So you’re picking up and moving to a new city. Congratulations! Now how do you make sure you don’t end up in an apartment on fraternity row, above a fish market and next to dumpster alley (but the interior pics were so nice!)?
Neighborhood research.
Depending on where you begin your apartment search, your neighborhood research strategies will differ. On Apartment List, we have neighborhood “polygons” – hoverable shapes that illustrate the boundaries of a city’s many hoods. Once you determine where your apartments of interest are located, you have a few options:
- Nabewise – This site rocks. In addition to viewing a tag cloud of descriptive adjectives used when locals talk about any given neighborhood, you’re able to view nabes ranked by “Trendiness”, “Singles”, “Families”, “Gays/Lesbians” and much more. Their “NabeFinder” enables you to filter through neighborhoods by choosing the things that are most important to you, like whether or not there is parking, green space, high safety ratings, and so on.
- Yelp – Turn to Yelp to get a feel for the type of restaurants, convenience stores, and entertainment options that surround your prospective new home. On Apartment List’s interactive map tool, you can view nearby attractions that have garnered 4 or more stars on Yelp (sorry, but no word here on the dives).
- Local publications – Perhaps it’s just San Francisco, but neighborhood distinctions are an increasingly hot topic as more urban areas become hip, lose their edge, or “gentrify”. A quick Google search for “Neighborhoods in City X” should lead you to either a local blog or a real estate site that has provided written breakdowns of the varying characteristics of ‘hoods across town.
- Quora – For those who haven’t heard of it, Quora is a relatively new question and answer site… Like Yahoo! Answers, only less polluted. A question like “What are the cool neighborhoods in Austin, TX?” has 12 answers, each with a varying level of thoroughness. If your city or neighborhood question isn’t yet present, add it yourself and the advice shall come.
- Facebook – When all else fails, ask your friends. If you’ve narrowed it down to a couple of ‘hoods, position the question to Facebook and see if you know anyone who knows anyone who might have some final insights.
Feeling a bit more confident? Good. That was the goal! Let us know if you have any further tips or tidbits in the comments below, and be sure to visit us at Apartment List when looking for your next place.
Guest post by Lillian Smith from Apartment List. Lillian Smith is the Director of Content at ApartmentList.com, the web’s largest and fastest-growing apartment search engine. It brings millions of listings from around the web into one ingenious dashboard, helping renters find a great apartment, quickly.
