New Haven, CT

[Guest Rons]

I'm surprised there wasn't already a thread about New Haven.

This town has a reputation of being very unpleasant, at least some neighbourhoods. What are the areas a newcomer should avoid, e.g. when looking for housing, etc.?

Also, how useful is public transportation in the city, and hos bike-friendly is it?

Thanks in advance!

[Guest g]

I've never lived in new haven but have visited several times and I actually had a much different impression - at least in the areas right around the yale campus and downtown - it's kind of a gritty city but has a certain new england/mill charm about it, if that's your thing - it happens to be mine, so I liked it alot. There is a downtown "green" type area near Yale that I thought was nice. Can't beat the campus architecture either, or the restaurants right around campus. Near the art school, which I believe is also near the main campus, is a network of cute/narrow streets with lots of restaurants/cafes etc...

Definitely visit if you can.

[cyhope]

I'm surprised there wasn't already a thread about New Haven.

This town has a reputation of being very unpleasant, at least some neighbourhoods. What are the areas a newcomer should avoid, e.g. when looking for housing, etc.?

Also, how useful is public transportation in the city, and hos bike-friendly is it?

Thanks in advance!

I had lived in New Haven for two years. I miss yale campus life but do think that some unpleasant neighborhoods and the rate of crime have made the city not so charming. In general, many grad students live near east rock area or some downtown apartments. In fact, it is easy for you to distinguish good and bad neighborhoods while walking in New Haven. Usually the daytime Yale transit and door to door minibus service are conveient and useful to go around the campus and the neighborhoods with grad students. But I don't think it's bike-friendly... (most Yale transit buses are just like some old school buses)

The public transportation allows you to go further to different neighborhoods (including good and bad ones). I'm not sure if CT transit (bus) is bike-friendly or not. In addition, I didn't buy a bike in new haven because it was so easy to be stolen. :roll:

[Guest Guest]

I've lived in new haven for 6 years (during my elementary school years). Many of the faculty and staff live around the East Rock Area, Prospect Hill area (there are apartment complexes here dominated by Yale people), and generally around the science campus campus around Whitney Ave (away from downtown); these neighborhoods are pretty good, so I'd look around there. The Yale Shuttle is pretty useful in getting around the campus.

[Chavity]

So what's new in New Haven? I'll be visiting the city next week. Any parts I should make a particular effort to see (or avoid)?

[Phedre]

Hey all,

I did my undergrad at Yale, and I NEVER felt unsafe there, but I would highly encourage people to take the mini bus (it's free! and you can call for door to door service!) If you want to go bar-hopping late at night, try not to walk back alone. Other than that, as long as you're not stupid about partying/going out, you should be fine.

i loved living in New Haven-- there is always some sort of theatre/concert/opera going on, the city has some of the best dining in the States (I'm living in Paris now, and i can honestly say I would trade new Haven restaurants for food here) and the summers are magical-- concerts on the green, etc. The library is *ridiculous* and you can literally get your hands on a ocpy of virtually any document in the world if you want ot order it... not to mention the illuminated manuscripts or langston hughes letters that you can simply ask for and touch.

I would recommend living near Wooster Square or in the "grad ghetto" (which isn't really a ghetto, just abit far) like near Church street, etc. Living "on campus" (on chapel/crown/elm) is of course more pricey, but much more convenient.

made a list of my favorite restaurants for a friend who recently was accepted...

best coffee: Willoughby's on Whitney avenue

great food:

BAR pizza (get the mashed potato pizza! they brew 6 beers in-house, the Toasted Blonde is a hit. On Thursdays the drinks are like a dollar befrore midnight)

Pacifico (upscale, but GREAT drinks and spanish food)

Bentara (malaysian food) in the 9th square

Blue Pearl (for fondue & drinks)

Nikkita (drinks)

Miya's sushi (Howe st)-- after 11 PM on Thursday and Friday (I think, those are the days) you can go and order 5 giant pieces of sushi for only $2.50!! You can't pick what pieces you get-- it's sort of a chef's choice but it's ALWAYS delicious and fun to be surprised. they are sort of nouveau-sushi, like he will use artichoke and korean Kimchee and white tuna or something. but it's always delicious.Try the firecracker sake too... spicy! On Wednesdays they have like a ridiculous 10-course sushi dinner (again chef's choice) for a prix fixe. Great splurge.

Mamoun's on howe st. (obviously. late night necessity! study snacks! middle eastern food)

LITTLE KNOWN BUT AWESOME CHINESE RESTAURANT: on Whitney, it's way way up, past the career services building. I think it's called Great Wall or something. it looks like a grocery store,but in the back is a Chinese restaurant. And the food is unbelievably delicious and so cheap. the menu is in chinese, so the best thing to do is point and guess. Or else they have a buffet where you get great heaps of food for only like $5. Totally worth it

Pot-au-Pho (vietnamese restaurant next to the Chinese place) totally affordable.

other obvious ones:

claire's on Chapel (vegetarian... tomato pesto pizza is awesome!)

