I’m an incoming transfer student and I want to know the best apartment complexes in Davis. Location and safety is key! Any suggestions? Thanks in advance
First off, what is your budget range? How close to campus do you want to live?
I’ve lived at Anderson Place, Sharps and Flats, and currently Avalon. All are a few miles away from campus and within a 5-10 minute distance from the nearest bus stops. There used to be a bus stop right outside my complex at Anderson Place, but it’s no longer there since the F Unitrans line changed their routes. While I’ve had good experiences with each, the only gripes I had about Anderson Place was that the bathtub drain clogged easily and there were systematic water shutdowns every now and then. Oh, and the constant construction/remodeling work. Not sure if they still do that, but that was annoying when I lived there. As for Sharps and Flats, my gripe was that the walls were way too thin. Other than that, it wasn’t too bad. Avalon’s also decent, but because my housemates and I took over a previous tenant’s lease, we’ve faced some issues upon move-in, like the kitchen and bathroom being dirty and no hot water in the kitchen. To this day, the bathtub in my bathroom still has some stain spots because the previous tenants never cleaned it properly, and no amount of bathtub cleaning agent I’ve bought is able to clean them off. I don’t know what the other units are like, but ours have ants/spider problems. Other than that, if you don’t like sharing walls with your neighbors, and you’re willing to spend a couple extra, Avalon or Brisa Villas (they’re managed by Sorrento Apartment management) is a good option, though because the apartments are popular, new leasing for them goes rather quickly. And I’ve felt safe at each of these complexes.
@sweetlacecharm Thanks so much for this insight! My price range is from approx. 600-750. I’d prefer to live within two miles of campus. I like the idea of having amenities like a fitness center but I realize I can’t have it all. I was looking into The Colleges at La Rue. I’m just worried I won’t get a spot in time!
I lived at Arlington Farm and am currently living at Aspen Village, both in west Davis. Arlington was a nice complex, but it was also pretty loud; my neighbors threw loud parties just about every weekend, even during midterms and finals. Me and my roommates are the types that like quiet, so we couldn’t see ourselves living there another year. If you don’t mind noise, it’s not a bad complex. And on the plus side, there are pretty much always parties to go to if you’re into that. BUT, go through the actual apartment complex to get a lease. There are student housing leases available, but don’t do it! It’s a lot more expensive to go through student housing than it is to go through the actual complex. This goes for any complex that offers student housing agreements. I’m not sure on current pricing, and we went through student housing (bad decision on our part) so I’m not sure what it was in the past.
Aspen Village is really nice. It’s really quiet; we can barely hear our neighbors, and we have two on separate sides plus upstairs neighbors. I believe it’s 1400 for a downstairs 2 bedroom this coming leasing season, and I’m not sure about 3 bedrooms. I don’t know if there are any still open though?
In both cases it’s around a 15 minute bike ride to campus, give or take a few minutes depending on traffic and how fast you’re going. It’s about 15 minutes by bus as well. Both allow cats if that’s a concern. For me I don’t mind being farther from campus and am more concerned with price and noise level, but it depends on your priorities. I know plenty of people who freak out when they hear I live in west Davis because it’s a bit farther from campus than other areas of town, but I’ve never had issues with it.
My older son starting 3rd year at UCD opted to live in North Davis at Pepperwood. Found the convenience of 2 bus lines nearby, the Market place shopping center with grocery store and restaurants convenient and only 0.8 miles from campus. He also found the apartment manager very accomodating and friendly. He has a few friends living at Fountain Circle next door and are also happy with their living situation. My son also likes quiet and not into the party scene, so he found this area of Davis the best choice for him. Again like @PhantomVirgo stated above, it does depend upon your priorities. A few of my son’s friends found Arlington Farm noisy and an inconvenient distance from campus along with West Village which was too isolated. Good Luck with your search.
@PhantomVirgo @Gumbymom Thank you! I’m worried about being able to find a roommate if I don’t go through the school. I know Davis has some kind of roommate matching system. Do you have any insight on that? Or is it really not a worry?
I’m not much a partier myself but I do enjoy the occasional party. I don’t really know anyone in Davis (I’m from Southern California), so it is key that I’m in an apartment complex with a good social environment. I’d like to find a place that has a balance between the social and the sound, if that’s possible!
Here are some links for roommates:
http://ucdavis.uloop.com/housing/index.php/roommates
https://localwiki.org/davis/Roommates_Wanted
You might want to try the transfer housing through UCD instead of going out on your own until you can make some friends. Last year they had transfers at the Colleges and at Arlington Farm to name a few places.
http://housing.ucdavis.edu/housing/sha/
@avb1013 : the roommate matching program is only if you go through the school. If you don’t go through the school, you have to find your roommate through channels like the links Gumbymom listed, or through the Housing Facebook page. I find the Housing page on Facebook much more reliable and convenient than Uloop or DavisWiki because more people use it and there’s listings posted frequently throughout the day. Meanwhile, not a lot of people use Uloop or DavisWiki. Also, I’ve noticed that people are slow to respond to their emails if you contact them about their housing listing on Uloop or DavisWiki, whereas on Facebook they’re quick to respond back since it’s a popular social media site. The only downside about the Housing page on Facebook is that you have to have a UC Davis email address in order to join the group, since the page is restricted to UC Davis students with a UC Davis email only.
My first year of transferring, I moved into my first apartment with my sister and her former dormitory suite mates, so I didn’t have to worry about housing until the next year when we lived separately.
Thanks again @sweetlacecharm and @Gumbymom. I haven’t done my SIR yet. I’m pretty sure I’m going to Davis but I’m also in between about going there or UCSD. Would it be okay to wait one more week before I do my SIR to Davis? Or is it best to make my mind up now?
I waited until after I received status of all my admissions (I applied to UCD, UCI, UCB, and UCSB–got rejected to all except Davis) before I SIR’d to Davis. Though because my UCI application status notification came late and caused me to SIR late, I missed my chance of getting a spot in the dorms since the year I transferred was the last year they offered dormitory housing for transfer students.