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Renting an Apartment in Chaska
What You Should Know
Chaska is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States. The population
was 17,449 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carver County6. You can
find the web site of their local paper at chaskaherald.com
Geography
Location of Chaska, Minnesota
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.1
km� (14.3 mi�). 35.6 km� (13.7 mi�) of it is land and 1.6 km� (0.6 mi�) of it
(4.25%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 17,449 people, 6,104 households, and 4,486
families residing in the city. The population density was 490.7/km�
(1,270.7/mi�). There were 6,235 housing units at an average density of 175.3/km�
(454.1/mi�). The racial makeup of the city was 93.71% White, 1.02% African
American, 0.28% Native American, 1.67% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.18% from
other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race
were 5.81% of the population.
There were 6,104 households out of which 47.2% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 20.8% of all
households were made up of individuals and 5.9% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average
family size was 3.31.
In the city the population was spread out with 32.5% under the age of 18, 7.7%
from 18 to 24, 36.8% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 5.8% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there
were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $60,325, and the median income
for a family was $69,612. Males had a median income of $45,401 versus $32,312
for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,368. About 3.4% of
families and 4.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9%
of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Chaska: 1769 - 2004
Chaska is known to be a very socially conservative suburb.
History
Chaska's history reflects the influence of the Native American culture. The
first inhabitants are believed to be the Mound Builders, whose ancient
communities are marked by mounds in City Square. Later, the Dakota (commonly
known as the Sioux) were the primary nation in this region known as the Big
Woods. Although the Indian mounds located in Chaska City Square indicate the
immediate area was inhabited years before 1769, that's the year Chaska's
recorded history began.
In 1776, Jonathan Carver explored the lands along the Minnesota River and
chronicled his journeys. French Canadian fur traders traveled the waterways,
trading with the Dakota in the early 1800s. During this time, Jean Baptiste
Fairbault established a trading post in Chaska.
In 1851, the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux officially opened Little Rapids, as
Chaska was then known, to settlement. Soon after, speculators moved into the new
territory. Among the earliest was Thomas Andrew Holmes who, in August of 1851,
claimed a 20 acre clearing as the Chaska townsite.
The name "Chaska" is derived from a Dakota word often given as a name to the
first born male child. Records show that David L. Fuller purchased the "Shaska"
townsite from Holmes in 1852. In 1857, the townsite was platted by the Shaska
Company. In the same year, construction began on the original Carver County
Courthouse located where the post office and First National Bank now stand.
Chaska was incorporated as a village in 1871 and, by special legislative
charter, as a city in 1891.
An abundance of high quality clay led to the start of brick making in 1857. By
the 1880s, as a result of the clay resources, Chaska was a thriving brick
manufacturing center. Bricks were shipped by boat to Saint Paul and, although
the City grew as a result of steamboat trade, it was not until the Minneapolis
and St. Louis Railroad was built through town in 1873 that rapid expansion
began.
With the advent of the twentieth century came other industries, including the
processing of beet sugar and other agricultural products; flour making, butter
making, the canning of peas, corn, and tomatoes, and the curing of sauerkraut
and pickles.
Growth
Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Chaska's population averaged
about 2,000 and the nature of the City remained unchanged. The City retained its
small town image until the 1950s when the transition to a metropolitan community
began. The expansion of the seven county metropolitan area reached Chaska in the
1960s. With that expansion came the introduction of the Jonathan New Town design
concept in 1966. The Jonathan "new town" development within Chaska brought new
land, new jobs and new people to the community.
This period of transition and expansion continues today. Dozens of modern
industries have located to Chaska and continue to do so; residential
construction adds 300 to 400 new homes per year; commercial business continues
to expand offering a variety of retail and service opportunities to its
residents; redevelopment of commercial areas in the downtown began in the 1980s
and still continues. Although the community has seen much growth, development
regulations and sound planning have ensured Chaska's small sense of community
and the preservation of its rich heritage.
In early 2005, the city of Chaska annexed the remaining portion of Chaska
Township. Current plans for the area include a 600-acre residential "smart
growth"-styled development.
A new explosion in the population is expected after the construction of the U.S.
Route 212 freeway passing through the heart of Chaska, serving as a fast,
direct, link to the heart of the Twin Cities. This freeway will include a bus
rapid transit route serving Chaska with fast, efficient mass transit to the Twin
Cities.
Technology
For over five years, the City of Chaska has been successfully operating a fast,
reliable Internet service for businesses and government entities, Chaska.net.
This service is now available to Chaska's residents via Wi-Fi transmitters
located throughout the city. The success of this system has led other cities,
such as Minneapolis, Minnesota to look at Chaska as a model for future wireless
internet networks.
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.