Atticus on Chapel (i pine after the black bean soup... sometimes I have dreams about it)

Scoozzi on Chapel (ditto for their seasonal risottos)

PM me if you have questions!

good luck, J

[bobwhoops]

Even better than those recommondations: the pizza on wooster street!

[litch]

What's the best housing option here? Grad student housing or finding your own place? Grad student housing at my home institution is really lame (you're housed like an undergrad). I didn't even want to live like an undergrad, and I moved out after my first year into an apartment. It was a little more expensive, but only because you had to pay for a year's lease, rather than 9 months. The prospect of living in a graduate "dorm" frightens me.

[euges429]

What's the best housing option here? Grad student housing or finding your own place? Grad student housing at my home institution is really lame (you're housed like an undergrad). I didn't even want to live like an undergrad, and I moved out after my first year into an apartment. It was a little more expensive, but only because you had to pay for a year's lease, rather than 9 months. The prospect of living in a graduate "dorm" frightens me.

There's nothing related to the quote above, but I'm wondering:

What's the LGBT lifestyle in Yale and New Haven? I hear there are lots of LGBT events, bars and pubs on- and off-campus. I would appreciate any experiences or advice you have regarding a gay male grad student in Yale. Thanks.

[LeNea]

For grad housing:

HGS is the best on-campus option and fills up fast. Most of the students I personally know who live in HGS are either international or in the humanities. It's really convenient to just about everything, but it is a hall-style dorm situation.

There are some other on-campus options, like Helen Hadley Hall (great for school of music/stuff on Hillhouse Ave area due to close proximity) and Harkness Hall (down at Medical School). Harkeness is all med students with just a few others and they study ALL the time. A lot of people I know who started out in HHH were quickly frustrated with the lack of kitchen and moved out after the first year. The HGS people seem to hang around there longer, not sure why.

I would use the shuttle maps as a good guide to where is good/bad to live. If you get Shuttle service within a few blocks, you're pretty safe. Ask for email addresses of older students in your program and run addresses by them before going out to look at apartments - most won't mind, and at this point, I can glance at an address and if I don't know that street name, it's probably a bad sign. I'm an East Rocker and love love love it, take the orange line down to the med school. If you're CS, I'm guessing you'll be in the Prospect/Trumbull/Hillhouse area, so pay special attention to where the Green and Blue lines go.

As for finding an apartment - there are the "Yale owned" properties, I think they're overpriced, but I hear they're a good bet if you're looking for somewhere downtown. I found both my apartments on the off-campus housing service search page - GREAT resource. Both my landlords have been Yale affiliates and have been fantastic. Ask your dept if they set up a list-serv for incoming students (I know the biology combined program does) to facilitate the roommate hunt, if you're interested in that angle. On campus or Yale owned housing has to be arranged sooner; off campus apartments tend to get listed in May for July 1 starts and more towards June for August 1 starts. There are some apts with September 1 starts, they show up later, but are tough to pull off with orientation.

Do not sign a lease sight unseen (but that's anywhere you go). Scrape up some money to come up and apartment hunt for several days, or find roommates that have the ability to do that (that's what I wound up doing). The greatest thing in the world is to find a good apt with heat included. Don't live on the first floor (no AC -> open windows -> break-in risk) but be aware that getting stuff up to the third floor can be a hassle (I now know lots about split box springs!).

As for LGBT, I don't know what the scene is like personally, but I know quite a few LGBT grad students who seem pretty happy. I would check Yale's webpage for student organizations devoted to LGBT causes, or email the McDougal Center (Grad Student Center) about resources. They could probably put you in touch with grad students who can give you their experiences and perspectives.

[yticnineb]

A little bit off-topic: I'm heading up to New Haven to visit with folks from my dept later this week, and I need a place to stay for a night. I prefer new Haven, as I'm taking the Amtrak in and will have to catch a taxi. I don't mind cheap hotels if they're secure and clean, but everything in the under-$75 range seems to have uniformly atrocious reviews on Trip Advisor. Any suggestions?

[LeNea]

I've stayed at the LaQuinta by Ikea before; it's the closest outside of downtown. I stayed at the Omni during my recruitment. Here's the Yale Off Campus Housing list of hotels in the area.

You could ask the departmental secretary if there are any hotels that their department has a discount rate with that you could use when booking? Cabs can get pricey quick. The secretary may also be able to alert you to other students visiting that you could talk to about splitting a room.

[yticnineb]

Thanks for the suggestions! That document on the Yale site was super helpful, actually. The Duncan Hotel looks really promising for location and price, but it's full the night I need it. Definitely will keep it in mind, though.

[Rory_123]

moving to New Haven in August...will be living in East Rock area....anyone know of any good butchers/fishmongers/fresh produce places? Where exactly is the farmers market? Would you recommend it?

