University Village

If you have a pressing need to know what some of the gas meters on the side of the building look like (mayo), well, wiki is here for you.

Location

625 Cantrill Drive

(East Davis, off 5th St. near the Davis Police Department)

Office Hours

Mon-Fri 10am-5:30pm

Sat 10am-5pm

Contact

(866) 865-0367 (Only works in California)

(530) 753-2440 (Works anywhere)

Management@ExperienceUVDavis.com

Website

ExperienceUVDavis.com

LiveUCD.com

Features

Pets allowed with deposit, and also allowed in the roommate matching program

Central heat/air

Washer/dryer

Dishwasher/garbage disposal/microwave

Patio/balconies

Covered parking ($50 a month)

Ethernet Internet FREE

Computer lab

Handicapped access in first floor units

Fitness center w/ Stand Up Tanning

BBQ area

Volleyball court

Pool/hot tub

Billiards

Free bike rentals

University Village is a large apartment complex in East Davis. It has been under new management since November 2007; new staff bios were available March 2008 on their website. They have been struggling with a legacy of wild parties during the previous management and ownership, during which time it was named "Sterling University Vista Apartments". They were the site of the infamous Davis riot that broke out on Picnic Day in 2004.

University Village offers three-and four-bedroom units, with a rent range of $1,950/month to $2,500/month with a $400 pet deposit. There are also individual bedroom rentals on a limited basis for approx $650, plus $50 for utilities.

The new owners and management seem to be pushing a "luxury dorm" setting, with a computer lab with printer (*New printer installed February 2009), game room, pool table that can be reserved overnight with a small deposit, sand volleyball court, internet ports in the apartments, a DVD library (with over 700 titles), free stand up tanning and a calendar in which the management tends to plan one thing a month such as breakfast, cupcakes and events. They also have a pool shaped like a VW Bug, a hot tub (*heating element replace February 2009, now a relaxing 104 degrees) and a fitness center (temperature set to 69 degrees year-round) open 24/7.

Although most complexes in Davis tend to lower prices as the academic year approaches depending on vacancies. It's advised that people be wary of claims for a room in a matching program is "the last one left". It may be the last one in the apartment they are currently filling, but according to the management, new apartments are opened as needed so if you want a room in a matching program, it is a better option to wait until September and then take advantage of reduced rent and bonus incentives. As long as someone wants a spot, a spot will open, but if there is an empty room in the apartment University Village can fill it at their discretion and you may or may not like your new room mate. This is also a good reason to try to check out who your roommates will be before actually moving in. If you are moving into a roommate matching program room later in the year, there is a good chance you will be able to know who is living there before signing the lease because the majority of people will have already moved in and signed their leases. Just remember that there might not be any openings!!!

Rumor also has it that the previous management foresaw this situation and abandoned ship when they realized that parking as well as proximity to campus was going to hurt leases from being signed. Many individuals have also complained of cheap workmanship... there are many issues that an architect should have addressed but obviously did not do anything. There have been many complaints about unresponsive management (particularly about Marie, the manager- see below). Also, the parking is 'tandem' meaning it is one long parking space that you share with your other four roommates and their four cars. This means you have to park behind each other and go ask the other lucky person who managed to get the free tandem spot to move. There are about six visitor spots for ALL of the residents and their visitors to share, but there appear to be many many unrented and unused parking spots around the property that you get towed from if you park in them.

• See our Housing Guide for more information on affordable housing in Davis, and our Apartments page for a thorough list of complexes within Davis.

Comments:

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• Reviews prior to the 2007 Management change

2007-12-01 11:47:46   I just wanted to say that things have really cooled down here since the first month. From what I can tell Marie is either gone or on leave for a while. Regardless, the only complaint I have now is about parking because there isn't any and the tandem spots are so difficult to coordinate. My roommate who parks in the tandem spot is a WyoTech student, and he goes to sleep early at night and leaves quite early in the morning, so he has to park in the rear spot of the tandem space. Oh well. The place has been fine and they even fixed our water pressure. I am glad that we are getting newsletters, it just seems like they are coming out every time they want to come in and inspect or something. I am much less stressed out about this place for now. —ColinMcEnroe

