Submitted by Infinite_Charting t3_10iesjm in newhaven
Looking into moving to New Haven and Dwight Garden Apartments came up, but not many reviews are available.
Has anyone lived there before and what's your experience been/what have you heard? How safe is the area and is it possible to walk to Yale New Haven Hospital from there safely? Would love any and all thoughts!
And when the long-delayed Bike track is open for Westville-Edgewood-Dwight to Downtown, the neighborhood will be even more in demand
That's really helpful, thank you!! I'll probably have a car since I'll be taking call at all the hospitals, but definitely prefer walking if possible so that's great to hear.
Great to hear! How's the bike situation in general in the city? Would love to bike more, but always nervous about getting run over lol
No problem! Dwight is a historically Black neighborhood with a lot of history and tons of charm. I can't say enough good things about it, but I'm definitely biased.
I would look elsewhere. Dwight is a phenomenal neighborhood, Dwight Gardens… look elsewhere.
I also very strongly recommend avoiding the Novella. It’s loud, thin walls, and the units are furnished with cheap cabinets and fixtures. Think ikea cardboard box and that’s how they built that place.
If that’s not enough, the manager (if it’s the same guy that managed it when I lived there, probably is) is a habitual liar and may be the most disorganized person I’ve done business with.
If not Dwight, look into Edgewood. Fair Haven gets a rep, but that was my favorite neighborhood that I lived in tbh. Remember that crime victimhood is way more correlated to who you hang with than where you live. Random crime is rare, except for in East Rock aka the city’s “shopping mall.” Your car will be broken into. You might get mugged. People know naive Yale students and people “with money” live there, so that’s where criminals go “shopping” for the biggest likely score.
Final note, avoid the big rental companies if you can. Mandy, farnam, paris and a couple other brands dominate the market but they’re all owned by the same person. They’re all terrible. Scour Facebook marketplace and find a ma and pop landlord.
Oh, you’ll hear a lot about crime in New Haven. It’s overstated.
The small city + dense city limits skews rankings to make the city appear worse than it is.
There’s also a fair amount of racism involved in those conversations and much of it perpetuated by Yale. For years, they included a map of the city in their orientation materials with “suggested areas to live”. Ofc they labeled mostly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods as dangerous even when crime stats didn’t correlate.
Their other motivation was to buy up a lot of property in the city and lease it out at higher than market rates. They’ve largely been successful.
Hard pass. It is a formerly failed co-op that was rehabbed by the lowest bidder. I lived on Dwight street for a few years for grad school and property crimes were rampant, stolen cars, etc. and the like. If you are working at the hospital, there are nice places closer to the hospital. You are in the middle of a high crime area.
It might be a little sketchy to walk in that area at night if you don't have a car. Closer to main downtown, science hill and east rock are safer and where most grad students etc live
I don't know about the building itself, but I live a block and a half away and the neighborhood is totally fine.
Slave_IV t1_j5f7i6n wrote
Kensington Street has a bad reputation but it's way better than it used to be. Maybe avoid it late at night.
I love Dwight, you can walk to stop and shop and the hospital and pretty much wherever else. If you don't want to have a car but need access to Yale things/Downtown things, it's a hard neighborhood to beat in my opinion.