I had found a roomate at UCR during graduate school that also needed a place, so we drove around and found this place nestled in the hills of canyon crest. The 2 bedroom townhomes (yes townhome, so expect 1.5 bathrooms, NOT 2 FULL bathrooms) are great, are 2 stories @ 1250sq ft, and are a very good size. The kitchen is open to the living and dining areas, which is great. For being built around 1974, these were ultra luxury back in the day. So someone knew what they were doing by not closing the kitchen off.
After 2 years there, I got married and my wife and I moved into a 1 bedroom unit, which we really enjoyed. They have high vaulted ceilings in the living room, and are 750 sq ft, which is a great size for a 1 bedroom unit. The bathroom is nicely arranged, as visitors don't have to go into your bedroom to use it. But it can still be closed off from the dining and living areas with a door. So that opens into a vanity area with sink, mirror, lighting and plenty of cabinet and linen closet space. The bathroom and bedroom is on either side of this vanity.
I would say the only downer, which really isn't a problem unless you're trying to really pinch pennies, is that during the hot months (i.e. over 100 degrees) if you want your place to be cool, you have to have your AC on all the time. The vaulted ceilings don't offer much insulation from the hot sun, so the living room won't get cool if you just come home and throw the AC on. You just have to have it on all day with the blinds closed. Come on, if YOU decide to live in the desert, don't be a cheapass, then blame the management for your apartment taking forever to cool down when you get home!
They are older apartments, but they maintain them very very well. Upgrades are always being done, from exterior painting, to resurfacing, to repaving parking lots and driveways, to remodeling the amenity common areas, as well as resurfacing basketball and tennis courts. The landscaping is very nice as well. Work orders are handled very efficiently, and the onsite handyman is great. As with any situation involving management who 99% of the time hears complaints and "i need this or that fixed", as long as you're sensitive to that and you're nice and sweet, management will be more than willing to help and will be nice and sweet in return.
Overall, a great place to live. An easy, flat 5 min bike ride to the UCR campus. Will be an even better location once the UCR medical school is built. Lots of working professionals and even several professors at UCR and CSUSB and RCC live here. Starbucks and a local coffee shop around the block, as well as the other little shops in this quaint little canyon crest shopping center. A nice place to be able to just walk over to, especially with the price of gas these days ;-)
I hope this has been helpful, especially to people moving from out of state to this area for graduate school at UCR. Whatever you do, just don't live on the West or North side of the campus (i.e. Iowa St., Linden St., North Caynon Crest areas). Most of the UCR crime alerts happen in these areas.

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