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SELECTING
HOUSES
There are literally hundreds of houses in the books. Take your time and select your houses based on your needs and desires. Plan on the entire morning to look through the books. It can be overwhelming at first, but again take your time and read the descriptions. Do not rely on the pictures because they do not accurately represent the house. Most times, the exterior may be a little "weather beaten", but the interior is beautiful. Select the houses according to the number of bedrooms, amenities, etc. One of the key factors is location. If you have school-aged children, then you must select a house near a bus route. The Housing Office has maps of the bus routes and can help you find a good area. Distance and route from work is also important. Most housing areas are near the Tangenziale (freeway), so travel to and from any military site is usually fairly easy. Traffic during the summer months in some areas is extremely heavy (e.g., Baia and Bacoli) and may pose a slight inconvenience, especially if you have a large automobile. Undoubtedly,
you will hear that some areas are "bad" and that you shouldn't live
there. Generally, most areas are
safe, but like any large city or densely populated area, there will be areas
that have a higher crime rate than others.
The Lago Patria and Licola areas have a high military population and
therefore many crime reports (reported to Navy Security) come from those areas.
It doesn't necessarily mean that the crime is higher, only that it is
more visible because it is reported through the military channels.
You
should talk with many people, both civilian and military if possible in order to
get information on the various areas. You
will hear many different stories, some good and some bad.
They will all help you make a better choice in selecting your house.
Try
to look at several houses in each area. The
major areas beginning at AFSOUTH and going north on the Tangenziale are: Pozzuoli, Monte Rusciello, Licola, Varcaturo, Lago Patria,
Pinetamare, and Castel Volturno. There
are other areas, but these are probably the most convenient in relation to work
and facilities. Pozzuoli and Licola
are centrally located to the Lago Patria Receiver Site and AFSOUTH/NSA Agnano.
In any case, the drive is no more than 20 minutes or so.
Again, you may have to consider bus routes for school-aged children. When
you select a house, take notes on the amenities and costs.
The "cap" (your monthly limit) is almost always negotiable,
even if the rental sheet says it is not.
You may be able to negotiate the price down by 200,000 Lire.
The Housing Office and Security both have certain requirements for houses. For example, the house must have either bars on the windows or an alarm system. Either is acceptable from a regulation standpoint, but personal preference is also a factor. Would you feel safer with an alarm system or with bars on the windows? Although
the data sheets list rental properties as "house, apartment, duplex",
the actual structure may not appear exactly as described.
For example, most Americans think of "apartments" as small
units all located in a large complex.
An Italian "apartment" may actually be the size of a small
American house and is classified as an apartment only because someone lives on
the ground floor or in the basement. |
