<p>Son is looking to get an apartment next year. He says they are looking at a 4 bedroom at Fox Ridge. </p>
<p>Thoughts, opinions, advice? Thanks for any input!</p>
<p>In my opinion, Foxridge is one of the nicer apartment complexes at Tech…especially compared to places like University Terrace or Terrace View.</p>
<p>The 4 bedroom is a little bit pricier than all the other Foxridge apartments, but it has a huge living room and 2 kitchens (essentially it is two 2-bedroom apartments with the middle wall cut out). If price isn’t that big of a deal, and they want lots of space, it’s definitely worth it.</p>
<p>What I like most about Foxridge is how clean it is compared to other apartments. The carpet is always well taken care of and replaced when needed, so overall none of the apartments seem like they’re dirty. Additionally, heat, water, trash, etc are included in the rent, so only electricity and cable/internet need to be paid.</p>
<p>Foxridge is nice. I don’t really like the location (it’s further from campus/downtown than most of the rest of the apartments, there’s nothing “wrong” with the area like it being unsafe or anything) but if that isn’t important to you then it’s a good bet. There are plenty of bus stops around.</p>
<p>University Terrace is another one to look at. I don’t think they’re quite as nice but it’s closer to campus. The village is terrible. Don’t live there. Actually it’s not THAT bad but it’s stupidly expensive for the terrible service you’ll get, but the point remains that you shouldn’t live there.</p>
<p>The best apartments are independently owned; not a part of a big complex. You’ll get a nicer apartment at a better price with a better location if you go that route, although it is more stressful since you’ll have to wait until much later to really start looking. Most of the leases will end some time around May through August, although some will post upcoming vacancies earlier. I REALLY suggest you go that route if you can deal with the waiting. </p>
<p>Craigslist is actually a pretty good place to look for independent apartments, and there are other sites that people will post to as well. I just checked and there seem to be a lot of postings for openings in Fall '11, so that’s worth a shot.</p>
<p>Oh, and one last thing. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever sign a lease to live somewhere that isn’t completely built yet. Even if it’s supposed to be completed months before you’re supposed to move in, NEVER, EVER, EVER, do it. Unless you like the idea of having to live in a crappy replacement apartment for a month, then moving into the real place for a week, then being forced to live in a hotel for a month because the idiots forgot to get the buildings inspected. Anyway, don’t do that.</p>
<p>When I was at collegiate suites, there were fireworks going off at terrace view anytime between 12am and 3am so you might want to think twice about terrace view. </p>
<p>Story of my experiences that may help your decisions: </p>
<p>I’ve lived in Collegiate Suites from last fall through this spring and now I’m at the village. At the time I thought Collegiate Suites was bad mostly because it’s one of the “party complexes” but almost half of the apartments available in Blacksburg have regular parties. I went to parties my freshman year when I lived on campus but living off campus really sucks if there are parties above you. </p>
<p>Anyway my roommates including my brother wanted to move to the village phase 2 since more of their friends are there and since I have no one else to room with or would have to move anyway I signed a lease with them. I moved in the day before classes and was the last guy to sign the lease. Because of that I was given the smallest room when I thought they were all the same size. The smallest rooms are like 10x8 if that and the double bed takes up 50% of that space. The chair was on the desk (that’s how small) when I moved in and broken in two pieces. The bathrooms hadn’t been cleaned and there was trash from the previous residents everywhere (including my drawers and desk ect.) so it was obvious nothing was cleaned form the previous residents. </p>
<p>The first week (just after I turned in my room condition forms) my bed collapsed and I discovered the bed frame under the mattress was previously broken and only held together by a piece of wood. I’m still waiting to get that fixed and I currently sleep on a broken double bed and might just try and fix it myself. </p>
<p>A month or two ago I got frustrated when my bed collapsed on top of everything else wrong(rare occurrence) and hit the wall in my room and put an nice 6 inch hole in it where as at collegiate suites it wouldn’t have even dented the wall. Measuring the the thickness of the wall it’s barely a half inch thick explaining why I can always hear the loud music and sometimes entire conversations of the people in the room above me. At collegiate suites it was only loud bass that I heard(happens at a lot of apartments). </p>
<p>I really miss collegiate suites. My room was double the size and the bedrooms have their own bathrooms. I thought the noise at the collegiate suites was bad but it’s 3 times worse at the village phase 2. Not to mention parking is so much harder at the village compared with collegiate suites. There are weekly parties at the village nearby and they usually don’t settle down till 3am while at collegiate suites I’d have a party impacting my sleep maybe twice a month. </p>
<p>Also there is frequent car vandalism and towing at the village phase 2 as I’m always getting e-mails about it. The first week, someone lit the dumpster on fire and the police and fire dpt. had to come. </p>
<p>The nice part about the village compared to collegiate suites is the pool and small gym (of which I have yet to use) but that’s it. </p>
<p>Another plus is that you get comcast which is way cheaper and faster internet than the crappy NTC you get at collegiate suites. </p>
<p>So to summarize I’d recommend collegiate suites over the village if you are considering either of them. </p>
<p>If not then forget my story but I’d give these tips to any apartment.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Check who your cable/internet provider is before signing a lease, sometimes (like collegiate suites) there are exclusive contracts that give you only 1 choice of a provider and they are usually terrible since there is no competition.</p></li>
<li><p>Look at apartment rating sites, I use them all the time. </p></li>
<li><p>Take a tour, check to see how it’s built (are things broken, crap walls ect.?) </p></li>
<li><p>Get different opinions. </p></li>
<li><p>Read the entire lease and understand before signing because once it’s signed your stuck. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’d recommend collegiate suites over the village. The only bad things I heard about foxridge is the distance away from campus. I was really close to going to Windsor hills and finding a sublease at the village. Windsor hills is one of the quietest apartment complexes.</p>
<p>Just do some research and good luck!</p>
<p>One thing that is good about Foxridge is the Bus system. Instead of sharing buses with other apartment complexes, the Blacksburg Transit’s stops are pretty much all in Foxridge, with the exception of like 2 stops that never have that many people. I’ve had to take the bus after staying nights at UT and Terrace View…it wasn’t fun. The bus ride is longer, probably around 15-20 minutes depending on which stop you get on, but I’ve only experienced the bus being full once when I was trying to leave campus. I’ve never seen it full when trying to make it on campus.</p>
<p>On average, it takes me about 6-10 minutes to drive to campus from Foxridge…depending on red lights. And not including parking (but that’s a completely different story).</p>
<p>Seriously, don’t even bother getting a parking pass. Maybe it’s better now with the garage, but honestly if you’re off campus you don’t need one.</p>