Davis Housing

[hoodle]

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I've read this on apartmentratings and daviswiki both. It sounds like there's a low-income trailer park behind the complex. I'm not sure what to make of it... how much a nice complex inherently garders complaints if it's not perfect? HOw much is people egging each other on? or whether it's really true.

We're checking it out on Friday morning, so I'll let you know what it seems like on the ground! We're also tlaking to a guy about subletting his apartment, so can ask a resident more directly.

 

[VAgirl]

I've read this on apartmentratings and daviswiki both. It sounds like there's a low-income trailer park behind the complex. I'm not sure what to make of it... how much a nice complex inherently garders complaints if it's not perfect? HOw much is people egging each other on? or whether it's really true.

We're checking it out on Friday morning, so I'll let you know what it seems like on the ground! We're also tlaking to a guy about subletting his apartment, so can ask a resident more directly.

Awesome. First hand is always better. Mostly, this is coming from my mom, who keeps saying, "be careful where you live, I read reviews about one places having a really high crime rate!!!" But the person who pointed out that Davis is a small, relatively low-crime area to begin with has a good point. 🙂


BTW...am I the only one who took the complaint someone had on apartmentratings.com for Willows (about how you shouldn't live there because the "old people" complain about any little noise and it sucks) as a positive? I was thinking, "nice, it'll be a quiet place to live!" Either I'm old or just boring. Either way, I've learned to take reviews with a GIANT grain of salt. 🙂

 

[cock a too]

For the past four years I've been telling myself that if I get in to vet school, I will reward myself by restoring my old Chevy (my first car.) I am finally in, but car restoration doesn't really seem to line up with Davis apartment life 😡 Do any of you know of apartments that have private garages?

 

[iglover]

i am currently a first year ucd vet student living in tanglewood and i love it! if you have any questions/concerns about tanglewood (or anything with school) feel free to pm me

 

[VAgirl]

i am currently a first year ucd vet student living in tanglewood and i love it! if you have any questions/concerns about tanglewood (or anything with school) feel free to pm me

Can you bike to school? Or is it too far? How's the location? How's South Davis in general? Sorry, not by PM, but they're more general questions that others might want the answers to, also. 🙂

 

[iglover]

Yes you can bike to school, it takes about 25 minutes (at a slow pace!!)
I love the location; there is a safeway, riteaid, bofa, a couple really great restaurants, a coffee shop that is great for studying, a nail salon.... (all within a couple minutes of walking...in fact my roommate and i walk down to the complex all of the time to get groceries or to grab a bite to eat! ) we are also right down the street from the 80 (which is what you will take if you drive to school- takes about 5-7 minutes) and across the street from a gas station...Tanglewood is also within walking distance to downtown, and on those random nights where you aren't able to drive home 😛 it is nice to be able to walk back in around 15 minutes. We also have a great pool that I will definitely be taking advantage of hopefully very soon and our spa is hot and clean (which is really nice to use after a stressful day!). I also really like that the grounds are really pretty and well taken care of, and whenever we have had a problem with the apartment they have been here within a couple of days to fix it! Oh and there are always fresh otis spunkmier cookies and coffee/tea in the office, which is really nice to go and steal a treat every once and a while when we are studying We are definitely staying here for at least another year! feel free to ask more questions!

 

[agophi]

I would be more than happy to help anyone out with suggestions for housing in Davis. I've been here since 2000 (BS, MS, and work) and moved every year living in east, west, north, and central Davis. Lucky for me I am staying put for the next 4 years since I have really cheap rent and live a block from campus.

 

[VAgirl]

It looks like we're going with the Willows, too! Thanks to everyone who helped. 🙂 We're now about to start the negotiation with the current residents (who we'll sublet from for August). Hopefully that goes smoothly. I'm sure it will.

Sounds like we're gonna have a little SDN commune over at the Willows.😉

 

[geckogirl]

Hey all! I may be moving into the Willows as well. Just checked it out today and it looks gorgeous! Also looked at Portage Bay and Eastlake. Does anyone have any opinion of these (good and bad) that they'd like to share to help me make my decision??

 

[ShelterGirl]

Yay!!! See you there, VA Girl!

I liked Portage Bay, I really did. The main reason why I didn't go there is that they didn't have anything I could lease right then and there - I would have had to get on a wait list. The interiors of the units I saw were kind of old, too. I didn't take a look at Eastlake.

