Living in Kingston

[geneticism]

Hi everyone,

 

So I was hoping that anyone with experience living in Kingston might have an eyeball on this. I've lived in a (very) small one-bedroom apartment by myself in London for the last two years, and I enjoy it very much. At the time, my total in rent+utilities was $575/mth, which is a fantastic deal to live on your own, as far as I'm concerned. (It was actually $550 incl heat and water, plus personal hydro at around $25/mth).

 

I didn't live anywhere totally sketchy either - I was in downtown London around Victoria Park, for those who know UWO and area. Close to nightlife, but a street back from Richmond Row so it was quiet, walk to everything, tons of coffee shops, on the third floor of a small building, just all around wonderful. Three major bus routes to choose from (and the most efficient came every 7 minutes in the mornings to shuttle all the university types to campus). My landlord was fantastic, too. I would have loved to stay in that apartment. And it had parking included! No extra fee!

 

Looking around in Kingston classifieds, I don't think I could do nearly as well for nearly as little.

 

I'm feeling I could maybe do a bachelor/studio apartment for about $625-$650, but would it be somewhere NICE to live? I'm not at all certain. It's looking more and more like to get somewhere I'll be happy to come home to would cost something in the realm of $200 more than that (if I'm lucky). Places with reputable landlords start at about $700 for a bachelor, $850 for a 1-bedroom (plus hydro). Am I correct in this estimate?

 

If I am assessing the situation correctly, then what would you recommend? For example, I've been looking at some bachelor apartments for around the $650/mth range; there aren't any pictures, but most of them appear to be apartments on the second floor of shops on Princess. Is that too loud/polluted with fumes/unlivable? Is it a good idea to bite the bullet for the extra $2500/year and pick up a 1-bedroom with Homestead on Ontario Street instead?

 

Should I try to find a nice roommate and go for a 2-bedroom? *gasphorror* I mean, theoretically I like living with people, I'm neat(ish) and do all my dishes the second I'm done eating, etc, etc, never fought with anyone over the bathroom before, etc, etc, I just like living alone MORE.

 

Also: senior home, yes or no? :S It's on Queen St and on the third floor, but I play violin and wonder if it would bother my neighbours even if I had a mute on. (I don't play MUCH, mind you.)

 

And parking! Parking is a whole 'nother issue entirely. I don't want to give up the car, but because I'm used to free parking at my old apartment building (and they had a well-maintained lot in winter), I'm pretty cranky looking at the monthly parking fees for spots close to campus.

[ShoeBear]

Hey geneticism,

 

I did my undergrad at Queen's so I know a fair bit about Kingston living, and unfortunately it's not the most student-friendly in terms of cost.

 

For cheap apartments, you are looking at north of campus, both north and south of Princess. These are cheaper because they are not really well maintained and located close to the busy student areas (i.e. loudness due to parties, etc). Most of these places will NOT have a parking space available. Kingston has very odd parking rules too - some streets will let you park except for certain hours of the day, some streets will not let you park unless it's a certain weekday. However, given that everything you'll ever need in Kingston is within walking distance and on a bus route, you should have no problems without a car, should you choose to abandon it. But if you do want to keep the car and looking for a cheap place still, I suggest looking at places a little more north of Princess, and pay for a parking pass on campus.

 

I think your best bet is to actually go with Homestead, because they have always had clean and beautifully maintained apartments. They are definitely more expensive but with the added peace of mind, it'll be worth it in the end. There are some cheaper bachelors around the water, and some north of campus as well, but they might not be readily available as they are quite popular. I suggest looking near the end of June as people will be giving out their 2-months notice at that time. You can always opt to get a roommate too, as you said. I think parking is also either free or cheap with a lease.

 

Another thing to consider is laundry. Places north of campus generally have to rely on corner laundromats and they tend to close at very odd times (everything in Kingston closes around 5 or 6, keep that in mind). The apartments will have laundry machines available at all times, but ideally you'd want a place with its own laundry.

 

Basically, north of campus = sketchy, noisy, but close to everything and cheap. East of campus = nicer, quieter, but a lot more expensive.

[geneticism]

I am sad. This sounds like it's going to cost almost as much as living in Toronto, but with none of the glorious ethnic food. (Seriously, my time in London? Soul starved for bubble tea and dumplings. And fried rice. GOOD fried rice. And dim sum.)

 

This is a personal preference: I wouldn't mind walking maybe 15-20 minutes to campus every day, or grabbing a bus for a 10 minute ride. I have the privilege of maintaining the car on a grocery-getter basis. (Of course, the closer to campus the better, on the principle of rolling out of bed and getting to class.)

