Good renting apartments

[reindeer]

Hi everyone,

 

I thought it would be helpful to have a discussion on good walking-distance apartments for rent for med students. I've been doing a lot of research and there are different choices (eg. princess towers, homestead) but it's really hard to tell the quality of these. The best way to know is from the experience of previous students. Could anybody comment on their experiences with apartments close to Botterell? What about Queen's residences - do med students stay there (there's one literally beside the med building!) Any help would be appreciated!

 

Thanks...

[7kkww]

I lived in Kingston for my undergrad...Princess Towers was a fairly common place for students as well as apartments along Queen Street. I stayed at Brock Towers which is a smaller apartment complex but the apartments were nicer...

 

Overall, I would take a look around and see what is available...if you want to be closer to the good restaurants and the stores, then you may want to live closer to downtown.

[Cobey]

I posted something very similar to this in the 'transportation' thread, but I figure that this is a better place for it. If any upper year med students could give their two cents, that would be wonderful!

 

Living really close to Botterel Hall would rock because you can just roll out of bed and run to class, but I'm also thinking that being that close to campus isolates you from the downtown 'stuff.' By that I mean grocery stores (if you don't have a car, it is hard to get groceries if you have to walk 20 minutes), banks, shoppers drug mart, the market, etc. On that note, is it common for med students to live within a 15-20 minute walk from campus in order to enjoy the perks of living right in the downtown core? I'm just wondering because I am trying to decide on a place. There are nice apartments near Bagot and Gore, or Bagot and William, which are really close to campus. But there are also great places at Wellington and Brock, or Wellington and Princess, which are I guess a 15-20 minute walk to the med buildings. The other option is the buildings on Ontario street...I heard a lot of med students live there, but I also have a feeling that it is slightly isolated from grocery stores, etc. I don't know Kingston well at all, so I'm just wondering if anyone has comments about what I'm saying. I just want to know whether my inclinations make sense, or whether I'm missing something.

 

One more thing: What time do classes usually start in the morning? Thanks for the help!

[flying kumquat]

Classes normally start at 8:30.

 

There are a number of med students in my class who live a 15-20 minute walk away from campus. Some of them even live *gasp* north of Princess. I think it's definitely worth it to have the extra 5-10 minute walk to class in exchange for living closer to downtown amenities. I live a 2 minute walk away from A&P, and 5 minutes from the drugstore. For me, that's way more convenient than being next door to where classes are. I've found over the years, however, that this is the kind of location I prefer. YMMV.

 

As for the Ontario St. apartments, I've heard raves about them, but they never really appealed to me. As you say, they're a bit away from the downtown core (though not terribly so) and they're also not cheap. Take a look around; there are other nice apartments in Kingston. That being said, you might have to sift through some lacklustre ones that have been run down by undergrads (and maybe a med student or two!).

[Cobey]

Thanks so much for the response, flying kumquat. It is really reassuring.

THANKS!

[jelly31]

When do people usually start apartment hunting? I am coming from OOP so I am trying to figure out when I should get there and start looking.