<p>Where is the best place to live after your freshman year? I’ve heard things about the Retreat, the Woodlands, and many other places. Is it cheaper to rent a house or apartment that isn’t affiliated with the University? Thanks</p>
<p>The ‘best’ place?</p>
<p>That depends on what factors are important to you. You need to consider things such as:</p>
<p>amenities - are you interested in one of the ‘resort style’ complexes with a pool and clubhouse such as the Retreat, the Woodlands, the Lofts, East Edge or are you happy with a smaller complex - you also need to consider other amenities offered - laundry facilities, furnished or unfurnished, included dishwashers/microwaves…</p>
<p>price - the smaller complexes are generally more affordable than the resort style complexes, the older complexes are generally more affordable than the newly built complexes, and the more roommates you have the less it generally costs per person, but that all varies somewhat, you also need to consider if the cost of utilities is covered and ask about average utility costs</p>
<p>location - do you have a car? how close to campus do you prefer to be? if you don’t have a car do you want to be within walking distance or are you willing to live in a complex farther from campus (that is most likely more affordable) that has a shuttle available</p>
<p>Is it cheaper to rent a house or apartment that isn’t affiliated with the university? It depends. A 4 bedroom at The Woodlands is significantly cheaper than a 4 bedroom suite style dorm on campus, a 2 bedroom at East Edge is significantly more expensive than a traditional dorm on campus. There are many locations that are more affordable than the suite style dorms, but some of the newer locations are not, especially if you look at 1 or 2 bedroom units.</p>
<p>D lives in the Lofts at City Center and while she is moving to 2700 Capitol Park (I think that is the name) next year because she wants a 1bdrm, she does enjoy living at the Lofts…her only complain would be fire alarms and that next yr they will be pet free unless you already have a pet (and live there). We also looked at Crimson Student Living and they were quite nice as well.</p>
<p>I am thankful that my daughter found out last night that she will be living in her sorority castle! She will just have to learn to share a room since she is in PV now.
We really wanted her to stay on campus.
I was looking at East Edge as an option though.</p>