<p>Which areas are good places to live off campus? Which sites do you use to look for these places? How should I go about doing this?</p>
<p>Sorry, this is my first time doing this sort of thing so any advice and help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you^^</p>
<p>**Also, is off-campus housing cheaper or more expensive than on-campus housing for 3rd years?</p>
<p>3rd years can’t live on campus. unless your international or transfer. </p>
<p>Looking online doesn’t help you have to go tour the place… just takes 10 mins.
Start with Costa Verde, Crossroads, and international gardens— if you want an apt. on the shuttle route. There are other apt complexes but i suggest starting with these 3 to get a good idea of the area. Most of these are 2 bdrm places- usually 4 students living in one---- I think I pay $412 to share a room in costa verde.</p>
<p>You can live on campus as a 3rd year if you apply to live in I-House, but it’s definitely selective. I used rent.com and apartmentratings.com to get an idea of the pros and cons of each place. Make a list of apts you like, tour them, figure out if the rent is in your budget, find roommates, etc. </p>
<p>Things to think about when choosing one - is there a gym? Is the apartment super noisy due to the streets outside? What floor is the apartment on (first floor tends to be the worst)? What is the parking situation like? Is sub letting allowed? Is the management staff helpful/competent? etc</p>
<p>Side note - living off campus can be cheaper than it was living on campus as a freshman/sophomore because you’re not required to buy a meal plan and you can have more roommates.</p>
<p>ooo I gotcha. I thought that they would be offering 3rd-year housing since they’ve been asking students about it. I read online that it’ll be offered to the incoming freshies for 2011.</p>
<p>Are Costa Verde, Crossroads, and International Gardens the only areas that the Arriba Shuttle takes you to? (I think it’s the Arriba shuttle) I’ll definitely be taking an actual tour of the areas to see how they are, but are there any other potentially good areas that are close to bus stops that I should also look into?</p>
<p>Are there any easy ways to find roommates (that you don’t know personally) to fill rooms if necessary?</p>
<p>Are there people who actually stay for only a quarter (like summer quarter) and then leave?</p>
<p>And when should I be worrying about all this? Like now? >.<</p>
<p>Check out Regents La Jolla Apartment. My sister lived there for last two years. It is bit pricey but very nice luxurious apartments. If you share with four people it will cost you only $550.00 per month.</p>
<p><strong><em>bump</em></strong></p>
<p>Hi. I heard from a former student that off-campus housing can be a bit of an issue. I am not trying to raise it as a “problem”, and so please don’t jump on my post. Thanks. Her only point was that after you move out of the dorms, the closest area is "La Jolla’ which can be very expensive. She said that a fair amount of students move to San Diego, which has much more housing, and more affordable. The downside is the commute. The buses/trams can be late. Traffic (if you drive or on a bus) can sometimes be really bad. She ended up missing classes, due to unexpected transportation issues. </p>
<p>My sister, who used to live east of UCSD, near Mira Mesa (it was more than 20 years ago) thought she remembered some housing in an area “University Village”, that was east of the campus, and i think she said east of I-5. Is there such a place? Does it have more affordable housing, yet still closer to UCSD than San Diego?</p>
<p>Obviously, for those where money is not a factor (willing to pay $1,000/month or more, per person), then Housing is not an issue. And i am confident that La Jolla is an awesome place to live. However, for some of us, we are hoping for something closer to $600-$800 per month, per person, preferably on the lower side). </p>
<p>nitap - Did you ever visit your sister’s place? Did she seem to like it? Was it safe, and clean from rodents/bugs? (My son went to USC, and near campus there are very nice clean apartments/houses, and yet near campus there are also some dumps, that have cockroaches, mice, etc.). To a large degree, you do get what you pay for. More money, nice place. So for 550.00, what was it like? Thanks.</p>
<p>Is “off campus” housing an issue (in general)?</p>
<p>^For $550, you’re basically either sharing a 2-bedroom apartment with 3-4 people total, or you’re living in a house in La Jolla with several roommates (likely sharing a room as well). There are rare $550 singles but you usually have to pay more than that to get a single.
Housing in the La Jolla/University City area is, for the most part, not “dumpy” with cockroaches and mice. I’ve only heard of one serous horror story like that and it took place in a rented townhome, not an apartment. Apartments in the area are usually pretty nice.</p>
<p>^I live in a single at La Regencia for $550. The trick is to start looking during the dead months of summer. I actually could have gotten it for cheaper at a next door apartment but someone beat us to the chase.</p>
<p>I agree with ucsandiego915.</p>
<p>lovetocamp - How can you say without actually visiting apartment that there is cockroaches. Just google it and see it how gorgeous and luxurious this place is. You can easily share with four people for two bedroom apartment as it is very spacious and rent is about $2200.00 per month.</p>
<p>all, thanks for the input. Let me address a few of the specifics. </p>
<p>This housing would be for my daughter, and she would be fine with sharing a room in the apartment/house. So, either a one bedroom with 2 people, or 2 bedroom with 4 people, etc. - would be great. And the prices that you list (~ $550.00) are great. </p>
<p>nitap - the reason that i mention cockroaches is because i did see them, and deal with them, and even contacted the rental agency (near USC). My son, the first two years, lived in USC Housing (Dorm the first year, and Apartment the 2nd year). the USC housing was awesome, but it bit pricey. His 3rd year, he found a place, with some friends. We (my wife and i) were thrilled that they did the legwork, and checked out some places, contacted the Rental Agencies, etc. However, they (the 4 male students) did not look as closely at things, as we (the parents) would have looked. Within the first month, they discovered cockroaches in the kitchen, and other areas. They contacted the Rental Agency, who did next to nothing. They did visit and “dusted” but it did not get rid of the cockroaches. I ended up contacting them, and after 3 months of communications, we finally had things cleaned up. It was a nightmare. I live over 500 miles away, so it was not easy, to monitor the situation. I ended up driving down, so that i could see the situation firsthand, and confront the landlord.</p>
<p>My son, and his friends eventually moved into a different (much nicer place) for their senior year. The entire situation was a nightmare, but there were some good key-learnings that occurred for my son, and his roommates. When they were looking for their first place, they were just thrilled to have “their own place”, and that was probably as far as they looked. When they did research for their house, for their senior year, they took more time, and did better research. </p>
<p>I even contacted the L.A. County Health Dept. Apparently, it is not uncommon to experience cockroaches in large cities. Lest you think it is a “USC” thing, it is not. All of the USC owned housing was awesome, and most of the non-USC housing was fine. However, there are slumlords who want to make easy money, and not do their work. </p>
<p>I hope that, after hearing my story, you can appreciate WHY i would ask about cockroaches, etc. for off campus housing for my daughter. Been there, done that, and don’t want to do it again.</p>
<p>thanks again for the info.</p>
<p>sites i used are craigslist, forrent.com, and coroomer.com</p>