What are rents like for off-campus apartments?
What are utility bills usually like?
What are some good neighborhoods for students, either with or without a car?
How much snow is there in winter? Enough for snow tires during certain months?
Thanks!
Rents vary a great deal depending in the distance from campus and how luxe the apartment complex is.
Here’s a link to UNM’s off-campus housing office: https://och.unm.edu
ABQ apartment guide: https://www.apartmentguide.com/apartments/New-Mexico/University-of-New-Mexico/
The closest area immediately around campus tend to be the most expensive since that’s in the highest demand. Studios rent @ $500-$650/month. 3 bedroom, 2 bath houses rent for about $1200-$1800/month plus utilities.
Areas within walking/biking distance of campus–Nob Hill, University Heights, Silver Hill, Spruce Park, Netherwood Park, North Campus, Summit Hills, Altura Park/Altura Addition, Summit Park, McDuffie-Twin Parks, Southeast Heights, Sycamore.
There are several apartment complexes near Indian School/University that cater to UNM students and run hourly shuttle buses to campus. Decent apartments with nice amenities including a pool, clubhouse, exercise room. Area near apartments is commercial/industrial/medical offices.
Apartments farther aways from campus run the gamut–from $500/month 1 bedroom to $3000/month 1 bedroom. I hear the Westside has nicer apartments at lower rents than the NE Heights, but you’re a good 30+ minutes from campus by car, longer via public transit. Parking on/near the UNM campus is awful.
Utilities in NM are low, both electricity & gas. (NM is a major natural gas producer.) Exact cost will also depend if whether the apartment/house has refrigerated air conditioning or evaporative cooling. Swamp coolers cost much less than than AC to run–about 1/3 the cost in summers. My guess is gas & electric will be under $75/month for 1-2 bedroom apartment. (Gas & electric for my house are seldom more than $150/month)
Snow–usually not much. An inch or so several times during the winter, but the snow mostly melts by mid-afternoon and is completely gone within a couple of days. Every few years, ABQ will get a big snow storm that dumps a foot or more of snow in a single day. DH and both my Ds commuted/commute by bike 12 months/year with maybe a dozen days/year when the weather won’t permit due to snow or (more common) heavy rain.
I lived in ABQ for almost 15 years before I bought a snow shovel.
No one uses snow tires in ABQ. Ever.
Thank you! We’ll be visiting again in October, and I’d like to drive through some of the likely off-campus neighborhoods. S will start out in the dorms, of course, but I like to educate myself well ahead of time.