Finding places to live in Kent can be a headache. The demand for an apartment is greater than the amount of housing that is offered. As if this wasn’t bad enough, deciding where to live is yet another hurdle you will be crossing. Most students start looking for places to lease during the fall semester. Hopefully this list helps smooth that process over a little…especially if you are behind schedule.
The Province – 609 South Lincoln St. Kent, OH 44240
330.673.8300
Floor Plans: They offer cottages, townhomes and apartments from studios up to 4 bedrooms!
Pricing: $655-$989
Amenities: Swimming pool, fitness center, tanning bed, computer lab, movie theater, outdoor grilling area, study lounge, fully furnished, full kitchens, private bathrooms. A washer and dryer in unit, cable with HBO, and WiFi are included in rent. You can choose to pay extra for a patio/balcony.
Student Opinion:
- “Province is so nice with its pool, gym/tanning and the setup of the apartments with your own bathroom. They plow the parking lots well and have plenty of visitor spots. Although maintenance and the quality of the furniture/walls/carpet for what you pay are not in good condition. I have lived in two separate apartments here at province and both had horrible carpets with stains and the walls were horrible as well as our furniture in both places. Paying as much as we do you would expect a better quality. We had to beg them to replace our couch because it was horrible and ripped up. We asked for carpet cleaners and to paint our one wall and the maintenance never went through with it. Electric charges are ridiculous too. It honestly is way too high for only two people living in my apartment who are barely at the apartment!” – Jennifer, junior at Kent State
Personally, I think Province hikes up the cost of living and then claims that it’s due to location. The furniture isn‘t very nice, however.
University Edge – 1150 Rhodes Rd. Kent, OH 44240
330.673.2992
Floor Plans: Options include studio and 2 – 4 bedroom apartments!
Pricing: $634-$839
Amenities: Private bathrooms, fully furnished, hot tub, gym, tanning, computer lab, washer and dryer in unit, cable TV, WiFi, electricity allowance, water sewer and trash
Student Opinions:
- “The actual apartments at University Edge are very nice but they don’t upkeep the property outside well at all there’s always beer cans and throw up. Also staff doesn’t email back and the printers almost always broken.” – Kari, sophomore
- “I like that University Edge has everything included (water, electric (cap), & furniture). I hate the parking situation here. There is barely any visitor parking. The employees never seem knowledgeable enough when I call them about a question or concern. It’s very very expensive, and they do not plow the parking lot until after a week when it snows and when they do, they plow the snow into three parking spots so there really isn’t anywhere to park.” – Kelsey, junior
- “I hate living at university edge. Maintenance is always coming in. Everything in the apartment is super cheap. The walls are very thin. I always have to pay extra for electric when it’s expensive to begin with.” – Erin, junior
- “I live at University Edge and they are very bad at responding to maintenance issues. It’s been three weeks since I have put in a work order for my sink and they still haven’t come in. Also, our neighbor puked outside our door and we have called multiple times about them cleaning up and it’s still sitting there” – Emilie, sophomore
Okay, all of these are disturbing. Not cleaning the puke off of your property? WHAT. That’s absolutely disgusting. Also, the parking situation is definitely a huge mess. It’s like the Hunger Games but for parking…even residents have a hard time finding parking.
Campus Pointe – 1841 Ashton Ln. Kent, OH 44240 (right off 59 by Acme)
330.673.2202
Floor Plans: Options range from 2 bedroom to 4 bedroom apartments!
Pricing: $635-$725
Amenities: Full media lounge, fitness center, pool, sand volleyball court, coffee lounge, tanning, computer lab with printing, WiFi, free parking, pet friendly, flat utility rate, private bathrooms, fully furnished, and cable with HBO
Student Opinions:
- “Staff and maintenance isn’t very friendly. They don’t respect resident privacy. Rent is very expensive for quality of living and service.” – Lauren, junior
- “I really like living at campus pointe. I think it’s safe, the gym is never crowded, there is a lot of parking. But it can be loud sometimes. The upgrades are really nice and I think it’s a decent price for what is included in your living (electric, heat, water, washer/dryer, cable, gym, pool).” – Alison, senior
Campus Pointe definitely looks nice and, like the two previous aparment complexes, everyone has a private bathroom. My only issue with Campus Pointe is the cost based on where they are located. I would say they are definitely the same quality as University Edge or Province, but do not have the convienent location. My question is, why is it just as expensive as the other two?
University Oaks – 500 Golden Oaks Dr. Kent, OH 44240
330.331.5327
Floor Plans: Options range from 1 bedroom to 3 bedroom apartments
Pricing: $585-$849 a month
Amenities: Clubhouse, game room, study lounge, 24-hour fitness center, computer lab, on-site laundry (not included in rent), hot tub, tanning, pet friendly, outdoor grills, covered parking available. Apartments are fully furnished and also have a private balcony/patio. Cable, WiFi, heat, water, sewer, trash and pest control are included in rent.
