In Carbondale, there are multiple options to choose from when looking for a place to live. There are several popular apartment complexes that offer housing for students as well as members of the community. This article features reviews from the residents themselves.

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University Village located at 800 E. Grand Ave. offers townhouse style apartments with one to four bedroom options. 

“I honestly love it at University Village. The pool’s nice, they keep the yard nice and maintenance guys always come the same day. They’re always throwing us free dinners and stuff for finals week. They treat us real well. They do goody bags for any small holidays for us and have free printing,” Keegan Montgomery said.

Residents of University Village are able to pay their rent and request maintenance through an app called Resident Center. On the app, announcements are posted for residents to see as well as their current balance due. 

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“The maintenance upkeep is good, they come the same say and it is user-friendly to request maintenance on the app,” Montgomery said.

According to residents living at UV, there is not a lot of crime that occurs there. They feel safe and don’t worry about anything bad happening to them..

“There are occasional crimes here, the occasional gun shot here and there but it’s never at UV. It’s always around UV. It’s no different than any other college apartment complex that students are in,” Montgomery said.

Located in the clubhouse is the management’s offices where residents can go and speak with them during business hours. There are also amenities offered to residents such as a gym, computer lounge and pool. 

“If you’re first living here, straight out of the dorms, I feel like it’s one of the better places to live finanically. You can still get the college experience but off campus. We have the clubhouse, which has free printing, free computer usage, pool table, shuffle board and public bathroom,” Montgomery said. “It’s newly remodeled and always kept up nice and clean. We also have a free tanning bed and an outdoor lounge and pool area.” Montgomery said. 

Mountain Valley Properties’ Creekside Location, located at 711 S. Wall St. offers two to four person apartment options. 

“I feel like it’s a good distance from campus and I feel like it’s a good price for the place. I just feel like overall it’s a good spot,” Hannah Taylor said.

Taylor said maintenance responds quickly and is easy to get in touch with.

“The maintenance upkeep is very, very good. With all the air filters, air conditioning, smoke detectors, the maintenance guys for Mountain Valley come over. We get a text sent out that says, they’re coming in to change it and they do it quick and easy. If there’s ever something else, tell the landlord or send in a request and it’s changed,” Taylor said.

At Creekside, residents have not reported many complaints about crime occuring though some people have their worries. The location is very close to Levels Nightclub and ground level apartments have sliding doors with small patio spaces that can be accessed from the outside. 

“I actually had an incident the other night, it was 3:30 p.m. and I had just gotten out of the shower. Someone had opened the screen part of the sliding door to my bedroom. They opened it and closed it. But other than that, Levels is right across the street, so I worry about drunk people sometimes and then shootings but they haven’t been bad this semester,” Taylor said. 

Though Creekside does not offer many amenities, residents have positive things to say about the management and the space that is offered to them. 

“It’s a good size kitchen, living room, three-bedroom, two-bathroom, laundry room. The landlord is great. I love going in and just talking to her when I go to pay our rent. The place is nice and compared to a lot of other apartments, on Wall Street, as opposed to Grand. It is ran by a very good person and it’s a good company,” Taylor said. 

The Reserves at Saluki Point has two to four bedroom apartment options and is located at 500 Saluki Blvd. The location makes it difficult for residents to walk to campus or town.

“I like the Reserves because the grills they have out there. Every now and then, I’ll invite some friends over and we’ll cook out. Something that is negative is having to drive into town all the time and if you go out to the bars then you need a DD [designated driver] or have to stay in town,” Leif Barmann said.

Similar to UV, the Reserves uses an app so people can pay their rent and make maintenance requests. Residents have said that maintenance comes quickly and keeps the property looking well most of the time.

“The maintenance is pretty good, even now and then they should mow a week earlier but it’s not that bad,” Barmann said. 

Residents of the Reserves said they feel safe and it is easy to get in touch with management. 

“I’ve had a few questions for them and they’ve usually been pretty quick to reply. I’ve heard other people have had issues with management but those issues were with their roomates and management might have not been the best solution for solving that,” Barmann said. 

The Reserves has amenities in their clubhouse and around the property that are offered to their residents.

“They have a little store where you can rent VRs, gaming consoles and stuff like that. They have a pool table, shuffleboard, the pool, ping pong table and a tanning bed. They also have a computer lab and a dog park,” Barmann said.

Along with the amenities Barmann listed, the reserves also has a full computer study room with free printing that is open 24/7, a sand volleyball court as well as a gym. 

Each bedroom has its own bathroom, a spacious living room and kitchen, washing machines in each until as well as spacious balconies attached to each apartment. 

Located at 1101 E. Grand Ave. is Aspen Court Apartments. The complex offers one to three bedroom apartments and four bedroom townhomes. 

“I’ve lived here for three years now and I like it. It’s got dumpsters close to most apartments so it’s not far to take the trash out and it has good maintenance staff,” Paul Schrader said.

Residents at Aspen said the maintenance staff is easy to get in touch with and come within a few days to resolve any issues.

“Maintenance upkeep is pretty good, we have people come and sweep our hallways once or twice a month. They usually do a pretty good job of keeping the grass mowed and stuff like that. I’ve never had any complaints about that,” Schrader said. 

At Aspen, there have been some occurrences of dangerous activity and crime. 

“I had a neighbor come down and threaten me and my roommates with a gun one time. Other than that, it’s pretty safe. That’s about the only incident I have ever had,” Schrader said. 

Aspen has become a popular spot for college students to sit by the pool and relax on sunny days. The complex offers other amenities as well, including free tanning and a cardio room.

“I would recommend it because they keep the pool nice. It’s a good place to hangout with people and party when you need to take a load off. There is a business center, gym, the pool, basketball courts and cornhole stuff. It also has free wi-fi which is nice,” Schrader said.

University Village, Mountain Valley Properties, The Reserve and Aspen Court are just a few housing complexes in Carbondale. Each offers in-unit washer and dryers and other amenities for residents.

For more information on each complex you can find their websites online. 

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