I ended up moving out after one year due to my experience here but I want to try to write a fair review because most apartments reviews I see online seem to be unnecessarily negative which can make them unhelpful for finding an apartment. I'm going to try to point out positives but bear in mind that it is much easier to recall negative experiences.
Negatives that I experienced living here:
The "lake" is covered in algae all summer and seems rather unhealthy although you are allowed to fish it.
Some members of management came off as being a little rude when dealing with them.
The ceiling above bathtub collapsed in shortly after moving in and was obviously water damaged before that.
Toilet leaked from base when I moved in and there was some water damage and warping around the base of the toilet presumably from this.
Drainage around my unit was always poor. A large puddle(pond') would cover sidewalk making it muddy most of the time. This was annoying due to the mud it caused to be tracked into the apartment.
Some of my neighbors would not even say 'hi' to you and others threw parties quite often. This caused people to loiter loudly in the breezeway and at least once urinate on my door. They also left a constant litter of beer cans and cigarette butts around the unit. The owner of the unit above me had a small dog which spent 90% of it's day barking at people passing by.
Tailgaters will park on the property. The only thing management does is put up signs stating not to but they don't really bother to enforce the rule. When moving in we were told we would receive parking passes and we never did which seems to indicate that they don't quite have it together in their management. Also I think they may plagiarize the stuff that goes into their monthly news pamphlet but I'm not sure and never looked into it so don't take my word on that, just a suspicion.
Leases end in August and the management will require you to renew around the beginning of December to keep your current rent. In my case since I did not renew early my rent would have gone up $10 if I had stayed. Something to be aware of. I'm not sure if this is standard practice to renew so early since at the only other place I stayed I rented a room in a house from a friend.
Some of these complaints could be isolated to my unit/apartment of course and I will point out that I know people in this complex that are very happy with their apartment and have no plans of moving out. Living here was by no means uncomfortable and the rent was cheap.
Positives:
Maintenance was nice. This should go in the negatives but he was not quick. This is probably due to being overworked though. All my problems were eventually fixed but less than critical ones may not be looked at for a couple days or longer. My toilet leak took a while to fix due complications caused by water damage and the warping floor.
Property is 2 miles from campus. I actually biked this distance a lot but there is a valley between campus and the apartments which makes it harder. The reactor lot is just down the hill also within walking or biking distance. My point is that it is possible to live here and not drive but it could be better.
A lot of the management is nice and easy to deal with. They do send out news pamphlets and have special events as well as give out candy for Halloween etc.
Rent is cheap especially if you split it between two people.
Management has always answered the phone when I called.
In the end I found some apartments which are much closer to campus, actually larger, more secluded, cheaper, not corporate, have nicer neighbors(mostly grad students), and have management which lives on site. Also I was actually allowed to see the unit I will move into which is something I will insist on from now on since it would have saved me from the mess that greeted me in my bathroom at forest village.
I've seen reports from several reviewers of not receiving their deposits back. I've yet to find out and I am hoping for the best.

User Responses
From: piratesjv	Date: 06/21/2009
i will be moving to the columbia area in august and will be working at the VA hospital (ima profressional) would you mind sharing the other names of good apartments you have found preferably with short term leases if available?
From: jaa6c6	Date: 06/22/2009
My last bill was ~$120
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/22/2009
I have been considering Forest Village as a possible place to live when I move to Columbia and I was wondering what the utilities usually run there?

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates