New Yorkers: Anyone know the Columbia University area?

The area is ok, there's a handful of decent bars in the area and a strip with some decent restaurants. I can't give you specific advice about apartments other than if you are not a student in student housing, the prices have been going up around the immediate vicinity of Columbia. If you go east you're in the lower part of Harlem; not as pricey as the immediate Columbia area but prices going up there too. You'll probably do best to get a roommate, depending on your financial situation. Like I said it's not a bad area and cheaper than other areas in NYC (though the grocery store situation is kind of crap if you are right in the Columbia vicinity, though there is a Fairway somewhere on 125th), though one caveat: smaller crimes, robberies and muggings that type of thing, seem pretty high in that area, mainly because it's full of richy mcrich college students who have never lived in a big city before college, so it's chock full o' easy targets.

Why are you planning to move to the area?

i wonder, will the fairway be affected by the big coming landgrab?

In the meanwhile you should probably search Craigslist for apt shares, going up closer to 125th (or above it) will get you better prices and the commute is really short to get down to the school on the subway from any of the 1/9 stops up above 125th.

XPOST oh that is an issue. Still search Craigslist but I guess not for shares. It's still worth continuing to call UAH and bitching. A couple of people in my old UAH building were graduating in the fall or next year so even if you have to find a place now, you might still be able to fall into a place if all the singles ARE taken up right now (this still seems slightly unlikely to me, knowing their record with distributing apts).

Try looking at around 124th just west of Broadway, there's a few lovely little streets, LaSalle and Claremont Ave. where you might find a place. I found my last place (and, come to think of it, a fine one before that) by pacing around the block and looking for signs up.

Once I had contacted the landlord and initiated the deal I realized I had saved a few hundred dollars, because the property was also being serviced by a real estate agent. If you can manage an advance visit, or connive a friend already here to do some poking around, legwork helps.

Apart from that I guess I second everything already said here. It's basically just a matter of a slow drift northward for better prices.

a bit of a walk, but otm. Tiemann Place as well. All of Claremont is worth investigating.

I like Bway between 102 and 106

A friend of mine used to live on E.116th and didn't have many problems. His apartment was great for what he was paying.

As others have said, it's worth looking above 125th. Even from 214th the train ride to CU-area is pretty quick.

well, literally yes, but just e. of m.p. is still the west side

I'll be attending Teachers College, so above 125th is not so bad of a walk. TC has separate student housing from CU and seems to have less of it. I applied for family housing and was put on a waitlist. The placement process for the Fall semester is complete, so I'm on my own.

Another option: though it won' t be any cheaper: live anywhere along the 1/9 and commute. Upper West Side, Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, etc. There is also a building called the International House up around 124th street and Riverside. You don't need to be International to live there and they run a dorm-like procedure, they will accept you if you go to Columbia. Don't know about their housing for couples though. If you are going to be in the area, you can just check all the signs along the busstops for apartments, though now the internet is prob a better place to look anyway. Good luck!

(I lived on Claremont my first year in the big city. Until I couldn't stand my roommate and move to B'way.)

Re: student housing, I don't see a difference on the UAH website between TC and other grads. I got my apt through UAH, and I know my roommate was wait listed and then just called screaming and yelling 100 times til they gave her a place. But yeah, couples housing is kind of super high demand I think :\ Though, like I said, from my experience with a couple people (including another couple that lived across from us), it seems like they like to wait list people when there are still apartments available. Probably in case some high profile alumni's dumb kid wants a full apartment at the last minute, sort of like how sporting events hold back a certain amount of their tickets until the week of the game, just in case the corp seats want 'em. So I still recommend that if your searches aren't turning out well, to become a pain in UAH's ass.

I've been speaking with a woman who has several apartments on 113th and Broadway that are rented exclusively to grad students. It looks pretty promising.

My brother is also looking at some places on Saturday. He's a nice brother.

I live on the other side of Earth until mid-August, so I can't do much footwork around the area. But it seems to be working out.

Thanks again everyone.

I miss NYC, and columbia.

She only went there for 3 years, and didn't even live near campus! Fuck it, I want my ding dong lounge.

When I retire, I'm getting a job at Kim's uptown.

Dear God, please make a swamp eat my current address. Thanks,

Tom

It's a brownstone and apparently one of the only buildings there that isn't owned by Columbia. If you see it, let me know how it looks from the outside.

Broadway, btwn 112th and 113th. Around the corner from Labrynth.

Good lord don't anybody work at Kim's uptown.

I'll look around the 113th/Broadway corner for a brownstone, but I seriously can't imagine what in the world that refers to. There are big Columbia-owned part-dorm buildings on three of the corners, and stores on the fourth. This must be on the south side of 113th, toward the river from Broadway -- which would be a fine place to live, actually, if the building's good.