"Anyone familiar with Hodge Ave? Help!" written by Chico on estrip.org

06/10/06 04:29 - 62ºF - ID#21178

Anyone familiar with Hodge Ave? Help!

Well, I'm still deliberating the trip to B-lo this weekend. A phone call in response to an ad for a 2 bedroom led to an interesting twist.
The 2 bdrm is gone, but a 3 bdrm apt on Hodge Ave near the Children's Hospital is coming available and it would be perfect timing for our August move-in date.

The location is on Hodge about a block west of Delaware. The apt is a huge (2200 sq ft) 3 bdrm on the 3rd floor and has 2 full baths, 2 working fireplaces, functional kitchen (important for us!), in-unit washer and dryer, off-street parking, and apparently is in "immaculate" condition. Allegedly, the balanced billing for heat runs $110-$120 and electric around $40.

The current tenants have apparently lived there 6 years and are leaving to move to NYC.

The neighbors on the first and second floors are single professionals, the one on the first floor has a well behaved dog (a lab) and the one on the 2nd floor apparently travels a lot.

It's pricey (near the top of our range, but manageable) but we have been assured it is a quiet unit on a nice street.

Any comments from the local experts on the Elmwood area?

Is it definitely worth looking at, maybe to grab it before it hits the market (plannng to list it in AV this week)? Or let it ride...? And what should I make of Hodge Ave just west of Delaware? How long a walk to good stuff on Elmwood, etc.?

Also, any thoughts on Rand Avenue in N. Buffalo? Cheaper options with garages up that way, and near Delaware Park.

--Chico

chico writes at 10:29:01 06/10/06 - Comment #8772: thanks (e:terry), (e:kookcity2000), (e:paul) and (e:jenks) for the helpful advice! definitely will check out the Hodge apt tomorrow. full report to come... chico

jenks writes at 09:05:51 06/10/06 - Comment #8771: yeah i'll chime in too. I would take the hodge place. I have a friend that lives at 77 hodge, and another friend lives right next door I think. actually i can ask them if they know anything about this place. Good area, close enough to everything... Tons of restaurants near children's, plus Faherty's. I would definitely take it over Rand (which I've never heard of.) If you go north of the park, all you have is.... the park. If you stay south, you can still get to the park, but also have all the restaurants, etc.

Correction- I would SEE the hodge place before taking it. SOUNDS great, but sometimes landlords exaggerate...

paul writes at 08:48:50 06/10/06 - Comment #8770: Hodge is a great street. I would definitely jump on that, if it's in your range.

Although, when are you moving exactly? We live in a fantastic (ask anyone on the site) apartment at 444 linwood. It is around $1000 but includes utilities. We are moving around August.

terry writes at 04:56:13 06/10/06 - Comment #8768: Hodge is a pretty nice st. Pretty near everything...you've actually got 3 or 5 good restaurants within 5 mins. walk, then a couple more mins to get to the Spot area on Elmwood. Only concern I might have is parking and hospital traffic, but if it has off-street you should be okay. What exactly is expensive? We have the front half of a mansion, not sure square footage, with two beds/2 full baths and a fireplace, though its non-functioning. We pay $1100 but is includes everything (a great plus here).

My opionion on Rand is that it's a bit too far. While it's possible to get to Elmwood it's a pretty long jaunt, though you can go through the park... I'm not sure about the exact street, if I remember I'll check it out next time I get around there. For me the ideal square is like Richmond-Linwood (E-W) and Forest-Bryant (N-S) if you want real "Elmwood-living" and extend down to Allen if you don't mind living in Allentown, which has it's own charm.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck.

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06/09/06 03:29 - 64ºF - ID#21177

Fountainhead

OK, so what's the deal with (MAP TO: RAND%20AVENUE)? Why do I have three appointments to see apartments on this little street between Delaware, Amherst, and Hertel?

Is it a depressing little street that people can't wait to leave?
Is it noisy? (there are train tracks 2 blocks away...do freight trains run through there all night long?)

Anyway I can hardly help but to be suspicious.... Hmm.

Other places I'm considering north of Delaware Park: a 3 br on Tillinghast Pl, and a 2 br on North Dr.(north of Hertel, off Parkside).

Nearer to Elmwood I'm looking at something on W. Delevan near Chapin Pkwy, on W. Utica near Norwood, and an expensive apt overlooking Gates Circle.

Comments welcomed...

P.S. thanks to (e:Jenks), (e:Leetee), (e:Kara) et al for the latest encouraging emails :-)

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06/09/06 10:08 - 62ºF - ID#21176

damn, you people are nice...

...what planet are you from? Being a newcomer I figured I wouldn't get much of a response to my post but instead I'm happily inundated with notes from (e:zobar), (e:joshua), (e:kara), (e:carolinian), (e:libertad), (e:hodown), and (e:dragonlady7)...many thanks to all!

I really appreciate the help with the apartment search...the gf and I were looking all over town a couple of weekends ago and decided that we're most interested in the areas relatively close to Delaware Park...gf is jazzed about the Bidwell Parkway area (in part b/c it's close to Caffe Aroma); I'm still strongly considering other parts of Elmwood Village, but we're also thinking about areas north of Delaware Park too... we're trying to find a quiet street, gf gets up early and likes to get her beauty rest. ;-)

Was thinking about bombing on up to B-lo this weekend to look for apts and to check out the Allentown art festival... but I'm getting the sense that I'm a little early for my target move-in date of August 1... most of the folks advertising in AV are looking for 7/1... any thoughts? Would I be wasting time/gas money by making the trip this weekend?

