The Housing Search (Part 2)

I also talked about housing last week, but after exploring some options both off-grounds and on-grounds, I wanted to share some of my findings in this blog:

On-grounds housing:

As with most other students, I would much prefer apartment style housing as opposed to hall or suite style next year. There are four on-grounds options that offer that: Bice, Copeley, Faulkner, and Lambeth. Bice, Copeley, and Lambeth all offer 2 bedrooms, so students will still have to have a roommate. Faulkner offers four bedrooms as opposed to this, but obviously comes at a heftier price. From what I can tell from the non-descriptive housing website, Faulkner will come at about $6000 for a nine month lease for each of the four people living in it. Bice, Copeley, and Lambeth will come at slightly lower prices, from a range of about $4500-5500. One definite advantage about on-grounds housing is the transportation available. All of these dorms are within walking distance of anywhere on campus and the same bus lines we already know will get you to these dorms.

Off-grounds housing:

Ideally, I would definitely recommend that everyone try and get a room at The Greenhouse (http://www.cbsrentals.com/greenhouse.cfm). This is a completely new building that began construction in June 2010 and is supposed to be completed late June 2011. This means, first off, that the residents living in it next year will be the very first people to live in these rooms. It has a very convenient location on 14^th Street, which makes The Corner very accessible to residents. Unlike other off-grounds apartments, The Greenhouse can be leased for only 10 and ½ months instead of the full year. The entire building is built to LEED standards, making it perhaps the most environmentally friendly building in all of Charlottesville. There is even a live webcam available to watch it being built. Sadly, there is a huge downside to The Greenhouse: price. Rooms are averaging $750 a bedroom, which means about $7875 for the lease.

One more location that I thought was very appealing was University Place. It is essentially an apartment community made for UVA students and the rooms come at most about $5000 per person. Reading reviews for it, however, the fact that only UVA students live there seems to be a downside. Residents frequently complain about loud noises from parties along with collateral damage associated with them. As one reviewer puts it “I’m afraid to walk around at night without a group”. I think that statement about rules out University Place for me.

The search for housing turned out to be tougher than I had expected. I still have not found the perfect place for me though feel at least a little more knowledgeable about the entire process.