Chico Apartment Renter's Guide
Chico Apartment Renter's Guide
Overview
Welcome to Chico! Between the city's cultural activities and the beautiful surrounding area, you're going to have plenty to do. Let's get started on finding you an apartment.
Let's start with nature and other points of interest
Welcome to Chico! Between the city's cultural activities and the beautiful surrounding area, you're going to have plenty to do. Let's get started on finding you an apartment.
What to Expect When You're Expecting Chico
Let's start with nature and other points of interest. Chico is home to Bidwell Park, one of the largest publicly owned parks in the country! Located in the beautiful and historic Mansion District, Bidwell Park is a great place for spending some of the numerous warm, clear days you'll have in your new city. Additionally, Chico is home to a free city museum, a small art museum and, perhaps most interestingly, a yo-yo museum.
Neighborhoods
Downtown and the East Side
If you want to enjoy the small town feeling of Chico proper, consider looking for apartments in the downtown area, as well as to the east. The downtown has several different sizes of apartments and houses available.
Bidwell Park and the Mansion District are located on the east side, so the houses here will be situated on tree-lined streets.
Barber and Chapmantown
Barber and Chapmantown are located south of the city. Recent renovations have characteristically changed the vibe of the neighborhoods. These up-and-coming neighborhoods may just have a great deal for you!
New Urbanist Living
In addition to its established neighborhoods, Chico also has a number of newly developing neighborhoods designed based on the requirements of New Urbanism. These semi-suburban neighborhoods include mixed use real estate with commercial buildings, apartments and town houses all within walking distance to the development's center.
Rental Tips
Late August and early September sees a run on decent apartments. If you have to relocate to Chico around this time, be prepared to fight for your dream apartment. You can, however, take advantage of flexible lease options.
Most apartments in Chico can be found without the assistance of a real estate agent, or through online apartment search websites (hint hint, nudge nudge). With larger developments such as Doe Mill, you'll have to go through management companies to secure your apartment, which means a higher fee and more rigorous application process. Deposits for Chico apartments generally cost one month's rent.
Getting Around
Chico is an incredibly walkable and bikable city. The city of Chico not only hosts large bicycle events, but has miles and miles of off-street bike paths and designated bike lanes, including several around downtown. Unless you need to drive out to the Chico Mall, you'll have no real use for a car.
However, if you'll be commuting to nearby towns via car, good luck to you. Chico is located some distance from Interstate 5, and must be reached via the winding, dark State Route 99, where traffic can sometimes be unreasonable.
Butte Regional Transit (adorably called the B-Line) provides bus service around Butte County out of downtown Chico. True to Chico's bike-friendly reputation, the B-Line provides racks for transporting your bike. Chico is also home to an Amtrak station located on the Coast Starlight route, that offers service south into San Francisco and north into Redding.
And with that we'll say welcome to Chico! You'll be sure to find an apartment that's right for you.