Home away from home

Attending a university with almost 30,000 students can be difficult, especially when it comes time to finding housing for the next year.
With the University Residence Halls & Apartments only able to provide on-campus housing to roughly 7,200 students, most are forced to find an alternative.

The University Village at Sweethome

The University Village at Sweethome, located in Amherst, is a relatively new apartment complex that houses up to 825 students.
'One of the big advantages we have are private bedrooms and private bathrooms, and amenities in our community center like a movie theatre and a private 24-hour gym,' said Brad Brokaw, the leasing manager for the University Village at Sweethome and previous leasing manager for the Villas at Chestnut Ridge.
Along with private bedrooms, the complex offers fully furnished apartments with a full-sized kitchen and stackable washers and dryers.
University Village at Sweethome also provides free tanning, a hot tub, swimming pool, basketball courts, and much more in their community center.
Residents can take advantage of a private shuttle from the property to Flint Loop on North Campus, running Monday through Thursday at 7 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. and on Fridays at 7:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.
For a four-bedroom and four-bathroom apartment, each resident will pay a monthly rent of $649. Most utilities are included, but residents will need to split their monthly electric bill with their roommates.
The complex also offers a two-bedroom and two-bathroom apartment for $719 a month, and a one-bedroom and one-bathroom apartment for a monthly fee of $899.
Owned and managed by American Campus Communities, the company decided to expand upon the University Village at Sweethome complex with the building of the Villas at Chestnut Ridge in 2008.

The Villas at Chestnut Ridge

The Villas at Chestnut Ridge house an estimated 552 students and offer the same amenities as the University Village at Sweethome, but offer a different style of living with hardwood-style floors and leather furniture.
'We had about 200 residents transfer over to the Villas because of the hype and excitement about having a new place,' Brokaw said. ' But we had full capacity the next year [at Sweethome.] It's just about preference for having a flat or townhouse style apartment.
The Villas at Chestnut Ridge also offer a fully equipped community center with a gym, hot tub, a media room and an upgraded fitness center. After stopping at the center, residents can pick up a private shuttle to North Campus throughout the day.
Students interested in submitting a housing application can apply for a four-bedroom and four-bathroom floor plan for $669 a month, a two-bedroom and two and a half bathroom for $779 a month, and a one-bedroom and one-bathroom studio apartment for $899 or a deluxe upgrade for $919 a month.
However, some students find the monthly rates of Villas at Chestnut Ridge to be unaffordable and unnecessary.
'[I] lived in the Villas because I was forced to. I couldn't live on-campus because the apartments were full,' said Krista Vierthaler, a junior accounting major. 'It's way too expensive…I don't like the people who run it.'
For those who can't afford the monthly rates of the Villas at Chestnut Ridge and the University Village at Sweethome, there are other off-campus options to take advantage of.

Amherst housing

Owned by MJ Peterson Corporation, Peppertree Village, Liberty Square Apartments and London Towne Apartments offer one and two bedroom units on Chestnut Ridge Rd. in Amherst.
Barbara Bellacose, property manager for Peppertree Village, said that rent varies for each property depending on its size and square footage.
For London Towne, housing over 165 residents, rent ranges from $880 to $940 per month for a two-bedroom and one-bathroom unit, and from $755 to $780 a month for a one-bedroom and one-bathroom unit.
'I moved to [London Towne Apartments] because it's so much cheaper and it's really nice and big for the price we pay, and it's a great location,' said Jenna Darron, a junior intended physical therapy major.
Students searching for an on-campus feel in an off-campus setting, beyond the borders of Amherst, can look to Collegiate Village located on Affinity Lane.

Collegiate Village

'It's a good secondary option to the University Heights if you're looking to live around here…we're five minutes away from the Elmwood area or downtown, and it's definitely a nice location if you're looking to get away from the Amherst area,' said Courtney Braun, leasing and marketing director for Collegiate Village.
With apartment style living on over 50 acres, the complex is open to college students throughout Buffalo and offers fully furnished apartments with washers and dryers in each unit, full appliances in the kitchen, card access building entry, and a Residential Life department that plans various social events and programs for residents.
'We have a lot of medical students and graduate students who have a lot of their classes on South Campus. We also have a huge number of students who go to school on North Campus as well,' Braun said.
For students without a car, Collegiate Village provides a shuttle service to the Main Street Metro Rail, trips between North Campus and South Campus, and stops to Buffalo State College, Wegmans and the Galleria Mall.
Collegiate Village offers a variety of units, such as a one-bedroom and one-bathroom for a monthly rate of $863 per resident, a two-bedroom and two-bathroom unit for $740, a three-bedroom and three-bathroom unit for $695 each month, and a four-bedroom and four-bathroom for $628 each month.
'We're almost at full capacity now with about 400 students,' Braun said. 'For the fall, we're hoping to have 600 beds. Each year we're increasing the numbers of beds we have available to local Buffalo students.'
Whether students choose to live in the Villas at Chestnut Ridge in Amherst or Collegiate Village in Buffalo, there are a variety of options for those wishing to live off-campus in a safe and secure environment.

E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com