who have lost their wallets and received facebook messages the same day from people who found them.</p>
<p>ilovebagels couldn’t have said it any better.</p>
<p>“There are 2 kinds of off-campus apartments: snazzy expensive ones (Radian, Hub, etc) and ghettotastic ones (hellooo Hamilton court). They each have obvious pluses and minuses. Right now I am living with my friends in an off-campus rowhouse and loving it.”</p>
<p>BUT.. hamilton court isn’t “ghettotastic”. i would include hamilton court and chestnut hall with the snazzy, expensive ones. “ghettotastic” apartments are usually rooms available in houses further down in west philly.</p>
<p>and theft does occur time to time in on-campus housing rooms and apartments; most theft occurs because people leave their doors unlocked.</p>
<p>do any of you know roughly how much off-campus housing costs at any of the locations listed above? hub/radian? cheaper rooms? I wanted to see how much they varied from on-campus housing prices.</p>
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<p>Having spent most of my life in Philly I agree, It ain’t Kansas. Best for ppl especially ones not familiar with city life to get their land legs before living beyond the gates. West Philly is a very tough place. Huge crime.</p>
<p>You can’t live off campus as a freshman, and even if you could, it would be VERY difficult to make friends. The Radian is $1025/month for the cheapest layout, to upwards of $1400. The Hub is $700/month i THINK but it is also in a grungy area. I’m paying $900/month including utilities for a GREAT off-campus house. A decent house in a good location will cost you about $750-800 including utilities.</p>
<p>But for the first year, I highly recommend the quad or hill. The quad is infinity times better than the latter.</p>
<p>My son’s summer apt in Hamilton Court was a dump- and expensive. His room this past semester in a row house was absolutely disgusting. He didn’t know the other people in the house before move-in, and the condition of the kitchen and bathrooms throughout the semester were beyond horrible. He could barely stand to be there. The final blow was the theft of his laptop from his room in the house right before the end of the semester. His camera and a credit card were also stolen- probably by maintenance workers who had cased the house. Our experience is that the off-campus housing is generally bad and quite expensive. It is hard to get places in the expensive buildings, which are nice. Radian comes out to be more worth it than it might seem at first, because it is furnished and includes ALL utilities, internet, cable and washer/dryer in each apartment. Utilities for the room in the ghetto-house were a fortune, and cable/internet was on top of that. The room itself (a sublet from someone abroad) was $800 a month, and did I say it was a dump? Location was good, but crime on the block was frequent and serious. (39th and Locust). I see Radian as one of very few decent off-campus options unless you can get a group of people for one of the few maintained houses and make sure no one sublets when they go abroad, which is impossible to ensure. The landlords of these houses are, for the most part, negligent and, in the case of the Locust house, insane. Good luck.</p>
<p>That seems to stand in contrast with my own experiences both in Hamilton court and in houses. Your son is either unlucky or bad at finding/negotiating housing</p>
<p>I think the fact that despite the price, the Radian almost sold out in 5 hours says something about the availability of suitable off-campus housing.
Bagel- maybe your standards are low??? It is pretty much undisputed that one of the strengths of Penn is NOT the off-campus housing. Unless you are into disrepair and filth, of course. Slum landlords have been the norm since my sister’s days there in the late 70s. This is not new information. Yes, there are exceptions. Hope y’all find them.</p>
<p>There are suitable places to live that are off-campus, but you have to be pretty familiar with the city to know where to look.</p>
<p>do students usually pair up and split the room cost of ex: radian or hub? or are those $800-1000plus meant for single-person? I have to try to stay near the housing allowance for financial aid.</p>
<p>Radian is $1300 for a single. Less for a double or a quad. You can present your own 4 for a quad or the Radian will match you up. The singles are a one bedroom apartment. Only one person can live in the one bedroom.
The rooms in the slum rowhouses close to campus are about $800 for a single plus $150 a month or so for the utilities etc.
In contrast, my daughter has a 1BR apartment in a gated community near Rice (not as close to campus as the slum rowhouses are to Penn) with covered parking for $500 a month.</p>
<p>I’ve had a very positive experience with my off campus house just a block from MomofWildChild’s son, but I agree, you definitely have to be very on top of things to get your monthly rent and utilities payments out on time.</p>
<p>The Radian actually has a few more units left; I just got an email from them yesterday asking me if I wanted to follow through on the inquiry I had made in November.</p>
<p>Virgin do you work to pay your rent or do you have resources? Would it be hard to work to pay rent and be involved at Penn?</p>