2008-01-02 16:49:30   No Matter what you do when looking for a new place to live, DO NOT LIVE HERE. Management is absolutely terrible. Once you sign your lease they will completely ignore any issues you might have with your apartment. It took 6 months for them to take care of my apartment issues. Also, there are only 2 parking spots assigned per apartment even though 4 people live in each. So the other 2 people are just screwed because the visitor parking is always full. Paying almost $700 a month for a tiny room without guaranteed parking and management that couldn't care less about you once you sign your lease is just not worth it. DON'T SIGN A LEASE WITH THEM NO MATTER WHAT. —zxcvb

2008-01-17 11:19:39   I must admit that things have gotten a lot better around here. Marie is gone for one thing, so the office feels quite a bit less hostile now. I didn't go in there for a couple of months because I did not want to see her even a little bit. The management seems to be trying to actively better this place in terms of service and quality of tenants. I just spoke with the maintenance guy (who, if you haven't talked to him yet, you should because he is so nice) and he said that vandalism is sporadic now. I have also noticed quite a bit less partying, but when there is a party, it doesn't seem to leave an apartment too often like it did in the past.

There is also talk about Wyotech being completely phased out of the complex by next year. They were for a while thinking about putting them all in one building, and also thinking about offering Wyotech a deal to rent two whole floors to them and then let them manage it themselves, but I think there has been a very negative attitude about these plans simply because the vandals would leave their own two floors to have their fun rather than risk paying damages. Perhaps when Wyotech is out the shared tandem parking will be possible (i.e. people who don't leave at 6:30 AM will not have to be in the front spot to let the other person leave).

In other news, since the big power outage, building six's internet (or at least in my apartment) has been incredibly slow. Ping time to www.yahoo.com seems to be on average 1300ms. I don't think the office is planning on calling tech support, so we have to do it ourselves. If I am not mistaken, the number for Track Computers (our ISP) is 925-426-8725. I will give them a call and post an update. —ColinMcEnroe

2008-01-17 12:16:40   (With all the talk about WyoTech, you'd think there would be an entry about it). —JabberWokky

2008-01-17 13:14:41   I called the tech support, but no one was there. —ColinMcEnroe

2008-01-27 23:55:45   Collin,

I had tried calling Track Computers on more than one occasion about the slow internet. When I managed to speak to someone, he was pretty nice but did nothing to help with the horrible speed and general uselessness of the internet. I would recommend Comcast over their internet if you have the money. —BrandonMinow

2008-02-13 00:11:47   Actually the internet has been a bit faster lately. I think there were some rather serious issues after our big storm earlier this year and they have resolved whatever was giving me 1500ms pings from yahoo.

Now the complex and the tenants need to find a way to secure the property, as there have been a rash of burglaries in the last month. Apparently people have not been good about keeping their doors locked, and people have had things stolen from them while they are home and in their rooms. Of course it sounds like the DPD has been much less than helpful in taking reports from people. I can't believe I have to think about buying bike locks to use inside my own apartment. —ColinMcEnroe

2008-04-30 19:46:29   Though I do not live at UVD, I must say that the parking is kind of annoying. There are never any spots to park and I know that many of the residents don't even have a spot which makes no sense. Before the beginning of the new year parking did not seem to be a problem until they started to assign spots. Anyway I hope they are able to resolve this soon. Lastly the internet is still very slow. —AnneKabala

2008-05-12 01:21:16   I used to lived here for 3 years, eventually the rent got too expensive, time to go. Anyway, the place does look nice from outside, however, yes, the management is irresponsible or super low speed, I don't know if it's still the same management but not my problem any more; but what really anger me the most is that they lied, when I moved in, it was when this place was 1st built, everything all new, although the noise from next room gets into your ear pretty easily as if no wall there at all but thin line of paper(cheap material maybe), anyway one thing that really attract my attention was that they said they have high speed internet included in the rent, they used to say it's T1 Cable speed just like the one on campus(BS), then they just changed to high speed, but everybody live there(unless retarded)knows the speed is pretty much equal to dial-up, reason is I believe, every residents(a lot)in the complex share only one portal, while that portal might be fast on its own, but if more than 50 share one, it's obviously going to be slow, although during summer when hardly anyone is here, it's pretty fast(duh); anyway, if the sign at the entry still says offer High Speed, and if the internet speed is still the same slowpoke, then someone needs to die. PS: I was living there when the riot happened...fun time..NO! —Cyclonus

