amandac777 | (no subject)

Does anyone know how much weight you should give online apartment ratings? I've been searching through apartments in the area where I'll be teaching next fall, and I'm seeing lots of places that look nice or reasonable. And then I check the reviews (mainly at apartmentratings.com), and find that apparently every apartment in the region is pest-infested, crime-ridden, falling apart, missing most advertised amenities, and staffed by assholes.

I need to live somewhere. The "nicer" areas in the region are generally way the hell out of my price range (which isn't that low!), and I'd strongly prefer to live within a 15-minute drive, at most. I'm an utter wuss about safety, in particular. Any tips on how to look more effectively? Random comfort, perhaps? Offers of a spare room?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You are talking about a highly subjective area being judged by strangers. So who knows what any of what they say really means. After all, I'm pretty sure there are plenty of areas that I feel are perfectly safe that you'd see as crime-ridden cesspools. See if you can find some sort of more objective data to make your decision. After all, even my broke-ass and crappy city is able to put crime reporting online. I get a nice map with different colored dots all over for various crimes reported in the city at least once a month through my neighborhood association. Actual crime stats might be a better choice for decision making.

Yes, and of course once I start trying to look them up, I get all panicky. Because there's an impressive amount for what, at second check, turns out to be a three-day span. And sure, I'm sure a lot is minor, but definitely not all of it. (And yeah, I'm a wuss. We knew that.)