Editor’ note: The following article is part of a new series intended to give students information about various neighborhoods and apartment complexes in Davis.
Formally defined as the area north of I-80, east of Pole Line and north of E. Eighth Street and east of J Street, East Davis is a short bike ride to campus, an even shorter ride to downtown and is home to a variety of apartment complexes.
One apartment complex is the J Street Apartments, located at 1111 J Street between East Eighth and East Covell Boulevard. The complex offers two different floor plans — a one bedroom, one bath for $850 and a two bedroom, one bath for $999. The apartment complex includes many features such as a pool, tennis courts, an exercise room and a game room with a Ping-Pong and pool table.
Jessica Cole, a senior neurobiology, physiology and behavior major who currently lives at J Street Apartments, said she chose to live at the J Street Apartments because she got a great deal on the apartment and she wanted to be close to downtown.
“I like the neighborhood. Across the street is an elementary school and downtown is only a couple minutes away. I’ve lived at [other places] in Davis and have enjoyed living in East Davis the most,” Cole said.
The complex allows all cats as well as any dog that is fewer than 25 pounds, an aspect that Cole was very happy about.
“I live with my best friend and my young cat Luna. And many of the [other] residents here have small dogs and cats that are often seen in windows or being walked on sunny days,” Cole said.
A few blocks down from J Street Apartments is the Pinecrest Apartment complex at 920 Cranbrook Court also situated near the corner of J Street & Covell Boulevard. Pinecrest Apartments offer a one-bedroom, one bath for $885 and a two-bedroom, two-bath for $1100. The complex is professionally managed by the Riverside Residential Group, which also owns Alder Ridge Apartments, Renaissance Park Apartments and Silverstone. Pinecrest has outdoor BBQ and picnic areas, a pool, is pet friendly and has huge walk-in closets.
Becky Fu, a senior genetics major and Pinecrest resident, said price was her main reason for choosing this complex.
“I chose Pinecrest because it was the least expensive apartments I could find. Anything closer to campus was just way too expensive,” Fu said.
College Square apartments is located almost exactly one mile from campus at 801 J street, near the intersection of Eighth street and J street. The apartments are composed of concrete, two story buildings located right next to the train tracks. It offers one-bedroom, one-bath for $850, two-bedroom, one-bath ranging from $1100 to $1395, and two-bedroom, two-bath for $1,150 to $1,295. It also has a BBQ area and pool, study rooms with many units having their own patios.
Serena Carbajal, a senior mechanical engineering major who lived in College Square for two years, said the location was what she liked most about this complex.
“It’s a quick bike ride to both downtown and campus. You can even walk if you wanted to,” Carbajal said.
All three of these apartments, and most others in East Davis, are accessible by Unitrans buses. The E line stops in front of the J Street and Pinecrest Apartments and the P and Q Lines are also only a block away. College Square is on the E and L line as well.
Cole said that she takes advantage of both the short bike ride and the ease of the buses for transportation.
“When feeling spicy I bike ride to campus. But on a sluggish day I take the E line which stops right in front of my apartment and comes by twice an hour,” Cole said.
One of the few downsides to the apartments in East Davis is the proximity to the train tracks. The tracks are just behind all three apartment complexes and can sometimes be a source of considerable noise. Fu encouraged other students to take this into account when considering Pinecrest Apartments.
“I would warn them not to get the apartments near the west end. I used to live [there] and would be woken up everyday at 7 a.m. by the sound of the train,” Fu said.
The stores and businesses within East Davis are also a driving force that pulls residents in. Some of the restaurants in East Davis frequently visited include Subway, Dominos Pizza, Nobu Hiro, Nugget Market and Taqueria Davis. There is also a CVS and the Grocery Outlet.
Carbajal said that the Nugget was a little hard to get to and wished that Grocery Outlet had been there when she lived at College Square.
“I didn’t have a car so it was hard to get to the grocery store. But I would have gone to Grocery Outlet had it been open when I lived there and that would have been a lot easier,” Carbajal said.
East Davis is also home to Slide Hill Park, famously known by students and Davis residents alike for its enormous concrete slide.
Other apartment complexes in East Davis include Alhambra Apartments, Cambride House Apartments, Cascade Apartments, Cranbrook, Pennsylvania Place Apartments, and University Village — all of whose floor plans, prices and other features can be found on their respective websites.
CLAIRE MALDARELLI can be reached at features@theaggie.org.