2008-05-16 00:18:24   I currently renewed my lease, I haven't had any problems with managment..yes the parking situation sucks but you get covered parking for 50 dollars a month and it's not an issue. Also, the price may seem steep but it includes utilities and free (but slow) internet. I'm a Davis student and the location (right next to the train tracks) takes some getting used to but all in all this is a wonderful place to live. I have a nice sized room (4 bedroom, 4 bath) layout and if anyone had any specific questions about moving to this complex I'd be more than happy to answer them so long as you put my name on the rent application ^_ as a referral! yaye money for me..and info for you <3

here's my e-mail : zbreyes@ucdavis.edu —Zaviera

2008-05-23 15:40:41   I had rent four apartments in different areas previously. But I have never seen such poor and ineffective management. I worked my application with Mani. However, she did not tell me all the criterias for filling in application and providing proofs of income. She should have considered my situation and told me more details about the materials that were needed in order to prevent confusion. The above problem wasted a lot of my precious time. She is not organized and does not reply messages and emails within a decent amount of time. This is a bug in the new mangement. Working with her this time is a failure and gives me a bad impression of the management company. —chanming

2008-05-29 12:09:18   It looks like they are doing parking lot expansion. Hooray! Hopefully this will help those of us that have too many cars and too few spots (I park downtown, though lately my roommate has been missing, so I have had parking). Lets see how well this goes. —ColinMcEnroe

2008-08-21 23:56:28   I almost signed the lease BUT, I guess I made the right decision not to. Too bad, the amenities seem very good too. Yea.....(O.o)..I'll wait a year to see how things turn out for this place, then I'll consider to live here. Hope there won't be any crazy parties over the weekends when people steal and break into my place. As for the Wyotech students, I will far away from them if they are still there. I spend too much time and effort building/taking care of my car for them to steal my precious car. YES, I love my car. Until they move out, this place will never be a place for me. Bye. —relax

2008-09-26 12:18:11   I moved into University Village this August and have lived comfortably since then. Despite the earlier negative reviews, the staff here at UV is really nice and courteous. I had some issues prior to moving in and they did all they could to accomodate my needs. It really has a college-like atmosphere (since the end of summer) and is a great place to live. The computer lab, which offers free printing, has extremely slow and outdated computers, but that's not why I chose to live here. I would recommend this place to anyone. —mjwong89

2008-10-11 03:56:29   Hrmm.. What can I say about University Village?! Well I really like this place, it's actually quite pleasant (have you not seen the landscape?!). If you compared University Village to other complexes, you can't compare, there's even a dog poopoo areas and a pool shaped like a VW Bug and a jacuzzi shaped like a jelly belly lol. WE ACTUALLY HAVE GRASS, in comparison to other places of course. Yes, internet is slow but that's why you purchase your own internet service =]. It's actually quite quiet here too, surprisingly, the noise usually dies down between 11pm-1am.. and never over..well on my side (but then my drunk roommates ahaha nvm). Scott, the repair dood, is ubber nice and always on top of things and fixes everything in reasonable time (btw his handwriting is sooooo pretty). Lusy, one of the employees, was the one who helped me and my roommates with the paperwork and any other problems we had, SHE'S AWESOMENESS!!! So we have no problems in that. I live in the 4x4 and I think it's the best configuration possible, yes it's kind of small in size 1300+ sq. ft. but nice, especially with all the appliances and our OWN potty. =] Urmm.. yea I think it's best if you moved in with people you already know because then YOU ACTUALLY KNOW THEM!!!.. =] just a thought.. o0o.. and before I forget someone needs to clean the hallways.. they are dirty.. and full of spider webs.. ewwwww so hopefully someone will clean it up =] THANKIES!!!! and if you gotz questions feel free to ask me at: tiggerandpluto@yahoo.com or trippytriptrip@hotmail.com

