Johns Hopkins- Apartments/Housing

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I know a little of this has been thrown around in other threads, but I thought I'd start a new one focusing specifically on recommendations, ideas, suggestions, and questions concerning specific apartments/complexes/neighborhoods/roommates, etc for those considering or planning to attend Hopkins. I'm sure the admitted students day in April will be helpful for this as well! If I do decide on Hopkins, I will certainly be needing an inexpensive option, but safety/security is top priority for me, so being on the shuttle route is a must.

Can anyone comment on what Reed Hall is really like? It looks rather like a dorm. I'd appreciate any advice on what to bring to make it a little more homey. I'll be living in a 4-person suite there, I think.

In Reed, are public health students placed with other public health students or are they mixed in with medical students? Also, the website said I was accepted, but I yet to receive any information at all, not even an email, from JHU. How long did it take ppl to receive info after they were accepted via the web portal? I can't start applications for housing, etc until I have some information!

Originally Posted by Globalhealth85

In Reed, are public health students placed with other public health students or are they mixed in with medical students? Also, the website said I was accepted, but I yet to receive any information at all, not even an email, from JHU. How long did it take ppl to receive info after they were accepted via the web portal? I can't start applications for housing, etc until I have some information!

I didn't wait. I found the app on the website and faxed it in. I got an email back today confirming I had a room assigned in Reed Hall. I faxed the information last week.

Originally Posted by RAMPA

I didn't wait. I found the app on the website and faxed it in. I got an email back today confirming I had a room assigned in Reed Hall. I faxed the information last week.

Do you have to pay a deposit or select your roommates? What if I want to reserve a room there, but end up finding an apartment when I go there to visit in April? I'd love to reserve a room, but would hate to be stuck if I do end up finding an affordable apartment in another area. Anyone sure?

Originally Posted by Globalhealth85

Do you have to pay a deposit or select your roommates? What if I want to reserve a room there, but end up finding an apartment when I go there to visit in April? I'd love to reserve a room, but would hate to be stuck if I do end up finding an affordable apartment in another area. Anyone sure?

I don't have to pay a deposit until April 20th, so I have until then to accept the room. I didn't have an option to choose roomates. I'm assuming they're pre-selected based on when the applicant submits a room request. I'm going to look around the area when I go next month b/c I rather live in an apartment too. I just applied for a room as a "safety net". The price isn't bad ($625/mo) and I'm pretty sure I won't be in Baltimore for the 11 month field placement so a 9mo lease at Reed would work out pretty well for me.

Alright, I did the same- I reserved a room in Reed just in case, and will be searching for apartments during the Visit Day in April (I'll be there all weekend.) I got in touch with some current students who said I'm welcome to see their apartments in Reed, which will help me make my decision. They said it's nothing pretty, but all agree it's super convenient since it's so close. Other students recommend living in Charles Village or Mt. Vernon, so I'll be checking those neighborhoods out for sure while I'm there.

Instead of Reed try to find housing in Charles Village or Mt. Vernon area. Hopkins provide free shuttle that makes frequent drive between Undergraduate campus (Homewood) and Bloomberg. The housing is cheaper and you don't have to live so close to the school. Check out the route and schedule here. http://www.parking.jhu.edu/shuttles_jhmi_homewood.html

Another option, chosen by many students, is to live along the Metro line. The most popular is to live by the Charles Center station downtown, which is two stops from Hopkins medical center, and only a 3 minute trip. Trains come frequently, and it's very easy. The three buildings where people tend to live are Charles Towers, Park Charles, and 39 West Lexington (the nicest and newest one). These are all in one complex. Monthly student Metro cards are $39 per month, purchased at school, and give unlimited travel on the Metro, buses, and the regional Light Rail. Other neighborhoods, such as Mt. Vernon or Fells Point are more attractive, however.

Originally Posted by exclamention

Instead of Reed try to find housing in Charles Village or Mt. Vernon area. Hopkins provide free shuttle that makes frequent drive between Undergraduate campus (Homewood) and Bloomberg. The housing is cheaper and you don't have to live so close to the school. Check out the route and schedule here. http://www.parking.jhu.edu/shuttles_jhmi_homewood.html

I've heard Charles Village and Mt. Vernon suggested time and time again. I'll definitely be looking into it this weekend. Is it really cheaper to live there than Reed? ($525/month)

Originally Posted by Globalhealth85

I've heard Charles Village and Mt. Vernon suggested time and time again. I'll definitely be looking into it this weekend. Is it really cheaper to live there than Reed? ($525/month)

Fell in love with Mt. Vernon during the visit weekend! Would love to rent an apartment in that neighborhood.

Hey all -

What is the consensus for the need to have/bring a car. I am coming from NYC where public transportation is HUGE. And to further delineate, if one to live on the metrolinedowntown, how handy is a car, or is it pretty easy to get around without...

