I have just graduated from the University of Illinois. I lived at Country Fair from August 2005 through July 2006.

PARKING here is ample and free. My wife and I have two cars sitting in the lot, and I have never had a problem finding a parking space next to our building.

I have had FEW PROBLEMS WITH NOISE. While loud sounds can travel outside the door to the apartment, noises are muffled enough to not enter through other doors, meaning I can't hear my across-the-hall neighbors' loud music until I leave. My neighbors below me sometimes have their bass up too high on their TV, but are nice enough to turn it down when I ask.

The LANDSCAPING here is great, especially compared to apartments closer to campus. Country Fair has a full-time landscaper. Plenty of large shady trees, and well maintained flower beds and shrubs. Plenty of squirrels and ground squirrels make their homes here, and even a groundhog. The center of the complex even has a small playground with a see-saw and swingset.

My wife and I both feel VERY SAFE living here. She routinely goes for walks at night, even after midnight, by herself. Lighting here is adequate, and I can't recall seeing anything I would deem suspicious.

The CONSTRUCTION of the apartments seem pretty good to me. I have no real experience with determinging what is structurally sound, but everything seems pretty solid. As a side perk, the water here is very good and does not require filtering to eliminate the bad taste, as my previous on-campus apartment did. My only complaints are that there are wall-unit Air Conditioners as opposed to central air, and you cannot use Dran-O on a clogged drain and must call for a maintenance person to unclog it.

That brings me to MAINTENANCE, which I have not had any problems with. Every couple of months they do preventative insecticide spraying-and as a result I've only seen 1 ant my entire stay here, and only a few ladybugs, who got in though our windows. I once called to report that a bannister in our stairwell had been snapped, apparently by someone resting something very heavy on it. The bannister was repaired within 2 days. Also, our shower drain eventually got clogged (hair will do that). I called to report this at 4:30 pm, and a serviceman came by the next day at 11 am, and had our drain working like new within 20 minutes.

The OFFICE STAFF has always been courteous with me. I suppose I don't deal with them very often, as I pay my rent 6 months at a time. However, they seemed courteous when I was looking to move in here, and whenever I came into the office during the year, probably something like 4 times. Perhaps there is a really cranky lady who everyone else seems to run into resulting in all these negative reviews.

Overall, this is an EXCELLENT place to live. for a 750 sq ft 1 BR apartment, this price can't be beat. The value of a 2BR is even better, and if I had a little bit more money I would have gone with that. The apartment complex is adjacent to 4 separate bus routes, and the Champaign-Urbana bus service is excellent- and free for students. There are 4 grocery stores within 6 blocks, and Kaufman Lake (a nice little lake with a path around it and fishing) is just to the west. You could live here without a car easily- I did for 5 months.

One negative is that the free satellite television here is a bit fritzy, and as a result I ordered cable.

I highly recommend this apartment complex.

User Responses
From: spammurabi	Date: 06/21/2006
I would like to add that my apartment was on the 3rd floor of our building, and near the center of the complex, which may be part of why my opinions of some features (e.g. noise, grounds, parking) of the complex may be different from other people's.
From: happyjeans	Date: 11/17/2006
Probably because you never had to deal with the stuck up attitudes of the staff here. They really need a reality check, for the way these buildings look, they need to check themselves! Someone should print these comments out and give it to them so they can get embarassed. I just might.

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