P.S. my apartment has no issues with parking other than people parking in our spots and boxing us in.. we only have one car now.. so yupperz.. just take the FUDGIN bus =] it's not that difficult.. —TriPpy

2008-10-24 00:28:50   THANK YOU SCOTT AND PARTNER (SORRIES I DON'T KNOW YOUR NAME) FOR CLEANING UP THE HALLWAYS.. =] ESPECIALLY MY FLOOR (4TH)... NO MORE SPIDER WEBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THOSE THINGS WERE CRAZYYY!!! ANYWAY JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU AND I JUST GOT YOUR E-MAIL ABOUT THE HALLWAYS.. =] THANK YOU AGAIN GUYS!!!!! WE GREATLY APPRECIATE YOUR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION TO GET THINGS DONE!!! & THANK YOU FOR FIXING OUR FRIDGE...sadly again... =] —TriPpy

2009-02-09 17:55:03   The management is extremely irresponsible. They do not offer any of the amenities they claimed they do. They changed their guest suite into a demonstration room to show future students and refused to allow my parents to stay while visiting like they promised. They did not give us the access key to the so called "24 hour" computer lab and gym until 3 or 4 months into our lease and therefore we did not have access to those amenities after 5 pm. They offer free printing but the printer was broken for a long period of time. The Jacuzzi spa has slimy water and no air pressure bubbles. The managers are fake and only nice to you at the time of signing or renewing a lease. Don't count on having more than two tandem spaces that come with each apartment which is also extremely inconvenient. There are absolutely no guest or street parking and two of my friends have already been towed to dixon. The "free high speed" internet is non existent and the computers at the computer lab hardly work. The amenities they claim to offer may sound attractive at the time of signing the lease but my roommates and I have certainly learned otherwise. —Skyler

2009-02-12 11:05:47   I have lived here at UV for two years now and just signed my lease for a third year. I absolutely LOVE it here. The apartments are clean, the management is awesome and super helpful and all the amenities are amazing. I would HIGHLY recommend this apartment complex to anyone who is looking. The entire complex is always super clean, the maintenance guys usually fix any problems we have within a few days, and all the management in the front office are extremely nice and helpful. They also have events alot with free food and music which is really fun. And during finals week they had a hot breakfast buffet every day! What could be better? UV is awesome. —Taylaur2

2009-02-12 20:47:05   Umm, University Village is amazing! Where else can you get a 24 gym, computer lab, pool with hot tub, sand volleyball courts, and, if requested, billiards room. This is my second and last year here, but only because I am done with school. Maintenance is AWESOME...they even helped me carry up my new flat screen...seriously, I couldn't have gotten it up by myself. Great for college students, I have met a ton of other U.C. Davis students who live there and made some great friends. If that doesn't do it for ya, the office staff is AMAZING. Each one of them knows all 500 residents by name...that is kind of impressive! They are so nice and the events that they put on usually rock! Does anyone remember the jump house and free pizza! I guarantee that if you give them a try you will NOT be disappointed. You can even have my spot, but hurry it is going to fill up fast! Parking is hard to deal with but I pay for a covered parking spot, and I don't have a problem? But parking is ridiculous EVERYWHERE in Davis! Ever tried parking down town? Univeristy Village has been my home for these past two years, and I will miss it a lot:( —ucresident

2009-02-14 21:01:46   University Village is a great place to live. Things to be aware before you decide: 1. The A line bus only comes every 31 minutes and is always packed. stupid bus........ sucks.........
2. A lot of the amenities are not true... the printer was broken for 1/2 of the year of my lease and useless. half the computers in the computer lab do not function. you cannot even open up the internet and is way to slow to even open any pdf files. i dont bother try to see if they got fixed or work anymore after trying repeatedly. the internet being free? the internet is WAY TOO SLOW FOR ANYTHING. you need to get your own internet end of story.
3. The place is very clean and maintenance is very efficient.
4. The walls are pretty thick between apartments because it seems pretty quiet vs. other places... within the apartment, i can hear everything my roommates say or do though. the walls are pretty damn thin.
5. Lusy and the other people at the office are really friendly. They even had breakfast available during finals. However... I mean we do pay our MONTLY RENTS LIKE ALL OTHER APARTMENTS and ALL AFTER ALL....
6. Don't think about stepping on the grass because there is always dog shit all over.
7. PARKING MAJORLY SUCKS HERE. compared to other places where you get at least 3 parking spaces if not 4 with 4 bedroom apartments, we only get two damn tandom parking spots for a 4 bedroom. It does not make sense... There are only a few (like 8?) for the entire place for visitor parking. My friends have gotten their cars towed even for the shortest visit.... PARKING IS STUPID RETARDED DUMB HERE. I had to vent that...

