Good, safe apartments in Murfreesboro (2013, rental, crime)

[Terra Mater]

So my husband and I will be moving into a new apartment in the summer. We're both MTSU students and will be graduating spring 2013. We're ready to move on from the college apartments and want to go somewhere that has a quieter, more family-like atmosphere that is safe. We've already narrowed down a few and we're looking at Tennessee Park, Gateway, and maybe Birchwood and Vintage at the Parke (we're going to tour some complexes today). At the moment I'm leaning towards Tennessee Park, but I'm open to suggestions from people. I couldn't find any online reviews other than one 4-star rating for Tennessee Park, so if anyone knows anything about this complex, please share it with me.

Our criteria includes rent that is under $650 for a 1-bedroom (or a 2-bedroom, if the rent happens to be under $650 as well), washer and dryer included, a safe area (don't want to deal with crime and/or sketchy people), good size (our current 1-bedroom is only 478 sq. ft. and we definitely need more room nowadays), pet friendly (we have a cat), and a reasonable distance from campus, probably no more than a 15-minute drive. And I'd like to not have to brave the traffic of Old Fort Parkway.

So, does anyone have any suggestions OR feedback on the complexes I've listed? Anything helps. Thanks!

[itsshanks]

I live off of Cason Lane/Highway 96 in Carrington Park Apartment. The apartment is very family friendly and never had any safety issue for last 1.5 years we've been living there. There are also other apartments like Cason Estates, Stoneridge, St. Andrews apartments, close to where I live and I have seen them all and they all are nice. You should be able to find something in your budget in one of these. I'll start with St. Andrews and Carrington. The rest two I mentioned are little expensive.

[MTFan]

I lived in Tennessee Park when I was in college and it was full of college students. If you are trying to get away from college students I recommend Vintage at the Parke. It is on the south side of town away from the school. You can walk to Barfield Crescent park and there are plenty of restaurants and a Kroger nearby.

[Kim918]

Try Westbury Farms on New Salem by the new Publix. I have 2 friends that live there. Nice size 1 bedrooms for $650 with washer and dryer. Lots of families live there. It's far enough away from the college so you won't have to deal with that. It's new so the apts are in great shape. They have a gym as well.

[Diane Giam]

I recommend St Andres Apartments off St Andrews and 96. My son has lived there for 3 years, and management is excellent there. I believe a 1 bedroom is in that price range. He has a 2 bedroom, 2 baths and its not high.

[Terra Mater]

Well, we decided on Tennessee Park, and we're really excited to move. I think it'll be great. It's perfect for our budget and fits all of our criteria. All the others were either too expensive and far, or cheap and sketchy. Thanks for the input, everyone.

MTFan, what I meant was that we are trying to get away from specifically "college apartments" like Campus Crossings, University Gables, University Ridge, etc. We know that Tennessee Park probably has students, but they also have other kinds of people (I have seen them, too) and it seems a lot quieter.

[ycats82]

I have lived at Westbury (when it was just built and still undergoing construction) and currently live at Saint Andrews (will be moving in a couple months). I went to Woodgate (same company and design as Westbury, located on Saint Andrews Drive) and was told that their one bedrooms are now priced around $700 to start--when I moved into Westbury a few years ago the one bedrooms were $624, and when a friend of mine moved in a few years ago her first year was only $595, but I think rental prices are skyrocketing everywhere.

While I haven't had any issues at Saint Andrews in the three years I have been there, when I moved in 2009 my rent for a 2 bed, 1 bath was $699, and when I received my renewal notice this week, my rent was going to be raised to $750 for the next year (my second year it was raised to $709, then to $725). I'm not sure what the one bedrooms are right now, but there are two layouts, and the cheaper one is REALLY small (if you don't have a lot of furniture though that might not be an issue for you).

I can tell you based on my own research recently that the one bedrooms are Carrington Park are TINY and I think they may be above your $650 range anyway.

I feel like the Cason Lane/Saint Andrews neighborhood is nice, but it is on the other side of town from campus if you're worried about getting to your classes, so definitely allow extra time for parking on campus. I currently work for the university (off campus) and I can tell parking is even worse now than it was when I was a student 7 years ago.

I'm not sure what the prices are now, but you might check out Northfield Commons. I had a friend who lived there several years ago and they were nice, and they are also close enough to campus to not making a commute but far enough removed to not be completely surrounded by students and college life.