Apartments: The Forest vs. Mission University (Durham, Spencer: leases, neighborhood, living in)

[TheRecneps]

Hello,

My wife and I are moving to Durham in May and are currently browsing through our apartment options. Barring your advice, we've narrowed down the search to two options: The Forest (near the intersection of 501 & 70) and Mission University Pines (near the intersection of 501 & MLK Parkway). We visited Mission University on our last trip and were quite taken with it, but have not yet seen The Forest in person (we stumbled across it due to its high scores on apartmentratings.com).

I was wondering if anyone has any advice about these locations. Or, for that matter, other recommendations - we're looking for 1 BR/1BA apartments for under $800 a month in a solid neighborhood.

Thanks for your help,
Spencer

[evaofnc]

I work with many people that live in The Forest and love it. The community is a mix of mostly working professionals, graduate students, and short-term leases of people getting extended treatment at Duke Hospital. I've been inside several of their units and they have nice layouts. My only complaint I would have if living in them is the kitchens are tight galley kitchens but I feel like that's par for the course with apartments built in the 70s and 80s. I also like that you can walk the greenways to Duke from there.

[TheRecneps]

Thanks for your reply. I worried that, being so close to Duke, it might be infested with rowdy undergrads. Good to hear that this is not the case.

[jill7930]

I know nothing about the Mission, but lived at the Forest from 2000-2003. As the pp mentioned, it's indeed mostly young professionals/grad student types with some others (young families) mixed in. I don't recall ever seeing undergrads there. The location is great, and indeed being on the edge of Duke Forest is a huge bonus if you like running, etc. We still live in that immediate area (West Durham) by choice because we like it so much (pass by the Forest apts all the time) and it's central to everything in Durham with quick access to the Durham Freeway and I-85. If you're visiting The Forest, you may as well check out Colonial Village at Deerfield across the street from the Forest. They are pricier if I recall, but larger and newer.