Featured Apartment:
Oklahoma - 1 bedroom - 1 bath - spacious, clean & sunny unit! - Brick Building - Hardwood Floors - Modern Kitchen - Spacious Living Room - Large Bedroom w/ Double Sliding Door Closet - Updated Bathroom - Off Street Parking - access to commuter rail, bus, shops & restaurants, first and last months rent (NO SECURITY DEPOSIT) View More Listings -->
Renting an Apartment in Edmond
What You Should Know
Edmond is a rapidly growing suburban city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma in the
central part of the state. It is the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma
and is part of the Greater Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
The city limits are located on the northern border of Oklahoma City. Two major
highways connect Edmond to downtown Oklahoma City; The Broadway Extension
(US-77), which runs though the center of the city, and I-35, which runs along
the eastern side. As of July 2005, the city had 74,881 residents.
Geography
Location of Edmond, Oklahoma
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 227.8
km˛ (87.9 mi˛). 220.5 km˛ (85.1 mi˛) of it is land and 7.3 km˛ (2.8 mi˛) of it
(3.19%) is water.
Awards/image
* "Relocate America" recently named it America's 3rd best city to live in.
* "Universal Publications of New York" recently named it "America's best small
town".
* The city is known for taking great pride in its "Edmond, America" image.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 68,315 people, 25,256 households, and
18,588 families residing in the city. The population density was 309.8/km˛
(802.4/mi˛). There were 26,380 housing units at an average density of 119.6/km˛
(309.9/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was 86.58% White, 4.04% African
American, 2.27% Native American, 3.26% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from
other races, and 2.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race
were 2.75% of the population.
There were 25,256 households out of which 39.3% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 61.9% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 20.6% of all
households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average
family size was 3.08.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 11.3%
from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there
were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $54,556, and the median income
for a family was $65,230. Males had a median income of $46,833 versus $28,231
for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,517. About 4.4% of
families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2%
of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
Famous citizens
Edmond is the hometown of Shannon Miller, who won seven medals in the 1992 and
1996 Summer Olympics for the United States in women's gymnastics.
Pro wrestling superstar Charlie Haas graduated from Edmond Memorial High School
in 1991.
Pro BMX rider, Mat Hoffman, was born and raised in Edmond and has broken many
world records on Edmond soil including the highest BMX vertical jump.
Edmond is also home of music trio B-Flavor, J-Rock, and Crazy-J, known for such
hits as "Time Bomb" and "Destiny."
Several stars of the PGA professional golf call Edmond home, as does the
well-known Oak Tree Golf Club. Among Edmond's top golfers are Bob Tway, Scott
Verplank, David Edwards and Seniors Golf legend Dr. Gil Morgan.
Shameless Pollock "Snake" has resided there since 2004
Former FEMA Director and Bush appointee Michael Brown worked as an intern in the
city's Emergency Management Department while receiving a B.A. in public
administration/political science from Central State University (now the
University of Central Oklahoma), in Edmond.
Edmond has spawned many in the music industry including Mike Kennerty and Chris
Gaylor of the pop rock group The All-American Rejects, pop rock producer, Tom
Mitchell, and music industry artist/illustrator, Jason McManus and one-hit
wonder Mikaila.
Edmond is also home to Christian author and LifeChurch.tv pastor, Craig
Groeschel.
History
Being the highest point along the Santa Fe rail line in Oklahoma Territory,
Edmond was originally named "Summit" and was a watering and sanding point for
the railroad in the 1880s. The town was given its current name (after an
engineer on the railroad) by the Santa Fe railroad headquarters in Topeka after
the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889. Though most of the remnants of the old railroad
infrastructure are gone, the Santa Fe, now BNSF, line still runs through the
same course.
Notable Events
Edmond was the site of the post office massacre on August 20, 1986, in which
fourteen people were killed and six wounded by Patrick Sherrill, an ex- postman
who then committed suicide. This event was the second in a string of postal
employee murder-suicides throughout the U.S. that led to the term "going
postal". A memorial to the victims of that tragic event currently stands outside
of the U.S. Post Office in downtown Edmond.
Controversy erupted in 1996 when MetroChurch, a non-denominational church in
east Edmond, began planning for the erection of a 163 foot cross adjacent to
Interstate 35, the main thoroughfare of the town. The story attracted both local
and national press coverage. City zoning disputes were eventually resolved and
the structure was completed in 1998. In 2001, Metro Church merged with and
became LifeChurch.tv.
The city was also the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case in which a Christian
cross was depicted on the city seal, raising issues concerning the Establishment
Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In May of 1996, the Supreme Court let stand a
Federal Appeals Court ruling ordering the city to remove the cross from the
seal. A replacement icon has yet to be agreed upon, resulting in the curiously
vacant spot on the city's seal.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.