Student Opinions:
- “Overall, I don’t mind living in Oaks. They have plenty of parking, although recently they closed their overfill visitor lot (not sure why) so sometimes I can’t park there. I don’t usually have my car with me (only about twice a week so I don’t pay for parking and just use my visitor pass). It gets frustrating when there’s nowhere to park and they close the overfill lot. The furniture is definitely cheap and the leather is coming off of my couch. Also the room sizes are DRASTICALLY different. My roommate and I share a bathroom so our rent is the same and she has a way bigger room than I do. Also, there is one small towel rack in the bathroom that is meant to be shared between two people and our hand towel rack fell off a couple of times. Also, the walls are paper thin, you can hear everything that’s going on in the hallway. I even live on the second floor and I can hear people below me or next door walking around.” – Ilyanna, senior
- “I was assigned to a random roommate in university oaks. My first problem was that they first told my other roommate and I that we wouldn’t have a roommate and would be contacted upon an assignment. They NEVER contacted us and we came home after class one day to her moving in. She was closer to my mother’s age than my own, spoke little to no English, was overall not a good roommate to have, and made me feel uncomfortable. Upon reaching out to management about my concerns, they did not care and said we had to deal with it. My mailbox was broken all year and I couldn’t get mail. I contacted management 3 times and they never fixed it. The free stand-up tanning might be the only plus. They also keep your security deposit for random “cleaning charges” that don’t even make sense.” – Cassie, senior
Overall, I personally like living here. I’ve called maintanence before and they did get in and fix our water pressure in a timely manner. University Oaks is definitely offers the cheapest fully-furnished apartments around campus and the location isn’t that bad. They are right across the street from Tri-Towers (which is where I lived my freshman year) and the walk to class is doable. Although, all of my classes are on the other side of campus…
Eagles Landing – 936 Morris Rd. Kent, OH 44240
330.673.8887
Floor Plans: 2 bedroom apartments only, but with the choices of standard, hybrid, or renovated.
Pricing: Per unit, not per person — Range from $800-$855 a month
Amenities: Pool, fitness center, sand volleyball court, basketball court, computer lab with internet, and tanning. Heat, water, sewer and trash are included in rent. Renovated units have a dishwasher and full sized appliances.
Student Opinions:
- “Everything in Eagles Landing breaks and takes 5ever to fix, if they actually fix it.” – Nicole, senior
- “Eagles landing is pretty swag. I have a renovated apartment so it is basically brand new but I did have to furnish it. For the price I pay, I am so happy with my decision and am staying longer. The staff / maintenance come always when you need them and fix everything for you but my room is kinda cold and I have to have a space heater. I also don’t live right by the parking lot so I have to walk through another building to get to mine but I can walk to campus in 5 minutes tops and have free pool tanning and gym. They are older buildings but definitely worth the price for a remodel and location if you are okay with furnishing it. Also there is no washer and drier in the unit so I hate that but that have it if you want to pay. Also utilities aren’t included. But overall I love living there for location and price.” – Lindsey, junior
Honestly, if I could do the apartment hunting process over (I really didn’t look around) I would definitely choose to live here. You get what you need, and it’s fairly cheap for where you are located.
Holly Park – 1652 Mulberry Ct. #112 Kent, OH 44240
330.990.4019
Floor Plans: Options range from 2 bedroom to 3 bedroom apartments
Pricing: Ranging from $1000 to $1410 a month per unit (not per person)
Amenities: Not listed
Student Opinions:
- “Holly Park smells like stale cigs and curry. Good at plowing snow and fixing things. HELL TO GET OUT OF FROM 4-6 AT NIGHT” – Liv, junior
- “I live at Holly Park & it SUCKS! It smells, it’s dirty, and I don’t even have a mailbox so when I get a letter I have to go to the Kent post office. My fridge has been broken since I moved in in August and still has not been fixed. Overall just an awful place.” – Meighan, junior
I’m just going to say that this one is a no…
Whitehall Terrace – 1698 E. Summit St. Kent, OH 44240
330.673.8778
Floor Plans: Options range from 2 bedroom to 3 bedroom apartments
Pricing: Ranging from $1010-$1465 a month per unit (not per person)
Amenities: Pool, fitness center, tanning, in-suite washer and dryer, balconies/patios, skylights, AC, fireplaces (most suites), full kitchens with dishwashers, cable, WiFi, pet friendly
Student Opinions:
- “I love Whitehall Terrace. Slightly off campus, but a short walk on a nice day. Very pet friendly-huge grass fields for them to play in. The worse thing is that the large sliding doors are not air tight/insulated and leak in cold air. I can always tell when my neighbors are smoking weed. They recently got rid of a lot of their guest parking. Fairly large for a great price! 1 lease per apartment! Washer and dryer in the units!” – Cassie, senior
- “Really good pricing if you’re sharing rooms but heating the place is crazy expensive. Your electric is probably the most expensive compared to anyone owning a house or apartment. Long story short, the electric company screwed up my electric because Whitehall electric has an apartment & house line..they charge you for both, screwed mine up and owed tons of money. The walls can be thin depending on which room you’re in.” – Jaime, junior
I’ve never actually been inside of a Whitehall Terrace apartment, but from what it sounds like, it’s a pretty good deal. The rent might be higher than I would expect for something so far from campus, but there is a bus stop right in front of the entrance.
From what our peers have said, there are going to be problems with each place. Some lack location, others are paying more than they should be, and then there’s the issue of parking. It’s all about what you can afford and where you feel most comfortable. Deciding on where to live involves many factors including price, location, accessability, resources they offer, number of roommates and safety. I definitely suggest having a parent go with you when looking for places to live so that they also feel comfortable with you living there. I know that when I brought my mom with me to University Oaks, she said that I would be paying too much for what I was getting…and she was right. Do your research and ask around to see what people have liked and not liked about places! Hopefully having all of this information laid out makes it easier to compare!