 

I've had more than one person tell me to go with Homestead now, so I think that's what I might do. I've also been told, though, that anything with Homestead is going to cost more (way more) than the ~$950/1 bedroom, $700/bachelor quote on their website. This is mostly on the basis of "does the apartment face the water? If yes, add $300." :/ These numbers make me very sad indeed.

 

Do you know if there's a Kingston bylaw against those little portable washers from China? The building I lived in while I was in London didn't have laundry, so we carted one of these things in and I just did laundry out of my apartment. It was a nifty thing, hooked up to my faucet and emptied into the tub, then I'd wheel it back into my closet when I was done. Only held like four days' worth of laundry, though. XD

 

... anyway, I'm going to look at nice places to live that I can't possibly afford now. *tear*

[simpy]

Hey geneticism,

 

First off, you'll probably be surprised by the amount of good ethnic food in Kingston. For your bubble tea fix, Classics is great. There's also a Green Tray in Kingston, but I don't think the bbt's as good.

 

The apartments definitely should not be Toronto-style expensive, unless you're looking at gigantic places with lake views. You should be able to get a VERY nice bachelor apartment in the $800-1000 range.

 

Shoebear's idea of looking north of Princess street may be something you're interested in. It's really not that sketchy (certainly less so than the ghetto), it's just that you will be a 15 to 25 minute walk from campus which Queen's students tend to think is functionally equivalent to living on Mars.

 

There are several great apartments listed on kijiji, I see a couple viable ones listed in the last couple days!

[geneticism]

Thanks simpy! (Especially, also, in addition, for your PM!)

 

My dad brought up a quirky idea. For as much as rent would be, he figures I could buy a condo on the west side of town (Bath and Portsmouth ish), factor in condo fees, utilities, paying for parking close to campus so I can drive in, and everything else, and the cost of buying a 2-bedroom place would still be less than rent. (5 year variable rate, $30k downpayment on $130k condo, other terms of buying property that I don't know all that much about because it was wayyyyy down the future in my calculations, etc).

 

Is dad crazy? (I think something smells fishy about how cost-effective buying would be compared to renting, even given that I'd be willing to drive 10 minutes in rather than walk 10 minutes).

 

>__> Angles on buying real estate in Kingston?

[obi]

Your dad is probably thinking more so along the lines of if you buy it and it appreciates enough, when you move out of kingston you can sell it and you would have technically "lived for free"... this is of course guess work on the housing market so don't take my word on it.

 

As for being ethnically starved in london, wtf? There's tonnes of bubble tea available and plenty of good ethnic foods... dude.. i feel so bad for you, how did you miss it all!?!

 

I was talking to a medstudent at the interview apparently a lot of them live in the appt buildings by ontario / king. They're close to the water and the med side of campus. They're fairly pricey but in the long run comfortable living with a gorgeous view over 4 years will be worth the couple extra G's. Let the bank foot the bill and your later job security write the IOU. (Just dont apply this same logic when you go and buy a new 5 series....)

[simpy]

Thanks simpy! (Especially, also, in addition, for your PM!)

 

My dad brought up a quirky idea. For as much as rent would be, he figures I could buy a condo on the west side of town (Bath and Portsmouth ish), factor in condo fees, utilities, paying for parking close to campus so I can drive in, and everything else, and the cost of buying a 2-bedroom place would still be less than rent. (5 year variable rate, $30k downpayment on $130k condo, other terms of buying property that I don't know all that much about because it was wayyyyy down the future in my calculations, etc).

 

Is dad crazy? (I think something smells fishy about how cost-effective buying would be compared to renting, even given that I'd be willing to drive 10 minutes in rather than walk 10 minutes).

 

>__> Angles on buying real estate in Kingston?

 

He's not crazy, the idea of buying is something that many people consider (but few actually do). The issue is one of risk. If you have student loans and are taking out an LOC, you're going to be pretty leveraged. If you piggyback a mortgage on top of it you're in an even deeper hole. Granted, you have a very good chance of being able to get out of this hole, and there's a decent chance of living for free or even turning a profit. But what if the place depreciates? What if you end up having a major issue such as mold or fire? The costs of these issues are more than just financial, they'd involve lots of stress and time while you're in school. So it's probably not the best idea.

 

Now, if your PARENTS were willing to buy and let you live there, that would be much more reasonable.

 

Also with Portsmouth and Bath, that's pretty close to another school in Kingston (St. Lawrence College), so it might actually be fairly expensive. I could be wrong - but I would just imagine a "good" place to buy would actually be up north, somewhere sort of smack in the middle between Queen's and the 401. Again, I could be wrong.

 

In any case, let me prove you wrong about bubble tea in Kingston, let's go in early September!