If it was closer to campus, it would be so much better... —student

2009-04-08 13:10:27   I think this is probably the worst apartment in davis, i have been living here for more than 1 year and i had so many troubles with this place and i recommend everyone stays away from university village. —flyskyisme

2009-09-03 13:44:15  It is one of the worst place to live here. i lived there from 2007-2009. I had parking issues. first they were charging me $40 for the parking/ month. but then last year you couldn't pay to extra parking. if you any friends that like to visit you, good luck with parking. when they show you around the appartment as soon as you sign the lease, i swear they have personality change. there customer service is really bad. i have seen atleast 6 employees leave or fired in the two years. somebody always puled the alarm quite frequently which was annoying loud noise you had to listen to all night until the employee fixed in the morning. last year they locked me out because they changed the lock without notify me, i had to sleep in my car. now i they are gonna charge me $35-40 because i returned the pool key 2 days late. the bus line is like 10 min walk. i often missed it. there internet is a joke. the only nice thing was the gym. so in my opnion University village is one of the worst places to live. —karam

2009-09-19 23:58:34   Just to respond to a few of the comments above; University Village management do not actually tow vehicles from spots. The people whose spots are being taken (the people who are paying for those spots) are the ones who tow. —JesBisagno

2009-10-11 23:28:26   Terrible place. Please read this comments before you choose this place. I have crazy neighbors (not roommate, but neighbor). The thickness of wall in UVD between two apartments is not so thin, in fact I didn't get any serious noise at night for one year. New neighbors came, and they are devils. They are turning music so loud. The beat sound is disturbing my all life in room, and sometimes I am sleeping in living room. Their beat sound is attacking my ears and brain!!!!!!
I asked manager about this problem. But no response, no change.
Look at. If manager drive noisy resident out of UVD, then they lose their income. Since UVD is large apartment,to fill whole room is not so easy. So managers don't care about trouble guys. —spreize

2009-10-23 17:22:32   I don't know why people say they hated it AND lived here for 2 years! you could have moved out after your lease was over. UV is not perfect, it's like every other complex, it has its goods and bads. the visitor parking sucks no doubt, and the printer does seem to be out of ink all the time. but the internet works just fine. if you are going to be downloading like crazy then you are going to think its slow. but other than that there is nothing wrong with UV. when ever I put in a work order, it gets processed in about 2 days. management is always helpful. I use the gym sometimes at 6 in the morning and its well lit. I signed my lease after talking to previous tenants who told me they were renewing their lease. So if you dont like it, stop complaining and find somewhere else to live. —Kole

2009-10-26 23:12:51   Kole, I completely agree. While the visitor parking situation is a pain, UV has some great assets. I love having a 24-hour gym on site, and the internet is completely fine for everyday browsing and schoolwork. I had a huge copy order to fill and was able to do it at the office for free. I've had extremely positive experiences with all staff members, work orders are filled promptly, and while the apartment itself feels a little on the small side (I'm in a three bedroom), it's far from the miserable living experience other users have described. —CMJohnson

2009-11-19 09:32:43   Kole and CMJohnson I agree with you both! i just moved in with my roomates into a 4bedroom and although we paid more then it says on here and people use all the ink in the printer we really love it. they have cool stuff around the complex (TANNING and a sweet gym!!) and everyone has been super helpful. we just resigned our lease for next year and I cant speak for my roomates by I will stay here until I graduate! —sarahpurcell

2009-11-19 09:35:32   i also just want to add that i tried getting into the roomate matching program and they were full. so i rented a four bedroom and got roomates. i would suggest if you are looking for a program like that to look ahead of time to save yourself a headache. Also I was told visitors can park at the dog park??—sarahpurcell