Hanging hats in Salem
November 10, 2011 10:36 PM Subscribe
Any tips on apartment hunting is Salem, Oregon?
I just finished my least favorite task: looking for and acquiring a new job. Yes!
Now on to my second least favorite thing: apartment hunting.
Talk to me about apartments in Salem. Here's what I'm working with.
- We're trying to go cheap. I'm talking $500/mo cheap. I know they're out there, but is the tradeoff too much?
- We don't need anything fancy, or anything big. We're not really into good neighborhoods/bad neighborhoods, but if there is any place really crime-y, I would like to avoid it.
- We're looking for 1br, or even a liveable studio. I just gave away a whole bunch of our things, and trust me, any place will be bigger than our current "place".
- It would be a bonus to be closer to downtown, but tell me about the south and the north.
Any inside tips or experience you can share would be awesome.
Thank you.
I just finished my least favorite task: looking for and acquiring a new job. Yes!
Now on to my second least favorite thing: apartment hunting.
Talk to me about apartments in Salem. Here's what I'm working with.
- We're trying to go cheap. I'm talking $500/mo cheap. I know they're out there, but is the tradeoff too much?
- We don't need anything fancy, or anything big. We're not really into good neighborhoods/bad neighborhoods, but if there is any place really crime-y, I would like to avoid it.
- We're looking for 1br, or even a liveable studio. I just gave away a whole bunch of our things, and trust me, any place will be bigger than our current "place".
- It would be a bonus to be closer to downtown, but tell me about the south and the north.
Any inside tips or experience you can share would be awesome.
Thank you.
Congrats on your job! I was born in Salem, and I've been around a bit but more of my life than not has been spent there. Not that that's a bad thing.
The thing about Salem, in terms of what you need to know, is that there's no obvious answer. Salem's odd like that, I think. While it's a pretty cheap place to live, you'll see prices change dramatically within a block or two, especially closer to downtown. On occasion there are lofts / studios right downtown for six or seven hundred dollars a month while across the street the rent's a thousand more dollars. I've looked at some lofts myself that come with a parking spot for free, so you might luck out in that regard. If you're luckier still you'll even find a tiny house for around that much and it will probably be near downtown!
As far as the low rent / bad stuff trade-off you mentioned, it really does depend on where you're looking. Downtown the trade-off results in less space, but it sounds like that's not so big a deal. If you head to the east part of town near Lancaster Drive there are a lot of cheaper apartments, but it's generally considered a more dreary part of town in that it's a forgettable annex of forgettable strip malls and other junk that could really be Anywhere, USA. As far as crime is concerned, I don't know that there's more out there, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear. It's similarly bland way out south, like way out Commercial, but way out Liberty isn't as bad.
Just north of downtown I remember there being some decent apartments near 5th and E Streets. I haven't lived in them but I lived just down the street for a while. They came up on Craigslist not too long ago and the rent wasn't too bad - I think is was seven something?
And just south, near McCulloch Stadium and Bush Park are some groovy digs as well. A lot of this area is comprised of houses that you'd have a hard time renting from the people living in them BUT, there are some apartments to the west of this area (the area being north of Rural Ave and west of Commercial). A few tiny houses, too.
That said, if you have a bit of time to explore once you get here, I highly recommend it! It'd probably do you more good than my absentminded babbling anyway.
Good luck!
posted by Chutzler at 10:40 AM on November 11, 2011
The thing about Salem, in terms of what you need to know, is that there's no obvious answer. Salem's odd like that, I think. While it's a pretty cheap place to live, you'll see prices change dramatically within a block or two, especially closer to downtown. On occasion there are lofts / studios right downtown for six or seven hundred dollars a month while across the street the rent's a thousand more dollars. I've looked at some lofts myself that come with a parking spot for free, so you might luck out in that regard. If you're luckier still you'll even find a tiny house for around that much and it will probably be near downtown!
As far as the low rent / bad stuff trade-off you mentioned, it really does depend on where you're looking. Downtown the trade-off results in less space, but it sounds like that's not so big a deal. If you head to the east part of town near Lancaster Drive there are a lot of cheaper apartments, but it's generally considered a more dreary part of town in that it's a forgettable annex of forgettable strip malls and other junk that could really be Anywhere, USA. As far as crime is concerned, I don't know that there's more out there, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear. It's similarly bland way out south, like way out Commercial, but way out Liberty isn't as bad.
Just north of downtown I remember there being some decent apartments near 5th and E Streets. I haven't lived in them but I lived just down the street for a while. They came up on Craigslist not too long ago and the rent wasn't too bad - I think is was seven something?
And just south, near McCulloch Stadium and Bush Park are some groovy digs as well. A lot of this area is comprised of houses that you'd have a hard time renting from the people living in them BUT, there are some apartments to the west of this area (the area being north of Rural Ave and west of Commercial). A few tiny houses, too.
That said, if you have a bit of time to explore once you get here, I highly recommend it! It'd probably do you more good than my absentminded babbling anyway.
Good luck!
posted by Chutzler at 10:40 AM on November 11, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bobbyno at 10:37 PM on November 10, 2011