pozorvlak: Floreat gens togata

pozorvlak (

pozorvlak) wrote,
@ 2008-05-03 20:33:00

Entry tags:

lazyweb, oxford, politics, school

Floreat gens togata
I see that Londoners have chosen the devil they don't know in place of the devil they do. I shall observe my fellow KS's future performance with considerable interest, and at a distance of several hundred miles.

In other news, my flatmates are looking to move to Oxford in the next few months (Nicola's starting an MSc) - can anyone offer some hints on Oxford flathunting? I was a wuss, and stayed in college accommodation for all four years, so can't be too much use.

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	metamoof 2008-05-03 08:10 pm UTC (link)
	And there was me thinking from the title that you were going down to the old Alma Mater. ...Which incidentally, I am doing next week for the School Play. Scarily enough, it's been 10 years! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	pozorvlak 2008-05-03 08:24 pm UTC (link)
	Terrifying, isn't it? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	metamoof 2008-05-03 08:43 pm UTC (link)
	I'm not sure which is scarier - that it's 10 years since we left school, or that this year's leavers are children of the 90's. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	nou 2008-05-03 08:29 pm UTC (link)
	My Oxford info is all a bit out of date. I liked living in Marston - it's perhaps not an obvious area to look at, but you've got a very nice walk/cycle into the science area from there, and there's even a Cycle Path Flood Monitor to help you figure out if you need to get the bus instead. (Reply to this)

figg
2008-05-03 09:41 pm UTC (link)

(I added you from random prog articles, but oddly enough I can be of some help here)

I found plenty of places using gumtree in the three different places I lived last year - but those were all single rooms.

There is always room around wood farm/masons road because the entire area is a shithole. Avoid it like the plague, same goes for temple crowley.

Marston is a nice area, but walking home uphill gets tiresome quickly. Relatively reasonable.

Jericho is a fantastic place to live, wonderful and scenic, but woefully serviced by amenities and buses. If you can get somewhere near the canal you will never want to leave. V. Expensive.

St Clements is a nice place, but expensive ish, but excellent access to stores and stuff. Same goes for the north end of Cowley road.

The Top of headington hill is relatively cheap and well serviced, but the nightlife is much futher into town, but you have easy access to the london buses. It is also the only place with a 24 hour shop within walking distance.

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	necaris 2008-05-04 08:30 am UTC (link)
	Good summary! I'd add that places to the west, past the train station (i.e. Botley Rd), are reasonably well-connected transport-wise and deceptively close to the centre. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	half_of_monty 2008-05-04 12:48 pm UTC (link)
	Oh yes, and Botley Road may now be offering lower rents, after last year's floods! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	totherme 2008-05-03 09:47 pm UTC (link)
	I made use of the daily info once or twice... (Reply to this)(Thread)

susannahf
2008-05-04 08:09 am UTC (link)

seconded.
Before I got a room in Wellington Square (they offer them less than a month before moving date), I used Daily Info, and found some promising places. I would suggest putting a free ad in "Rooms wanted" (I got quite a few responses), and going through "Rooms offered" regularly. However, it's worth noting that Daily Info rooms tend to be for immediate, or near-immediate takeup.
Also, email the prospective MCR and ask them to put a request on the list. I know Keble MCR will do this, and I think people do find rooms/flatmates this way.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	necaris 2008-05-04 08:30 am UTC (link)
	Thirded -- I've found Daily Info great for that. I also agree that they tend to be fairly short notice but you can find a lot of appealing adverts that have some time left before they need to be filled, and you can try to get to know the housemates a bit (which IMO is pretty necessary). (Reply to this)(Parent)

necaris
2008-05-04 08:35 am UTC (link)

Are they acquainted with Oxford as a town, and know whereabouts they'd like to live? I assume you'll be able to give them guidelines enough to steer them away from Temple Cowley and suchlike (as

figg points out)...

I also think it'd be pretty useful just getting the word out :-) Last I knew, a couple of acquaintances of mine were looking for prospective flatmates, I'll check up with them if you'd like...

(Reply to this)

half_of_monty
2008-05-04 12:47 pm UTC (link)

dailyinfo is great. However it offers flats about a month before the leases start, directly from landlords. We have been incredibly lucky and got marvellous landlords through it. If your friends want a more predictably managed route with an agency, there is finders keepers (the best website, useful to get your eye in, annoying people to deal with), homefinders (very annoyingly designed website bringing together details from lots of agencies), North Oxford property services (for Jerico and Summertown).

Marston is a lovely place to live (only a very small part, between Marston and Headington, is up a hill - most of it isn't!) especially if you're a cyclist (the off-road route into town is about 1/3 the length of the road route). Ooh and we have a new councellor for our ward who has pledge to improve the quality of the paths.

Another nice area that hasn't been mentioned much above is off Iffley Road - near to the shops and bright lights of Cowley Road, but much quieter and nicer. Charles Street sort of area, I mean.

However, if your friends are doing an MSc, won't they be offered college accomadation? I'd strongly advise them to take it. They might think it's overpriced, coming from Glasgow, but a look at the private market will probably show them it isn't - and even if you are paying slightly more than you could for something a long way from the centre, you're getting a big advantage in terms of meeting people and generally feeling involved in the Oxford thing. Even if it's only the one of them who'll be MSc-ing, most colleges offer couple accomadation for couples where only one half is with the university. I suppose it's too late now to apply for a college that's particularly good for that, though.

Oh, the other thing then is university couple accomadation. Castle Mill and Summertown house are both lovely (other places may be too, I don't know them all). They also charge significantly below market rates. There's along waiting list so your friends might have left it too late, but they should join the waiting list NOW! Private landlords also advertise just through the accomadation office, so that would be worth looking at too.

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