[GoNoGo]

Does Queen's offer residence for grad/med students?

[mrozed]

Does Queen's offer residence for grad/med students?

 

Some useful links:

 

http://housing.queensu.ca/residences/graduateapplication.asp

http://housing.queensu.ca/residences/gradresidence.asp

http://housing.queensu.ca/residences/jeanroyce.asp

[geneticism]

Well, I am very lucky in my case that since dad's the one with the condo-buying idea, he's considering funding it. On realtor.ca, we're seeing a number of condos at Portsmouth and Bath that would run about $150-160k (higher than what I said last night, but dad has deeper pockets than I do). Still less than $1000/month all told once the other fees are factored in. We're actually heading out to Kingston on Saturday to have a look at a few of these places. I will report back!

 

I considered Graduate Residence and Meds House, but Graduate Residence kind of looks on the inside like you're paying $800/month to live in a bunker and share a kitchen with 30 other people. Meds House has the great benefit of meals-prepared-every-weeknight, but looks eerily like a frat house I helped (very briefly) do some restoration work on, and while I know that the people who live in it are fine and upstanding young citizens of the future (amirite?), I'm not sure I can deal with the environment itself. (Even when the repair work was done on that frat house, nobody ever took their shoes off because, the floor, so scary.) That's a me thing, though, and not even a semi-objective evaluation of Meds House.

 

Is there really good bubble tea in Kingston? I mean GOOD bubble tea! Re: London, I revise my lament. It's not that there was no ethnic food, it's that none of it was any good. Except Thuan Kieu. <3 Thuan Kieu. Vietnamese coffee is my secret lover (don't tell my chai that). The bubble tea in London, particularly, was awful. I cried once.

 

Edit: anyway, to get to the point: yes, we should all go for bbt in September!

[HBP]

I think I'm also considering buying, if I can.

 

Let me know what you find geneticism...

[obi]

Except Thuan Kieu. <3 Thuan Kieu. Vietnamese coffee is my secret lover (don't tell my chai that). The bubble tea in London, particularly, was awful. I cried once.

 

Lol, try Tamarine on Dundas. It just came up a few months ago but the food (at least my dish the one time i went) was awesome!

[coastalslacker]

If you don't mind driving, buy something. My wife and I have had two houses in Kingston, first in med school and then in residency. For the same monthly price it cost us to rent a "two" (1.5 really) bedroom apartment a 3 minute walk from campus (in second year med school), we have a nice, spacious, 3 Bed, 2.5 bath house with a great yard and monstrous deck. I'm not trying to brag, I'm just trying to emphasize how nuts people are to pay the rental prices in Kingston around Queen's. I drive 10-15 minutes to get to work at the hospital - pretty reasonable. If you can get a good mortgage rate you'll build up tonnes of equity in whatever you buy over the course of your four years. Kingston's real estate market is pretty stable because of the turnover in military folk so don't expect anything you buy to appreciate a tonne, but on the flip side, it won't crash either.

[HBP]

How much is parking around the med building/hospital? <$100 a month?

[EBDOC15]

its online. it's ike 75/month or 100/month for underground.

[isix]

Lol, try Tamarine on Dundas. It just came up a few months ago but the food (at least my dish the one time i went) was awesome!

 

I, sadly, have never tried bubble tea, much less at my time at UWO... Homecoming trip to Western plus bubble tea anyone?

[geneticism]

isix: The horror! Don't try bubble tea in London the first time. Homecoming reunion calls for the Western drink of choice: copious amounts of beer! Bad beer! And purple tights.

 

coastalslacker, is it hard to get a monthly permit for on-campus parking? I've heard it's cut-throat competitive. (As hard as getting into medicine, maybe? )

 

And... is it lonely? Driving in, I mean. Lacking a significant other, if I end up buying I'll have no one to come home to, and no friends nearby to hassle (I can't imagine it'd be easy to find someone who'd want to live with me out by Portsmouth, either). One of the things friends said was awesome about Kingston was that they could drop down the street and meet up with people quickly. Guess I could become a cat person.

 

Re: Kingston vs. Toronto; fair enough. I was clearly whining, and still am.

[simpy]

isix: The horror! Don't try bubble tea in London the first time. Homecoming reunion calls for the Western drink of choice: copious amounts of beer! Bad beer! And purple tights.

 

coastalslacker, is it hard to get a monthly permit for on-campus parking? I've heard it's cut-throat competitive. (As hard as getting into medicine, maybe? )

 

And... is it lonely? Driving in, I mean. Lacking a significant other, if I end up buying I'll have no one to come home to, and no friends nearby to hassle (I can't imagine it'd be easy to find someone who'd want to live with me out by Portsmouth, either). One of the things friends said was awesome about Kingston was that they could drop down the street and meet up with people quickly. Guess I could become a cat person.