 

[hoodle]

I posted some pictures from our apartment-hunting trip this weekend. They're at picasaweb.google.com/nanelle and are organized by apartment name! The coverage of various places is pretty hit or miss 😀 but I thought it might be helpful for anyone who couldn't get out there. We're subletting at the Willows for the summer with option to renew. I also really liked Tanglewood, though it was a bit more pricey, and Eastlake and Portage Bay were tied for 3rd!

 

[nyanko]

Yay for everyone making decisions! So when are y'all moving? It must be so exciting!

 

[VAgirl]

Yay for everyone making decisions! So when are y'all moving? It must be so exciting!

Our sublet starts Aug 1, but I'm not sure when we'll actually arrive. We need to drive cross country, and might want to stop and see some people on the way?? Eek, I don't know! But I'm looking forward to it. Now that we know what date we have to be there and the earliest date we can arrive, we need to look into how we'll move (U-Haul, Pods, movers, selling all our junk and buying new stuff), based on pricing the various options as well as figuring out how much effort each option requires. If anyone has any feelings on those moving methods, feel free to chime in! And I guess once we know the date we'll leave, I can really figure out when my last day at work will be.

I think once we sign the lease, the excitement will really set in. 😀

 

[hoodle]

we're weighing all the moving options too. ugh.

My partner wants to do the UHaul, as the idea of renting a uhaul, throwing stuff into it, and going is very attractive and simple. however, parents think that driving a uhaul across the country will be not only annoying, but dangerous at highway speeds, and they're putting up a stink about that!

PODs are expensive - the quote I got from philly suburb-->Davis was around $3000, even without storage.

There are minimover companies that specialize in apartment-sized moves, but the one I contacted didn't serve the area - I haven't followed through to find out whether it's the pickup or dropoff that they wouldn't do.

Selling and rebuying sounds expensive and annoyingly time-consuming, but is probably what we're gonna do. argh.

 

[nyanko]

Well, here's what we did for moving, for what it's worth. Keep in mind that all of our furniture in Orlando was used/expendable/belonged to roommates so we just ditched/sold it and bought "new" used stuff here as far as furniture went.

Basically we wanted to keep the decent sized television, which took up a good half of the back seat of my boyfriend's Corolla. So we loaded that into the car first. We actually moved out of our place in Orlando about 2 weeks before we left to come here and stayed at his parents' place an hour outside of there for that time (I also flew home to Pittsburgh to see my family in that time as well). All of our non-furniture stuff made it up to his parents' house in 3 or 4 carloads. We then separated it into "heavy and/or essential for everyday" and "light things we can do without for awhile." (for use those priorities were probably skewed - video game systems & games were essentials, for example ) We boxed up all of the non-essential and light stuff and priced the different carriers (UPS, DHL, FedEx) to ship it to our new place, and ended up going with DHL (I believe it ended up being around $500 to ship our 700 lbs of stuff). Packed everything else into the car and left for Davis, with a stop on the way for my mom's wedding in South Carolina.

We decided to do it this way because of gas prices for moving a large truck and figured that it would be more efficient to do it this way. However, I can't see our way working out if you have a lot of big furniture that you actually like and care about. 🙂

 

[VAgirl]

however, parents think that driving a uhaul across the country will be not only annoying, but dangerous at highway speeds, and they're putting up a stink about that!

Yours, too? Ugh, silly parents. 😛

PODs are expensive - the quote I got from philly suburb-->Davis was around $3000, even without storage.

SOOO much more expensive than I expected!! Our quote was around $4,000. My jaw hit the floor (see picture). By comparison, the U-Haul quote was like $1,800-$1,900 for 10 days and somewhere around 3,000 miles included. We haven't priced a moving company yet, but I'm almost scared to, since I figured they'd be more than the Pods option...

Selling and rebuying sounds expensive and annoyingly time-consuming, but is probably what we're gonna do. argh.

Yep. And doesn't it just feel so "disposable culture," too? Bleh.

