student's apartment guide

There are a couple distinct regions of the city:

Downtown

The downtown area of Birmingham has a pretty new loft district.

Advantages: The city is working to make the downtown area more attractive for young people. Some of the loft buildings are really cool with a mix of historic and modern interiors. Most buildings include secured parking. It is a quick 5-10 minute drive to the dental school.

Disadvantages: Right now, not alot of people live downtown and it is pretty dead after business hours. There are not any grocery stores or drug stores or anything like that downtown. Safety might be an issue - but most places have secured parking lots. Price: These are some of the more expensive places.

Price: You can get a renovated loft (old building with hardwood, maybe central heat, 1-pane windows) for $750-$1100 for a one-bedroom and $1100-$1700 for a two-bedroom. There is a new complex downtown that has pretty nice two-story/two-bedroom apartments for $700 (special student rate). It is in an area that there isn't any other housing though.

featured property: Gallery and Matthew Lofts

Southside / Five Points / Highland Park

This is also kind of downtown and it is pretty close to the dental school. I live in Southside. I walk six blocks to the dental school (10 minutes). I live by a little area called "Five Points". Five Points is an intersection of 5 streets and two blocks in every direction of the intersection there are restaurants and some other small businesses. There is a Starbucks, a smoothie store, a pizza place, 2 or 3 fancy restaurants and a bunch of bars and clubs in this area. Close to Southside is Highland park. Living in this area would require that you drive or ride a bike to school. The housing in this area is mostly older, but in the center of this area are two large parks.

Advantages: You are close to the school. There are some neat local restaurants and bars. It is more populated by students than downtown.

Disadvantages: The apartment buildings are just about all older renovated buildings. The rent is a little more expensive than areas further from the dental school. Living by Five-Points is kind of noisy and many buildings only have street parking.

Price: You can get one bedrooms from about $450-$700. I pay $600/month for a one bedroom.

featured property: Park Manor

Mountainbrook / Summit Area / Vestavia / 280

This is more of the suburb area. There are 3 or 4 big shopping malls in Birmingham that have all the retail stores like Gap, Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters and things like that. Also, along 280 (a big road here) there are several miles of lots of restaurants and other stores like WalMart, Home Depot, Target and things like that. Living in this area, you can be anywhere from 15-30 minute drive from the dental school.

Advantages: This area has new apartments for cheaper prices. It is quieter and probably safer. There is lots of parking and many places have pools. It is close to grocery stores (there's a brand new Whole Foods) and the shopping malls.

Disadvantages: This area didn't appeal to me because I thought it was too suburban - I'm single and 23 and I didn't have any friends here - so I wanted to live somewhere more exciting. You can get caught in traffic at 8AM or 5PM and it can be a pain to get to and from the dental school.

Price: You can get a brand new one bedroom for about $600-$700 and a two bedroom for about $1000.

featured properties: Colonial Grand | Wildwood Crossings

Midtown

This is an area with a limited number of buildings, but it is right in the heart of UAB Med center and very close to the dental school (closer than some of the parking decks). It is in between southside and downtown.

Advantages: Location. This is about as close as you can get to the dental school. The few buildings here all have secured parking. The buildings are newer (The Bristol Lofts are brand new and have great amenities).

Disadvantages: There are only three or four buildings in this area. They are a little more expensive than Southside but less expensive than Downtown. Most of the apartments are not very large.

Price: Carriage Court and Southside Station (same owner) rent for $750-$800 for one-bedrooms and $900-$1000 for two bedrooms. Bristol Lofts are all privately owned condos leased by th owners. Prices vary from $900-$1200.

featured property: Southside Station and Carriage Court

Homewood

Homewood is not far from the dental school and you don't have to go on a major highway to get there (less traffic). It is pretty similar to living in Southside but I think it is a little quieter. You will still have to drive to school.