<p>Well it’s definitely a much cleaner and safer area than southside. It’s close to safeway and the gourmet ghetto. It’s convenient to live right next to the university if you have to be on campus frequently (lots of classes,student clubs, library, friends). But if you just have a few lectures and maybe a lab and never stay on campus, then IMO it is better to live away from the campus area. Besides, it took me 30 min by bus to get to high school, so for college, of course I’ll endure a short commute.
I personally haven’t rented from University Park Apartments, but if price is a concern, they seem a bit overpriced. You could try finding a good property management company (b/c there are really bad ones too) and looking at their listings, because landlords could be a bit unpredictable. But be sure to do some good research (read reviews online, etc.) on the property management company though.
But look around north berkeley, b/c south of berkeley (south of shattuck which I believe 88888888 was referring to) is pretty sketchy.</p>