I've always wanted to visit your town! I don't know the neighborhoods well enough to make recommendations, but this is how I found my place: I went on zillow.com and searched between $1300-2300/mo. $1300/mo places were awful, and $2300/mo was well above what I could afford on my tiny salary. I focused on the places that I really liked in this range without looking at the prices. When I found a place for rent that was a few hundred dollars a month above my budget, I went to see it in person dressed very nicely. I came prepared with documents: back account statement showing savings, endorsement letters with glowing recommendations from past landlords and employers, and proof of a good credit score.

I made sure the place was great in person and then I wrote a letter to the landlord. In the letter was my packet of documents with a handwritten letter complimenting them on their beautiful building. I let them know I was a single woman who had ties to the area, worked full time and volunteered in the community in my spare time. I had no noisy hobbies, and would respect all building rules. I also wrote that I had steady employment (I did) and would be willing to pre-pay several months of rent. Then I said that I could afford to pay ___ per month, and had the intention of being a model tenant and leaving the property better than when I found it. Finally, I thanked them for their time reading the letter and complimented them again on the excellent apartment.

The building manager told me there was no way the landlord would ever go for it and I was wasting my time. A few weeks later I got a call saying the landlord was touched by the letter and wouldn't mind giving up a little rent to have a single, respectful and quiet tenant taking care of his property. I moved in three days later.