Plus, for us I see two added wrinkles. I had junky furniture (Ikea, etc.) but when SO moved in, he brought his nice adult furniture with him. (He's not really an adult, but his furniture is.😉) So I'd feel really bad getting rid of that! And then of course, as much as I love him, he's so damn picky and hard to shop with. I mean, it took us two months....TWO MONTHS...to pick out end tables that he liked. Seriously. They're quite simple, not pricey, but he just had very specific ideas of what he wanted and what was bad. It was an experience I'm not so anxious to repeat. (I'll admit I went online and looked for the company that made his sofas to see if we could literally just buy the same exact ones over again...unfortunately they don't make those precise ones anymore.)

We boxed up all of the non-essential and light stuff and priced the different carriers (UPS, DHL, FedEx) to ship it to our new place, and ended up going with DHL (I believe it ended up being around $500 to ship our 700 lbs of stuff).

That's a great idea...I hadn't really thought about that option. Other than for the furniture, that could be a good option. I guess we were just thinking about loading up the cars.

Hmm... so many thoughts to ponder.

 

[hoodle]

Plus, for us I see two added wrinkles. I had junky furniture (Ikea, etc.) but when SO moved in, he brought his nice adult furniture with him. (He's not really an adult, but his furniture is.😉) So I'd feel really bad getting rid of that! And then of course, as much as I love him, he's so damn picky and hard to shop with. I mean, it took us two months....TWO MONTHS...to pick out end tables that he liked. Seriously. They're quite simple, not pricey, but he just had very specific ideas of what he wanted and what was bad. It was an experience I'm not so anxious to repeat. (I'll admit I went online and looked for the company that made his sofas to see if we could literally just buy the same exact ones over again...unfortunately they don't make those precise ones anymore.)

I totally know what you mean, actually. My SO is pretty picky, too (comparatively, I don't seem to notice ANYTHING about where I'm living other than whether it's comfortable). But we have a slightly different angle on the added wrinkle thing - unlike you, we have no "adult" furniture, so we have no real need to keep anything, apart from our 65 gallon turtle tank and our homebuilt beautiful stand for it... which takes up the entire back portion of our toyota highlander, given that the two are each 3 feet long and 2 feet wide! when we last went across the country, we brought the tank, the stand, and our mattress, which is this incredibly comfortable foam mattress which we rolled up, tied with climbing rope, and stuffed behind the front seat, along with a memory foam pad... so I guess we'll replicate that and stuff other things (clothes, essentials) either inside the tank, inside the stand, or around the edges.

right, so the wrinkle... my partner's mom just got into the furniture antiques business, and she has AMAZING taste and is willing to get us really nice stuff! she's basically already decorated all of our walls with beautiful prints that we brought back from traveling, framed gorgeously, etc. So my hope is that we ditch everything we have, move across country, and then she buys beautiful things and sends them to us. hm... puts a whole different spin on shipping things, though. I guess we'll get cheap basic furniture (table, chairs, etc) and then she'll find us nice things for decorating and other extraneous items.

 

[ShelterGirl]

I'm moving in September 1, then starting school September 2nd. My bf said he'd help me bring the initial load on the 1st and then would come up the following weekend with the rest of the stuff and two of the cats (I don't want to leave them alone during orientation if half of it is at Tahoe like it was last year). The other two cats will stay with him down here.

As for stuff, I'm mostly repurposing furniture we already have. It's not great but it will do. I need to get living room seating and a bed, though. I'm also using this as an opportunity to get a flat screen TV - too hard to move my 200 lb, 12-year-old CRT one 😀

 

[ShelterGirl]

PS Yay Hoodle! Welcome to the commune!

 

[geckogirl]

It looks like the earliest I can move up is Sep 1st as well. Either today or tomorrow my new roomies and I are going to decide on either the Willows or Le Tournesol. Both seem really nice. I think the only downside I found to the Willows was that it seemed the further from campus, but apparently there's a bus route out front. Le Tournesol was nice, except lots of trees, so the rooms were dark (Willows was so bright!), and everyone's talking about this sap that destroys your cars if you're parked at Le Tournesol. Anyhoo, is anyone going to Picnic Day??? I'll be there, and it'd be nice to say hi to my new fellow classmates if you're there!

 

[VAgirl]

What is picnic day? And when is picnic day? I want to go, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be on the east coast at that point... boo.

 

[agophi]

Picnic day is the most glorious day all year in Davis. Its the largest "open house" in the nation. Basically it equates to a bunch of drunk college students, a whole lot of alumni with their families, and the famous Doxie Derby that the vet school puts on. Picnic Day is this Saturday. Don't worry if you miss it this year, you have four more to go to! But if you can make it, it is worth the trip.

