How to find an accessible apartment in Oakland?
May 25, 2013 9:58 PM   Subscribe

Where can I find listings for wheelchair-accessible apartments in North Oakland? Sites, organizations, amenable landlords, types of buildings that are easy to make accessible...?

I'm moving to Oakland from the Midwest in August, and I'm looking for a wheelchair-accessible apartment--a 1br, maybe a studio, in Temescal, Rockridge, or elsewhere in North Oakland. Preferably around $1300, maybe up to $1600.

Unfortunately, I've had very little luck finding anything on craigslist or the usual methods. Moving from across the country makes things even more challenging, since I can't scope places out in advance.

I usually don't use my wheelchair in my house, so it doesn't have to meet strict ADA regulations. But I do have to be able to get my chair in and out of the house.
posted by petery to Home & Garden (5 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Start with this list
posted by blob at 10:32 PM on May 25, 2013


The Ed Roberts Campus houses some organizations that might be helpful.
posted by latkes at 10:32 PM on May 25, 2013


Also the center for independent living
posted by blob at 10:34 PM on May 25, 2013 [1 favorite]


Best answer: My parents had a couple of needs when they moved to oakland -my dad has a walker and they needed to live on first floor, no stairs, have a laundry indoors, need to be near supermarket, public transportation, etc.

I live in Oakland, but wasn't having much luck on craigslist looking at places where a single owner wanted to meet the person they were renting to. Finally, I ended up contacting the larger rental companies that had multiple buildings (Lapham, J&R, etc. ) which often post individual listings from their different buildings on craigslist. I called asked if they had any first floor apartments opening up in the next couple of months in my price range. This is probably a good time to look as a number of people are vacating their apartments with the beginning of summer.

In the end Lapham worked for me. they have places all over oakland, north oakland, berkeley and emeryville. Some of their places are great, some more shabby. But, I was able to send them the online application and get their notarized signature on the lease so they could rent the apartment before they arrived.

Another choice might be to see if there are any short term leases somewhere so you can just get here, and then really look around. I ended up looking around intensely for about a month before I found the right place.

Good luck.
posted by anitanita at 1:21 PM on May 26, 2013 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks, anitanita. The Lapham properties that I've seen advertised seem overpriced, but I'll check them out.

I've contacted the CIL, but they never responded. The lists of disability organizations don't seem to include any that assist with finding housing.
posted by petery at 11:08 PM on May 26, 2013


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