 

Re: Kingston vs. Toronto; fair enough. I was clearly whining, and still am.

 

I parked on campus over the last year. There is basically no chance of you getting an above-ground spot, they're reserved primarily for faculty. However, there should be underground spots available. I'm not sure what the monthly cost is for the KGH lot, but the underground one at the corner of union and frontenac (about a 5-7 minute walk from KGH / medical building) is around $115/month all in.

 

If you're concerned about cost, you could definitely contact local landlords and do better. For the two years previous I was parking about 3 minutes further away from the underground lot for $75/month (she just didn't have a spot for me last year, gave first preference to her renters).

[EBDOC15]

I'll be moving in with my brother who owns a house about a 10 minute drive north of campus.

 

Does anyone know anything about the western parking lot and using the shuttle service to get to class?

[simpy]

I'll be moving in with my brother who owns a house about a 10 minute drive north of campus.

 

Does anyone know anything about the western parking lot and using the shuttle service to get to class?

 

The parking lot on West is something like $65/month (I'm fuzzy on the exact amount), and the shuttle service to get over to main is a breeze, takes under 10 minutes. But why not just get underground parking on main campus? It would cost an extra $50/month or so, but would probably be worth it (saves you ~10 minutes twice a day and gives you the added convenience of having your car nearby if you want to drive to lunch or something).

[geneticism]

We're back! So we looked at condos at 334 and 358 Queen Mary Road today, as well as 17 Eldon Place. On MLS, 17 Eldon lists at around $120k and up; this is for a good reason. The units were not in very good condition, definitely not in move-in condition.

 

Conversely, while 334 and 358 Queen Mary appear to have been built by the same architect as 17 Eldon, the Queen Mary ones have been very well-maintained. Apparently 358 used to be owned by one investor, who's like 90 years old now and sold off the units in lots to five other, younger investors, who in turn renovated each unit as the tenants moved out and are flipping them. They range from nice to very nice (there's one corner unit in particular that's very modern and gorgeous), and are all very roomy. Pricier at around $160k. Downside to 358 is that there isn't a board yet; not enough units have been sold. There's something like 70 units that still need to go; not all are vacant yet.

 

334 Queen Mary is also in good shape, and mostly owned by actual residents. We saw two units in there, one at $145k and one at $155k; both were in good condition. If I had to move in tomorrow, I wouldn't mind in these. The costlier one had an updated bathroom and kitchen, as well as new window treatments; it was also higher up. The price is right, though, and this building has the added benefit of having a board already in place.

 

I am freaked out by how far away it is. I mean, really, it's a ten minute drive to campus. All in all, not that far. But *relatively* far. Just standing there I felt isolated, as if I would never get to know my classmates. It's a nice neighbourhood, don't get me wrong. Couple of schools nearby, lots of families, but not many at Queen Mary itself (no pool, no playground, fewer kids; also lower condo fees!). The condos are really nice, lovely roomy places. Were I entering residency, it would be ideal.

 

I don't know what to do. I'm going to sleep now. Answers will come. *twitch*

[EBDOC15]

what's wrong with north of princess?

[simpy]

what's wrong with north of princess?

 

Well, it generally seems a little run down. But so do lots of other parts of Kingston. There are still lots of nice places in there.

 

The only "real" issue with it is that if you go NOP you get a little far from classes. Basically, it's a 10 minute walk from Princess to class. So the farther north of it you go, the further away from class you are. But you're pretty close to the bars still!

[gato]

Would Queen and Clergy or Sydenham be very unsafe?

 

 

North of Princess is a pretty run down, very shady area and overall not conducive to your personal safety. I wouldn't let anyone walk alone by themselves late at night up in that area.

 

Lived there for 1 summer, wouldn't recommend anyone live there.

 

It's amazing how just going one street up from princess can make a world of a difference.

 

 

Source: I lived in Kingston for 5 years.

[geneticism]

I just want to clarify on the condos' location: this is wayyy west, around Bath and Portsmouth. If you go to Kingston Transit and click on the Central map, this is on the very western edge of that map (but still east of the creek/river thing), north of St. Lawrence College. The area is very nice and not north-of-Princessy at all. Just very isolated relative to the rest of the student population, and the bus stops running to here from campus at 6:30pm. If you had a car and could get parking on or close to campus, it would be absolutely do-able.

 

Depending on what parking services says to me on Monday/Tuesday, I may rent around Queen & Sydenham myself. We should have study parties and share baked goods, gato!