 

[VAgirl]

Wow does that look like fun. I will DEFINITELY be there next year.
http://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/content/blogcategory/19/56/

 

[nyanko]

I'll be at Picnic Day taking it all in for the first time.

 

[lilhmbrg]

Gotta put a plug in for Pennsylvania Place apts. I lived there all 4 years of vet school and I enjoyed it. It's no frills (read inexpensive) but it was a quiet place for me to study - and they have a nice pool that was great when it got HOT! And the rooms were large! And they are pet friendly (at least they allow cats). Barbara the manager is reasonable and they get to fixing problems quickly. Plus you can walk to Davis food co-op and bike downtown in 5 min. Anyplace in Davis is safe except I would avoid South Davis by I-80 (I think that's where the Arbors is). Acadian properties isn't great either (bad undergrad exper).

 

[WoodchuckLuv]

Anyone have any good advice for finding roommates in the area? I'm moving in late August, bringing pets with me (a cat and two bunnies), and am having a hard time figuring out how to go about hunting down people to live with. :/

 

[tiddlywinks]

Anyone have any good advice for finding roommates in the area? I'm moving in late August, bringing pets with me (a cat and two bunnies), and am having a hard time figuring out how to go about hunting down people to live with. :/

If you are interested in living with other vet students, the class liaisons put out a list of housing opportunities through your class' yahoo group, that's how I found my room last year. I'm living with another first year and a second year, it's great. The list was sent out during the summer I think.

 

[WoodchuckLuv]

That's good to know. Thanks. 🙂

 

[zut]

You guys seem to have your housing figured out, but I just wanted to share that in Davis, the end of August is when nearly everyone's lease ends. Those moving out and eager to get rid of their furniture leave everything next to apartment complex dumpsters or in front of their houses for the taking. In past years I have fully furnished the kitchen/living room part of my digs with free furniture. The stuff is usually in good shape but people can't find anyone willing to buy it. It's a goldmine for dumpster divers.

 

[WoodchuckLuv]

I just put down a deposit over at Pennsylvania Place apartments, after having looked them over on the suggestion of someone above. I'm actually quite pleased with my decision. While the outside is not nearly as nice as several others I looked at (The Willows, The Trees), the insides are much roomier and just as well maintained. There are still a few apartments left and if you're looking for something for fall, take a look around. If you can live with an exterior that looks like a 1950s motel, they've got incredibly large rooms and very, very reasonable rent (less than 1000 for a two bedroom.). And it has built in desks/wall shelves in each room.

On that note, I'm now looking for a roommate, and thought I would advertise here first, since my preference is for a vet student.

About me: I'm a 25 year-old female, with an 8 year old spayed Persian cat. Both come with the apartment. I knit, I spin my own yarn, I read a lot and I play video games. I spend a lot of spare time writing and editing for a classic horror review site (classic-horror.com) and roleplaying when I can get away with it. I am, in a nutshell, a textbook geek. I'm, obviously, a first year student and have an interest in shelter animals. I don't smoke. I don't drink excessively. I do have a boyfriend who will be living in Phoenix, so I will be having an overnight guest when he comes to visit.

What I'm looking for: A roommate. Either gender is fine. The complex does not allow dogs, but if you have a cat or a small animal or aquarium we can keep under the radar, let me know. I'm looking for someone who is generally quiet. I'm not anti-party, persay, but I'm anti-party all-the-time. I'm looking for someone who is relatively clean. I'm not a neat freak, but I don't like to scary huge messes either. I'm also hoping for someone who is as much of a nerd as I am. As for smoking/drinking/overnight guests - that's your business, provided they're not staying when we're not home. (Exceptions made, of course, for out of town guests or special circumstances. I just want to know if I'm going to be walking in on strangers in my home). All I ask is that you smoke outside and don't bring in illegal drugs.

What comes with the apartment: For sure we'll have a 31" LCD TV, a Blu-Ray Player, a PS2, a couple of bookshelves (though I have a lot of books). If my roommate doesn't come with one, I plan on buying a couch, a coffee table and a TV stand. It's also possible that I will have a table and a couple of chairs depending on what I manage to haul up from Phoenix. Obviously, your own room is your own to furnish.

If you think you might be interested or want more info, please send me a PM.