Also if someone decided to live in Mt. Vernon or fells point, or one of the other areas that a lot of the MPHers live, is a car necessary then? I did a little google map directions to see the commute times, but they only give public transportatio, not JHU transportation. Would it be reccomended to have a car if lived in said places. Also, is car safety an issue to be concerned about, and is parking at JHU hard to find?

Thanks for all the help

Originally Posted by Wenkebach

Hey all -

What is the consensus for the need to have/bring a car. I am coming from NYC where public transportation is HUGE. And to further delineate, if one to live on the metrolinedowntown, how handy is a car, or is it pretty easy to get around without...

Also if someone decided to live in Mt. Vernon or fells point, or one of the other areas that a lot of the MPHers live, is a car necessary then? I did a little google map directions to see the commute times, but they only give public transportatio, not JHU transportation. Would it be reccomended to have a car if lived in said places. Also, is car safety an issue to be concerned about, and is parking at JHU hard to find?

Thanks for all the help

The public transport is not great in Baltimore. During the panels, they all of course said "you can get by without a car!" and then in private, every student I talked to said "you really need a car here." Safety is an issue though, and break-ins are more common than they'd like to admit. I'm nervous about bringing my car, especially since it's so expensive to pay for parking...but I'd be much more nervous about getting everywhere I want and need to go without reliable transportation. You can park at the school in the garage if you pay, or you can park on the street...but since the school is not in the best part of town, be careful you don't leave anything in your car, and certainly not if you have a GPS. I plan to live along the shuttle route so I never have to drive to school, but I'll have my car for other occasions.

Anyone possibly interested in doubling up with me for the new 2 br 2.5 br row house in fells point put on JHU website yesterday? $1700....let me know

I faxed in my housing application form two (maybe three?) days ago, and got an email today that there's no available room now in the east wing of Reed Hall. Anyone knows what the west wing is like??? One bathroom shared by the entire floor sounds horrifying...I think I won't cook often so not having a kitchen is not a problem to me. I really hate living far from school. I'm from outside the country, so I've no idea what's the typical dorm like in America. Could any of you who has ever lived in a dorm like west wing tell me how inconvienient it'll be to share bathroom with the entire floor??? Plz help me and Thank you!!!

Originally Posted by mandyL

Could any of you who has ever lived in a dorm like west wing tell me how inconvienient it'll be to share bathroom with the entire floor??? Plz help me and Thank you!!!

I lived in West Wing for one month while doing a medical student rotation. The bathrooms are quite large - I believe there were 3-4 stalls, 6 sinks and 6 showers on each floor. I never had to wait to use the restroom or shower. They get cleaned every weekday. The only problem I encountered was sometimes over the weekend the trashcans would fill up and dirty paper towels would start spilling over onto the floor.

Aside from bathrooms... it was never too loud, and the full-time students seemed to be quite friendly with one another. It's convenient to have the fitness center right next door, plenty of laundry machines in the basement, a community living room, computer room, and game room on the first floor. Despite each floor having only a sink and microwave, I saw students cooking entire meals from scratch with electric hot plates (which are technically not allowed, but seem to be tolerated), slow cookers, and rice cookers.

Originally Posted by CopperStripes

I lived in West Wing for one month while doing a medical student rotation. The bathrooms are quite large - I believe there were 3-4 stalls, 6 sinks and 6 showers on each floor. I never had to wait to use the restroom or shower. They get cleaned every weekday. The only problem I encountered was sometimes over the weekend the trashcans would fill up and dirty paper towels would start spilling over onto the floor.

Aside from bathrooms... it was never too loud, and the full-time students seemed to be quite friendly with one another. It's convenient to have the fitness center right next door, plenty of laundry machines in the basement, a community living room, computer room, and game room on the first floor. Despite each floor having only a sink and microwave, I saw students cooking entire meals from scratch with electric hot plates (which are technically not allowed, but seem to be tolerated), slow cookers, and rice cookers.

wowww~Sounds cool! Thank you for your input, CopperStripes!

I have lived in Baltimore for 4 years without owning a car myself or knowing anyone who had a car. It is true that Baltimore's public transportation is not as good as larger cities such as NYC or DC, but especially downtown it is still good. Unless you decide to live in the charles village, which is further away and not serviced by as may bus routes, there are lots of options for getting around. Mt vernon is (in my opinion) the best neighborhood to live in to get around via public transit as it is one several bus routes, the light rail,a not too long walk to the metro, and the JHU shuttle, but it isn't hard to get to places from Fells Point either, especially now that the circulator runs there. The other thing about Baltimore is that it is fairly small, so it doesn't take too long to walk anywhere. Walking from mt vernon square downtwon to the harbor is only about 20 minutes, and it's also about a 20 minute walk from the harbor to fells point. I obviously wouldn't walk alone late at night, but those neighborhoods are safe and usually full of people walking around. People I have known to have cars tend to only use them to go someplace that isn't accessible via public transit.

Just wanted to bring up the topic of Hopkins housing again, with Reed Hall closing down and the 929 apartments opening up. What are everyone's thoughts on housing?

