• University Housing for Graduate Students
  • The Graduate Student Loan Closet
• Neighborhoods Convenient For Rice Students
• Neighborhoods That Require Extended Commute To Campus

Real estate ads for apartments can be found in the Houston Chronicle, Houston Press, and The Greensheet. The Student Center maintains an online Off-campus Housing Guide which is worth checking out.

Our Consumer Guide has great feedback and honest comments on apartment complexes grad students have lived in and realtors and apartment locaters. The rule of thumb is that if a place looks dangerous in the light of day, it only gets worse at night. Ask other grads if you are unsure about a location. You will have enough to worry about without wondering if your possessions or your person will be safe.

University Housing for Graduate Students

Rice Graduate Apartments (RGA)

The Rice Graduate Apartments is a garden-style community located just north of campus in the Southhampton residential neighborhood, which is conveniently dotted with museums, boutique shopping, grocery stores, pharmacies, and the Texas Medical Center--all within a one and one-half mile radius. The Apartments are run by Rice Housing and Dining. The apartments are rented furnished. Other apartment amenities include electric central heating and air conditioning, direct connection to the Rice computer network, built-in dining/study area, refrigerator, garbage disposal, and dishwasher. Floor plans include a comfortable balance between community and private areas, sound proofing materials to maintain a quiet study environment, separate apartment electric meters, and individual water heaters. Many students also praise the helpful community of residents at the RGA. The RGA do not include married or family housing units.

Rice Village Apartments (Construction to end Feb 2009)

Construction progress

The Rice Village Apartments will be located one block west of Rice University on Shakespeare Street, in between Morningside and Kirby Drives. The four-story residential building, totaling 119,000-square feet, will have 238 beds in 137 units for Rice graduate students and their families. Once completed, this project will enable the university to provide affordable, family-friendly housing in close proximity to campus for its graduate student population.

The Graduate Student Loan Closet

http://python.rice.edu/~rfc/

The Faculty Women’s Club of Rice University welcomes you to Houston! We want to help you get settled by offering you the use of household items from our LOAN CLOSET, a volunteer lending service.

For a $25 registration fee as a first year borrower, you may borrow items from the inventory. Renewable annual fees are $5 less each year. Registration gives you the privilege of selecting available goods any time during the year. Items borrowed must be returned to the closet when you no longer need them or when you leave Rice. We ask borrowers to assist whenever possible during the year by donating a few hours to help maintain and straighten the inventory and/or to help new students choose items to borrow.

Bedding, dishes, cutlery, cookware, bookcases, toasters, irons, lamps, coffeemakers, etc . are available. Some furniture items require an additional fee. Faculty, staff, alumni, friends, and departing students donate items, which enable us to have enough goods to continue helping Rice graduate students.

The LOAN CLOSET is located at the RICE GRADUATE APARTMENTS, Room 149, 1515 Bissonnet . Hours of opening are posted on the website.

Neighborhoods Convenient For Rice Students

Binz

Binz lies between Hermann Park and Downtown, bounded on the east by Almeda and on the west by South Main. The commute to school is short, but some grad students have complained that the crime rate is high.

Bissonnet-Southhampton

Bissonnet-Southhampton lies between the north edge of campus and the Southwest Freeway. There are a few small apartment complexes here plus a fair number of duplexes and garage apartments. One bedroom apartments start around $550/month and can be as high as $900/month, as this area is close to campus.

The Medical Center

The Medical Center lies immediately east, southeast, and south of Rice. Many older apartments can be found to the south. Sometimes classified ads tend to abuse the term “Medical Center” by including apartments in areas as far away as Greenway or Montrose. This area can be expensive.

Montrose

Montrose is a colorful neighborhood with a wonderfully eclectic population. Nightlife, restaurants, and museums abound. The neighborhood begins one mile north of campus and is roughly bordered by Brazos on the east, SW Fwy on the south, Greenbriar on the west, and Allen Parkway on the north. The University of St. Thomas is in the heart of Montrose (W Alabama and Montrose). Montrose is one of the first Houston “suburbs.” There are some cool apartments and houses to be found, but quality and cost vary. In Montrose, it is customary to advertise a vacancy by merely placing a sign on your front lawn; apartments are seldom advertised in the paper in this area. It pays to drive around and collect the phone numbers of interesting places. Efficiencies and one-bedroom apartments start at $500-$700/month, two-bedrooms around $800 or more.

The Museum District

The Museum District is the small neighborhood right around the Museum of Fine Arts, near Montrose and Bissonnet. Rents in this area are usually high, but there are a couple of inexpensive apartment buildings and some garage apartments. As in the Montrose neighborhood, advertising often consists of sign postings on lawns.

West University-Southside Place

West University-Southside Place is the upscale neighborhood west of campus in which small houses are rapidly being torn down and replaced with nouveau riche tract mansions. There are few apartment complexes, and most houses are out of the student price range. Your best bet is to look for a garage apartment if you’re renting alone, or get a group together and find a house. Don’t expect to find such a place for under $1000.

Neighborhoods That Require Extended Commute To Campus

The Astrodome/Reliant Park

The Astrodome/Reliant Park area has many condos, townhouses, and apartment complexes east and west of the Astrodome. Some are more run-down than others are--and some are extremely pricey. Outside of the Kirby/Main area, graduate students have reported in the past that street life can get a bit unpalatable (South Main). Again, be sure to get a feel for what a neighborhood is like both during the day and at night. Apartments in the South Main area (south of Old Spanish Trail) have the reputation for being dangerous, although there are inviting blocks dotted with single-family houses in this area. Additionally, traffic jams occur before and after a well-attended event at the Reliant Park Stadium. If you do find a place here, be sure to map out an escape route to avoid an Astrojam.

Bellaire

Bellaire is a nice community four miles west of campus on the far side of West U and is typically middle class. Safe and pleasant, the area is known for its comfortable homes. But beware: as in West U, many homeowners are selling their houses to yuppies who raze the structures to build tract mansions; you might find yourself booted out when your lease expires.

The Galleria

The Galleria is the area near the mall of the same name, around the intersection
of West Loop and Westheimer, and is littered with many upscale and expensive places. To live in this area, you’d better love rush-hour traffic.

Greenway

Greenway is the located around the Greenway Plaza, near the intersection of SW Freeway and Buffalo Speedway. There are some affordable large complexes in this part of town, but it is generally plagued by heavy traffic during rush hour.

The Heights

The Heights is an older neighborhood inside the loop, northwest of Downtown
and north of Montrose. There are many restored wooden frame houses. The neighborhood is mostly blue-collar with an increasingly large arty population. Its southern edge is Memorial Drive, about four miles north of campus. This is a pleasant, little neighborhood with relatively low rents for small houses and apartments.
Houses with one bedroom start at approximately $900 per month.

River Oaks

River Oaks is Houston’s home of the rich and famous and lies west of Montrose,
north of Greenway, and east of the Galleria. There are some very pricey apartments available around the fringes.

Westbury, Braeswood, and Meyerland

Westbury, Braeswood, and Meyerland lie along Braes Bayou, inside the southwest corner of the loop, and extend southwesterly beyond the loop. It’s a comfortable middle to upper-middle class neighborhood with many Rice faculty in the area. Some affordable houses can be found.