Thanks again, Chico

kara writes at 04:41:16 06/09/06 - Comment #8728: leetee- i think it's the north park theater. It's right across the street from the Stock Exchange, an awesome furniture store that chico and the woman (sorry, couldn't resist) should check out to outfit their new digs.

leetee writes at 01:44:19 06/09/06 - Comment #8720: Early welcome, (e:Chico) and (e:Chico)'s girlfriend! :O)

My husband and i, (e:Uncutsaniflush) are farily new to Buffalo as well. Been about a year and a half now.

The Hertel Street area, between Elmwood and Colvin and maybe even through to Starin, has a lot of rentals down the side streets, i think. Might want to check out that area if you're looking to be above Delaware Park. Most are doubles, as they call them 'round here, or as other places say, duplexes. Our realtor owns a house and rents out the top half.. and the people that used to live in the house my husband and i bought moved to that area. There's a cool movie theatre up there... oh, i think it's called North something. Man, i am bad with names. Sorry. Coupla good places to eat 'round there, too. I recommend Taste Of Thai if you like Thai food.

OK, now that was a ramble. More than i intended it to be.

Oh, but before i forget. Coffee places. I'm not one for hanging out at coffee places in general, but a lot of the (e:peeps) 'round here hang at Spot, which is a block or two south of Aroma. Oddly enough, Armoma was a place my husband and i went to when we were visitors before we moved here...

kara writes at 12:52:01 06/09/06 - Comment #8716: Lots of quiet streets to the north of 198 and east of Parkside - not sure about the rental availability there, though.
:::link:::

jenks writes at 10:14:57 06/09/06 - Comment #8711: Yeah, we're a nice bunch... welcome. :)
Bidwell is beautiful (I drove up and down over and over when I was looking for a place, hoping a "for rent" sign would miraculously appear). But there are lots of nice places. I think the guidelines I were given are good- I'd recommend the area bounded by Forest to the North, Allen to the South, Richmond to the West, and Delaware to the East. Or Linwood.

All of that is pretty near Aroma. (though personally I prefer Spot (further down elmwood)).

You might be a little early to find a place for 8/1, but at the same time it might be a good idea to get a feel for the area in advance, so when you ARE seeing places your head is clear on what's where, etc.

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06/08/06 06:03 - 73ºF - ID#21175

reversing the tide

hey e-peeps... okay so i'm a poser... i live in new jersey and haven't moved to buffalo yet but i'm on my way this summer. just landed a job in b-lo (this seems to surprise people...what, are there no jobs in b-lo or something?) ;-) i laugh to myself that i'm trying to singlehandedly reverse the population outflow from buffalo... ha!

anyway my gf and i are moving up around august and i'll be scouring elmwood and allentown looking for you e- types. beware! in the meantime maybe i'll write some journal posts about my search for a nice apartment near the park. suggestions welcomed...

chico

codypomeray writes at 02:45:11 06/10/06 - Comment #8766: hey chico welcome to estrip. i actually grew up in b-lo but moved to long island. my sister moved to new jersey. she lived in brick and teaches in lakewood. where you from? well i hope everything goes well with your move to buffalo. good luck.

dragonlady7 writes at 08:58:02 06/09/06 - Comment #8710: Welcome to Buffalo!

Am I an idiot for wanting to know which park? I really don't know which park. There are kind of a lot.

I'm not originally from Buffalo either but I sort of moved here before getting a job, so, yknow, like, I wouldn't know what backwards even was.

hodown writes at 08:51:57 06/09/06 - Comment #8709: Ha funny. I did just the opposite moved from Buffalo to Jersey!

libertad writes at 02:07:55 06/09/06 - Comment #8704: bienvenido chico,

I'll ask around for an apartment near the park. I know someone who lives there and has a rental property, but I doubt that it is available. She may know of someone though. Buffalo is a great place to live. I think you should really like the people here.

carolinian writes at 12:23:41 06/09/06 - Comment #8699: I've moved up here from NC in the last several months and I'm glad I did. Buffalo is a pretty cool place and you can get pretty good deals, at least compared to where I was living before (and even better deals if you can stomach living in Lackawanna).

I'm currently living on Richmond Ave, and I definitely recommend it. Driving down the street when everything's in bloom on a mild summer day is alone with living here.

Plus, stuff is within walking distance, and I find I'm using my car less and less.

kara writes at 09:32:21 06/08/06 - Comment #8692: welcome to the 'hood - the (e:strip)hood, that is.

You should have your girlfriend (chica?) join, too. We're a friendly bunch.

subboard.com is a good resource for apartments. Buffalo is a big college town, so the market for rentals will dry up once school starts.

joshua writes at 07:28:46 06/08/06 - Comment #8687: Welcome friend.

The best way to find an apartment on or around Elmwood is to check out Artvoice - they have a website and must have the classifieds up there. Otherwise, alot of people simply drive around the 'hood and go sign shopping.

Anyway, you'll love Elmwood.

zobar writes at 07:00:40 06/08/06 - Comment #8686: Almost-welcome to Buffalo. B'lo is famous for having fewer jobs than people, but I'm beginning to think that's turning around. I hired someone from North Carolina by way of Rochester, and just recently (e:carolinian) moved here directly from North Carolina as well.

I work for the local alternative newsweekly, and I recommend looking at our classifieds :::link::: if you want to live inside the city. If you'd prefer to live in the suburbs [ick] the real paper :::link::: has better listings.

- Z

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