Duke grad student ask for opinions on housing! (Durham: apartment complex, crime)

[grantsk]

Hello! My husband and I are moving to Durham this summer so he can attend grad school at Duke. We currently live out of the country and are intersted in finding housing! Does anybody know anything about Croasdaile Apartments? Some of my priorities include safety, cleanliness, and location. Mapquest says it is about 3 miles from West Campus, does this seem right? It's kind of scary to be signing a contract without having seen the apartment but we have to do it this way. Anybody have any opinions?!?! They would be MUCH appreciated! THANKS!

[Gatornation]

Check the crime stats for that area and I'd suggest visiting before making any decisions. Check it out during the day and night.

[scorp200]

The first thing you want to do is take a look at Duke's apartment housing complex report:

http://cho.duhs.duke.edu/pdf_files/survey_pdf/2007_apartment.pdf (broken link)

If you meant Woodstone at Croasdaile Farms, it's in there - also do a search in this forum because I know a former regular here used to live there.

My understanding is that the area there is very safe - it might be a little far from campus for your liking, but again I'm not sure if we're talking about the same apartment complex!

Definitely use the Duke housing survey since you're out of the country. I can recommend Pinnacle Ridge firsthand and it's filled with Duke grad students. We've had some car break-ins lately but so has everyone else...it's gated, close to campus and very pretty (lots of trees).

[sandycat]

When we first moved here, we rented at Alexan Place at South Square. It was close to Duke and a great overall location. It seemed like most of the residents were either Duke students or young professionals. I miss my apartment sometimes. The pool was primo, and the gym was pretty decent too.

[Bull City Rising]

Originally Posted by grantsk

Hello! My husband and I are moving to Durham this summer so he can attend grad school at Duke. We currently live out of the country and are intersted in finding housing! Does anybody know anything about Croasdaile Apartments? Some of my priorities include safety, cleanliness, and location. Mapquest says it is about 3 miles from West Campus, does this seem right? It's kind of scary to be signing a contract without having seen the apartment but we have to do it this way. Anybody have any opinions?!?! They would be MUCH appreciated! THANKS!

There are several apartments there: Croasdaile, Croasdaile Crossing, and one whose name I can't remember (Woodstone?) All three were developed by Garden View Realty, which developed the very upscale Croasdaile subdivision. Garden View has sold the first two complexes, however.

My wife lived in Croasdaile Crossing by herself in 2004 while she was a Duke Law student and I was in Boston finishing my MBA; we lived there together for a few months in 2005 before buying a house in Durham. She loved the apartment. The complex is older but was newly renovated in 2003-04ish timeframe. It was *very* well maintained by Garden View; I don't know anything about the new mgmt. company.

That area is very safe and low-crime and is adjacent to shopping. The nearby Loehmann's Plaza is going to be renovated with a Harris Teeter reportedly going in, though that may take a few years. A new Harris Teeter (grocery store) is under construction up Guess Rd., a five minute drive away.

One downside is that it's hard to bike/walk down Hillandale to Duke since it's a narrow road with no sidewalk south of I-85.

I'd highly recommend that area if you're making a sight-unseen decision, though always best to check for yourself if you can.

The Croasdaile apts. (the non-Crossing ones) are significantly smaller IIRC but we didn't look inside any of them.