Guest Blackbird15 Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 Hey there, I was wondering if any of the moderators (or current med students) could discuss how they went about finding roommates and housing. I know this is incredibly premature, but I can't stop thinkign about it. I have a feeling if I get into Queens, it'll be off the wait list, and in any case, I'm going to be out of the country for about two months and won't get around to looking for housing until late July. Is that too late to start looking? Are all the good housing places going to be gone by then? If you don't live close to Kingston, how do you look for housing (i.e. seeing the house/meeting your roomates before deciding)? Any insight you could give me would be appreciated. thanks, Blackbird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted April 26, 2003 Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 Try going to the Homestead website. They will tell you availalbe housing 2 months in advance of the move in date and you can see the floor plans online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QM6 Posted April 26, 2003 Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 Hey Blackbird, One of my classmates didn't find a place until during orientation week (with some help from a frosh leader), so goes to show it's never too late to find housing if you're in a pinch. But as always, the earlier you can start, the better. Sometime in the summer (hopefully earlier than later) you'll get the What's Up Doc, it's a big survival guide to all things Queen's and Kingston, and it'll have all you need to know about finding a place to live. (You can see last year's online.) Until then, some of my thoughts: First-round acceptances come out in time for rez admissions, so you'll get info on rez with your acceptance. Not that many people choose rez though (two lived in Grad Rez this year). One place to start is the housing lists at Apartment and Housing Service, it's updated regularly. There's also the AMS listings, not nearly as many entries but they're written by people who actually lived there. Like Strider mentioned, there's Homestead - you'll want to look at the Downtown Central and Downtown Waterfront, the others areas are a bit of a stretch (unless you have a car). Keystone is another big rental company worth looking at. Yes, there will still be some good places left by then - there might even be places that don't open up until later. Whatever happens, ** I highly recommend making the effort to come out and find a place before classes start. ** I didn't get a chance to visit Kingston until mid-July, found a place within a day I was happy with - happy enough that I'm staying for another year. So it's not impossible! As to what part of town to look - the What's Up Doc will have a better description of areas than my biased opinion can provide, so watch for it! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Blackbird15 Posted April 28, 2003 Report Share Posted April 28, 2003 Thank you both for the information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MellowYellow Posted May 1, 2003 Report Share Posted May 1, 2003 QM6 pretty much covered all the options for housing. The Orientation Week Comittee is thinking about establishing a summer contact for incoming med students to find apartments/housemates. We still have some details to work out before we finalize the plans though Stay tune to your acceptance letter, the info would be included in there Patrick Queen's 06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QM6 Posted June 18, 2003 Report Share Posted June 18, 2003 Hey all, We've fast-tracked posting the Finding a place to live of the What's Up Doc survival guide - the un-cut, un-censored, un-biased (well, maybe a bit...) look at Kingston housing by the Meds '06 class - have a look, and happy hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Valani9 Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Hi, I've heard that there is sort of a "wrong side of the tracks" in Kingston. Regardless of whether this is true, what area are people talking about?? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MellowYellow Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 It's more commonly called "North of Princess" here. Very generally speaking, anything north of Princess Street is a bit more run-down with more sketchy neighbours. However it is a rather big generalization you really have to check out the area yourself first. A few people in our class lived to the north of Princess, and I haven't heard any problems. However not very many of us chose to live to the north of Princess street just because it's further away from school. Walking 20 minutes to school in the winner is no fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QM6 Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 The sketchiness and run-downness is really all relative, mind you. For example, the Ghetto here at Queen's is no stretch of the term - you're dodging broken bottles and other detritus of student life everywhere you go, many buildings are literally falling apart... (Okay, the picture's a bit dramatic but it illustrates the point.) I work with the volunteer police during the year here, and between the North end and the Ghetto, I'd feel a bit iffy either way. At least in the North end you have those younger families that do sincerely watch out for each other and try to keep things in order. I don't get the same sense of community "ownership" in the Ghetto here. I'm totally not trying to scare anyone or anything, but I do just want to repeat the "check it yourself first" advice - especially if you have preconceived notions of what a student area's like (McGill's ghetto is infinitely better off than Queen's, for eg). Have a look at the What's Up Doc, break out a map and your walking shoes, check for reviews on AMS houses, happy hunting and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cpbc Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 Hi: I'm looking for information on mortgages and good neighbourhoods to buy a house in Kingston. I know there was a contact person for this kind of info in the Housing section of the new What's Up Doc, but the link posted earlier doesn't seem to be working anymore. Could one of the moderators post the "Buying a House" person's email address (or send it to my Inbox) so I can direct my questions to them? My wife is going to be in Kingston next week to look for a place, so I'd like to get some idea of where to look before she leaves. Thanks in advance for the info... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QM6 Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 Hey cpbc, Sorry about the trouble, our website is temporarily off for the moment, but if you can send me an email at meds2006@meds.queensu.ca I can forward you the "Buying a house" info (I'm having trouble figuring out this ezInbox thing...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 Floating to the top... Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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