I will be moving to St. Louis in a couple of months, and I can honestly say that I am going to miss living at Campusview (formerly College Park). After reading some very scary consumer reviews about several apartment complexes in St. Louis, I'm not sure I'll find a place there that will compare to the excellent experience I've had here at Campusview.

I moved in two years ago, just as management was changing hands (now owned by Mills Properties). Since then, there have been continuous improvements made to the complex. Right now they are replacing the outside drainage gutters on the roofs of all of the buildings, and they just resurfaced the basketball court. The pool area has also been refurbished this summer.

I have lived in both of the two types of apartments at Campusview. My first year here, I lived in a four-bedroom apartment, and I currently live in a two-bedroom (which I like even better). My roommate and I are contiuously amazed at the excellent customer service we have received here. We got new carpet in the bedrooms before we moved in our two-person apt last summer, and they also gave us brand new furniture and new matresses for the beds (all of the apartments here are fully furnished). Probably all of the apartments have had already gotten new furniture as well or will have new furniture fazed sometime in the next year.

Anytime something breaks or needs fixing, the maintenance men are always very quick to respond. We usually have the problem fixed within several hours. When maintenance comes to the apartment they are so courteous and respectful, always asking us if there's anything else to be fixed and telling us to have a great day, etc.

There is a washer/dryer in all of the apartments. We had some problems with the w/d set in our last apt (the four-person one), but here in the two-person, the w/d have worked great the whole time. In any case, like I said before, if there was a problem the maintenance would be on it right away. And it is soooo nice to have your own washer and dryer, especially if you do laundry a lot. From my recent apartment searching in St. Louis, I've found that apparently having a w/d inside your own apartment unit that you don't have to share with others in the building is much less common. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have my own here and still pay such reasonable rent.

Another nice thing is there is free cable (actually I'm sure the price is somehow figured in to the price of rent). But it's nice to have one less bill to pay, and we've never had a problem with our cable service. Even if there was a problem with cable, it would not be the fault of management, it would be an issue with the cable company.

The appliances are a little older, but they all work fine. One time we had a problem with the ice maker leaking in the fridge, but it was fixed right away. At least we had an ice maker. The refrigerators are smaller than the typical fridge, and so if you have four people trying to share one, it can get difficult. Some people like to have their own mini-fridge in their room and that helps the problem. With two people though, the fridge size is fine. I think at the last apartment one of the stove top burners didn't work, but we never needed to use all four at one time anyway. The microwaves are small and a little old, but I have never had a problem with either of the ones I've had at both apartments, and it was nice not to have to buy my own microwave.

Another thing I like about Campusview is the outdoor amenities, such as the pool, tennis courts, etc. All are kept in great condition by the grounds crew. They also have FREE tanning, which is so great, it will be hard to make myself actually pay for tanning in the future. There is one tanning bed that you have to make an appointment for, but it's not hard to make an appointment. All you have to do is call the office. The girls in the office are always very polite and friendly --- and this is definitely something I have not heard about office staff at other apartment complexes.
Jenny is the general manager of the complex and she should receive credit for how friendly and helpful she is and for setting a good example for the rest of the staff.

Also, you will be glad you live somewhere with a pool when summer comes. The pool here is rarely very busy in the morning or early afternoon, and I always feel comfortable there. I think Campusview has probably the largest pool of the three or four big apartment complexes in Columbia that do. I've been to two others and they are not as big and do not have as much deck space or seating. I know a lot of people who don't live at a place that has a pool, and they end up having to sneak into the pools of places like Campusview if they want to go swimming. This is pretty annoying to me, since I actually pay to live here and they don't, but the office tries to prevent people from sneaking in by requiring residents to have pool passes.

The grounds here seem to be very well maintained also. During the summer, the lawnmowing crew is here once every week. Sometimes they start around 8:00 in the morning with the loud mowers, and it can wake you up, but like I said that is only one day a week and if you have class or a job you have to be up for anyway it shouldn't be a bother.

There is a lot of parking here, but this can vary depending on what part of the development you live in. Where I live now, which is in the back near the tennis courts, there is an over abundance of parking. When I lived in the very front of the complex last year, it was a little more difficult to find a spot really close to the building but nonetheless it was no big deal to walk an extra 30 feet to get to the building.

I have had a job a local college bar that I've had for the past three years, and at least once a week I have to come home really late, like around 2:00 in the morning. Never once have I felt unsafe in the parking lot here coming home late at night. Being a girl, this was something I had been worried about at first, but the grounds are really well lit, and I really don't even think twice about coming home late anymore.

One of the more negative aspects of living here is that there is a bit of a spider problem. The management hires exterminators each spring to spray all of the apartments for bugs, but I still bought a can of spider spray to get rid of the spiders I come across. Luckily, I have yet to find one in my own bedroom, but I have seen them in the shower and high up on the walls near the ceilings in the living room and laudry closet. In all fairness, I have had spider problems at other places I have lived as well. So this is probably more of a climate issue than an issue that has to do with the apartment complex.

Living here has been above and beyond better than we thought it would be. At the time of our moving in, there were several newer (and consequently more expensive) places that had just been built. But we chose to live here instead and I'm glad. I have heard that parking is a nightmare at the newer places, and that their apartments are known for flooding.

One more thing I should add is that in both apartments I have lived in here I have lived on the top floor (third floor is top in the 4-person and second floor is top in the 2-person). So we have had nice open living rooms due to the vaulted ceilings (with ceiling fans). Therefore, I'm not sure how bad noise is from people living above because I've never lived below anyone. I would definitely recommend living on top floor, however, b/c the vaulted ceilings do create a roomier feel (the model apt. they show to potential residents is on a bottom floor). Ask to see one w/ a vaulted ceiling if possible.

The noise on weekends can be kind of loud, since it's all college students, but that's to be expected. Not really a big deal though, unless there's a big party or something which is pretty rare. And sometimes we could hear our ajoining neighbor next to us bumping his music really loud, and that was annoying for trying to study, but again it didn't happen all that often and didn't go on for long in each instance.

Another thing is the leases here are separate for each person, so no worries if someone moves out and doesn't pay their rent. It won't affect you.

All in all, I have loved living here. It's close to everything (less than a mile from Wal-Mart, McDonald's, gas stations, restaurants, etc.) It's only about 1 mile from campus as well, so commuting to class is no big deal. I think they even have a shuttle bus from here to campus if you don't have a car.

The staff is friendly, prompt and courteous. I just wanted to say something nice about it here since they have been so great to me during my time here. And especially because there were some negative things said in the other reviews. I don't think you could find a better deal in Columbia if you want a furnished apartment that's close to everything. Save your money and live here because from what I've heard from friends and classmates, the brand new places are not all they're cracked up to be.

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