929 sounds nice, although right now there's nothing (no restaurants, stores, commercial buildings) really around it. Better bet would be to go on JHMI and find roommates for apartments accessible by shuttle/CCC/MTA or bike if you're not bringing a car. Mt. Vernon, Charles Village, Fells Point, all mentioned as neighborhoods with many Hopkins students.

Copied from http://forums.studentdoctor.net/show....php?t=901311:

"The Student Outreach group (SOURCE) held a housing panel with currrent students, and the range for the rent is astounding. One guy living a few blocks from campus in Middle East was living with a roommate who paid $380 for a room in a rowhouse, and the average seemed to be around $650 for a nice apartment with a roommate. Some paid more to live downtown, but the major neighborhoods where students came from were Fells Point, Charles Village, Mt. Vernon, Butcher's Hill, and Canton. There's a surprising amount of mass transit in Baltimore, including the Charm City Circulator and JHU Shuttle that are free and go by the school. Definitely do some research to check out these areas. On the question of cars, the jury's out. Half had cars, the other half didn't, but the consensus is that cars make things much easier. I think an out-of-state permit for street parking in Baltimore (if you don't get an apartment with a spot) is $55 a year, which is crazy reasonable."

Does anyone have any suggestions on nice apartment buildings in the Mt. Vernon and Fells Point neighborhoods? Preferably on the less expensive side and along the JHMI shuttle/metro routes? I'm looking to have a single in an apartment shared with one or two other people.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by aiya1280

Does anyone have any suggestions on nice apartment buildings in the Mt. Vernon and Fells Point neighborhoods? Preferably on the less expensive side and along the JHMI shuttle/metro routes? I'm looking to have a single in an apartment shared with one or two other people.

Thanks!

A friend of mine used to live in one of the buildings right off the Peabody stop (lots of them there, all pretty good buildings), lived on the top floor and had a great view of the city at a cheap cost (a little below $1K a month, if I remember correctly). Friends of mine that lived in Fells usually opted for a row home as there aren't many buildings out there. The apartment buildings around Homewood, which is on the JHMI shuttle line are fairly cheap. That's where I lived and paid $800/month for a 1BR. My friends had a 2BR and they paid about $500 each for it (they lived in the building on top of One World). These are prices based on a couple of years ago tho, though after visiting Bmore a month ago, I don't imagine it changing too drastically.

With the reliability of the Circulator (free transportation and they have a stop at the med / public health campus), I'd also look at Fed Hill. It's a great neighborhood.

Thanks a lot! I'll definitely look into your suggestions!

Also, I know that it's been mentioned somewhere around this board before, but could someone possibly talk more about commuting daily from DC to Hopkins? Either by car or by train? Does it take away from the Hopkins experience at all?

Thank you aiya1280 for bringing up this question. I also wanted to know if it is possible to commute daily from DC by train? Is there anyone who may have the same experience?

While it's possible to commute via car or MARC, I got the sense from current students that commuting from DC is very demanding. Driving through morning/evening traffic eats up hours, and if there are weekend classes/events you won't be able to rely on MARC to get you to Baltimore since it doesn't run. If that isn't enough, the costs from riding the train back and forth are pretty high (I think $7 each way) and gas is too. The students I met who did commute were those with spouses and children, and didn't want to separate their homes.

IMO, if your Hopkins experience is to just get the degree as soon as possible and get out, you could probably make this work. Otherwise being in Baltimore will make life far easier.

I was planning to live in 929 apartments... Is that a bad idea? What neighborhoods are best to live in?

Originally Posted by csing1418

I was planning to live in 929 apartments... Is that a bad idea? What neighborhoods are best to live in?

929 is new and you'll be surrounded by JHMI students, so that's a definite plus. I'm copy-pasting what I wrote above here:

929 sounds nice, although right now there's nothing (no restaurants, stores, commercial buildings) really around it. Better bet would be to go on JHMI and find roommates for apartments accessible by shuttle/CCC/MTA or bike if you're not bringing a car. Mt. Vernon, Charles Village, Fells Point, all mentioned as neighborhoods with many Hopkins students.

Copied from http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=901311

"The Student Outreach group (SOURCE) held a housing panel with currrent students, and the range for the rent is astounding. One guy living a few blocks from campus in Middle East was living with a roommate who paid $380 for a room in a rowhouse, and the average seemed to be around $650 for a nice apartment with a roommate. Some paid more to live downtown, but the major neighborhoods where students came from were Fells Point, Charles Village, Mt. Vernon, Butcher's Hill, and Canton. There's a surprising amount of mass transit in Baltimore, including the Charm City Circulator and JHU Shuttle that are free and go by the school. Definitely do some research to check out these areas. On the question of cars, the jury's out. Half had cars, the other half didn't, but the consensus is that cars make things much easier. I think an out-of-state permit for street parking in Baltimore (if you don't get an apartment with a spot) is $55 a year, which is crazy reasonable."