Collegetown Terrace

Good enough

Some units are much better than others in the complex. Make sure to secure housing early. My unit is more dorm style with a small bedroom, then shared amenities including kitchen, bathroom, shower, etc.

Collegetown Terrace (CTT)'s strength is its location and gym facilities. It is located between collegetown and downtown, so you can walk to anywhere except for malls (Walgreen, Ithaca mall..). However, bus station is near the apartment and you can also use the shuttle. This place is good for students without cars! However, as many people mentioned, it has noise problem and the rent is quite expensive if you don't have roommates. Also, internet connection is weak.

My apartment in CTT is totally adequate. It's overpriced for a studio but it's reasonably nice and close to campus and to downtown.

Good location and amenities

Not the best place to live in the city, nor the cheapest (definitely). However, if you don't know the area well, management responsivity is good and will be a good choice for your first year.

CTT is in a great location and you are surrounded by so many of your classmates. However, there is a running joke that the apartments are a "prison cell", at least the 3b/3b. For example, the windows don't really open and are generally inaccessible (given furniture placement). You do feel boxed in. also, the 3b/3b living room isn't really accommodating to hosting parties and the kitchen is super small.

recommend living in the 2b/2b

I've been living here for 4 years now during my PhD. I love the amenities (especially the gym) and the location --- both downtown and collegetown/campus are easily accessible either on foot, by TCAT or by the shuttle provided by the apartment, with service to Wegmans for grocery shopping on Sundays! Rent is a bit high and living alone as a PhD student is hard to afford but living with roommates is very affordable in my experience. Management has been very responsive to me and I never had any major problem in the building I live (120 Valentine Pl.). My only complaint is that there is no good soundproofing between rooms and/or apartments. However, this is has not been a terrible problem for me since I've never had a loud roommate/neighbor.

Close to campus with shuttle bus
Most of things are convenient

Sometimes can hear noise from neighbours.