[yticnineb]

I'll be moving up to New Haven the first weekend in August or thereabouts. Are there any bicyclists around here? It seems like the city has a pretty active bike advocacy group (http://www.elmcitycycling.org/), which is exciting. I'm worried about the winters, though, coming from a warmer climate. Rory, I think the farmer's market is on the green, south of East Rock? I looked into getting a CSA share, but the timing was off, and I don't expect to be there in the summers. Yale has a community garden. I wonder if grad students can get involved in that? I'm trying to figure out fresh produce and herbs on a small stipend...

[cogneuroforfun]

If anyone who moved to New Haven in the past couple years sees this, how did it compare to your expectations? Yale definitely advertised the cultural and other activities, and when I visited I was very pleasantly surprised with New Haven itself. But I was wondering if anyone currently there could add anything? There's always NYC to go to if you get really bored, I suppose!

[cogneuroforfun]

I'll be at the medical school campus primarily, so I am wondering about where I should look for housing. East Rock is farther away, but seems like a great place to live. On the other hand, living right downtown near the green is affordable enough, has some very nice apartments, and is within walking distance to the med campus. Is there much of a downside to living more downtown?

Also, people I've talked to have said New Haven is nicer than its reputation, but there are "bad parts." Where are these, generally? West Haven and East Haven both seemed nice enough from my housing searches. I'm open to living farther away and having to commute 20-30 minutes, but where should I make sure to avoid?

[caro]

EAST ROCK for all! I wouldn't live anywhere else in New Haven. Westville is too far. Whalley Ave area is no good. The Green is creepy. Dwight street area starts to suck, esp. anything west of that towards the hospital or south around Crown and George Sts. East Rock near State St/Pearl St is full of grad students, but closer to the park is super beautiful. Choice of perfect Italian delis on Orange St...Nica's or Romeo and Caesar's (my favorite is R and C's), Modern Apizza, Peabody Museum, several lovely parks, easy parking for cars (esp in the Northern part...you won't even need a resident permit), sort of safe (way safer than most other sections of town, but there are still things like mugging at knifepoint if you are wandering around too late at night in the summer. And gangs of kids on bikes are a problem...and your car radio will get stolen. But most problems are avoidable with common sense, and honestly it is much safer than the Yale area, 9th Square, etc). Also there are 2 free shuttles, one that goes up and down Orange, the other on Whitney. If you feel like a longish walk, you can walk to the Metro North station to go to New York. Also, you can walk to school in about 25-40 minutes, depending on how far into East Rock you are. Oh my G*d, I miss East Rock...I wish I still lived there. However, I hear that the lesbian scene is better in the Wooster Square neighborhood...apparently there is some kind of amazing cafe there? I'll wait for somebody else to post on that. But Wooster Square requires crossing State St and 9th Square...you could never really walk to school, especially at night.

[caro]

you know what you should do...find a nice apartment for springtime, when everybody is moving away (that is, start looking now), and then sublet it to a foreign student, visiting fellow etc for the summer. then you won't have to scramble like a madman in july or august.

I think Yale offers several avenues for advertising sublets, and New Haven Craigslist is good anyways.

[purplepepper]

Does anyone have any information or experience on spouses finding jobs at Yale or around New Haven? Any info (approx.) on the cost of living?

Anyone particularly happy or unhappy at Yale/NH and care to share why?

Any info is appreciated, PMs welcome.

[theresatwist]

mims3382, if you hear from anyone in regard to your question above, lemmeno. i contacted about three different departments at yale to ask this same thing, and unfortunately they don't offer job/career placement services for spouses/SOs. i *was* told that many of the jobs on the student employment pages were open to the public, and that many employers advertise with yale without strictly requiring applicants to be yalies.

i'm particularly interested in this spouse job thing as well. it's annoying that they don't do spouse job placements as i was under the impression they actually did (part of my "OMG yale is best" mythologizing). they do have this career day though - http://www.cis.yale.edu/hronline/CareerDay.html - should be the same in 2009.

[philly2]

I've been hearing that the best way to meet other grad students is to live on campus (at HGS), is this true?

[theresatwist]

HGS should be Hall of Graduate Studies i guess?

our plan is renting something cheapo cheapo through the university now (over the internet and all!), then depending on how good/bad it is, searching for something else over the first semester, and subletting the university place over second semester. that way we can have some kind of a base once we arrive, and possibly move somewhere nicer later on once we know the town and see how far the cash stretches. it's a bit messy to move during the first year, but since we're going to be in new haven for quite a while and planning on having a kid at some stage in the next few years, i'd like to have enough time to find a decent place to live.

[ohheygradschool]

I've been hearing that the best way to meet other grad students is to live on campus (at HGS), is this true?

When I went for a visit day, the student I stayed with lived off-campus and said she had no problem meeting other grad students that way. I definitely got the impression that most of them live off-campus. If they live on campus at all, it seems to be only for the first year and after that point they move off. Also, when I checked out a HGS room for a few minutes, it seemed way too dorm-like for me. It's not a good choice for me personally, but I'm sure it could work just fine for someone else as a first year.

[emmyphil]

hey everyone... I have just been accepted to divinity school at Yale... does anyone have an apartment suggestion for a girl with a small dog? tough I know...