Mesa Nueva

I've really liked living in Mesa Nueva. My 2BR/2BA feels spacious and I have my own bathroom. I have the non-master bedroom, which is pretty small, but the common area is plenty big for my desk. There isn't a ton of storage space, however. It's so nice to have a washer and dryer in our unit. The internet is super fast, the cable package has everything, and the only utility we pay is electricity. I like living so close to campus–I can be at the door of my lab in 7 minutes on my bike. The pub, coffee place, and food trucks are so great to have inside the complex. All of this for much cheaper than market rate.

First, the good:
- Cheaper than other off-campus housing nearby.
- Close to UCSD, 20 minutes walking distance.
- In-unit washer and dryers.
- Fast internet speeds (1 Gbps ethernet, wireless depends on your device, ~200-400 Mbps).
- (Soon-ish!) Trolley line will be built near here!
- A lot of amenities around the community (a lot are difficult to use now thanks to COVID-19), including a pool and exercise equipment. I can't comment on their quality due to COVID-19 keeping me from using them.
- Food vendors come on site on a rotating basis, and they're pretty good!
- Office staff are friendly and responsive!
- Washer and dryer are modern.
- Walls appear thick, don't hear much of neighbors.
- Places to hang bicycles outside the unit!

The meh:
- Internet is provided by Spectrum, which has had hiccups in the past. It also uses Carrier Grade NAT (or something like it), making it impossible to do port forwarding.
- Closet space is OK. Not great, just OK. Master walk-in closet is alright.
- Bathrooms are gigantic. Just... why? I would rather have had more space in the rest of the home.
- Oven and fridge are old and/or barebones.
- No AC, and can't install AC units on windows. Summer was uncomfortable, but fall and winter thus far have been great!
- Kitchen storage space is on the smaller side.

The bad:
- Really difficult to move in, depending on which building you are. E.g. If moving into Marea, there's no good way to park nearby and move things inside without either rolling them a long distance or carrying them up a lot of stairs.
- Policies appear to be written assuming that residents are relatively inept, and thus there are more restrictions in terms of what can and cannot be done, compared to a regular rent agreement for off-campus housing.
- Another possible downside is that university housing is only available for up to 2 years, for the regular student. One exception is that if you were offered Student Housing Opportunity Recruitment Enhancement (SHORE), housing is available for longer (5 or 6 years? I'm not sure exactly off the top of my head).
- No pets, although I see a lot of dogs around...
- Not a lot of storage space.
- A lot of bicycle thefts on campus...

In summary: I enjoy living here, it's cheaper than any alternatives, but there are caveats. I hope to be able to explore more of the area once COVID-19 is gone.

This review is based on three years in a studio apartment in the Cresta building of Mesa Nueva, starting just after the building finished construction. I've left out the pandemic-related changes, which hopefully are temporary.

I don't have much experience with other apartments, so my expectations may be too high.

# The apartment

## Good

* It's new. Everything is clean and functional.

* I've never heard any noises from the adjacent apartments, except the occasional under-sink food waste grinder running.

* An Ethernet port is available for Internet access.

* Furniture is included: bed, desk, chair, drawers, table, and two stools.

* Although the apartment is small, there's a good amount of storage space under the bed and in a large shelf above the kitchen.

* My particular apartment faces south and has good views of sunsets.

## Bad

* No dishwasher or microwave oven provided

* The bathroom exhaust fan appears to turn on and off randomly. I don't know if this is intentional.

* The vent hood above the stove doesn't connect to the outside, so it's useless for removing smoke.

* The refrigerator has a top-freezer configuration, which requires bending down to access the refrigerator compartment.

* The provided desk has a horizontal bar at knee level, which makes it difficult to position my legs comfortably.

* The provided chair is not very comfortable.

# The building

## Good

* No surveillance cameras

* Waste disposal: Landfill waste and recycling can be taken to a room on each floor and dumped into chutes.

* The building doesn't force everyone to funnel into one entrance. There are three stairways. Anyone can climb the central stairway or use the elevators. With a keycard, residents can enter the building at either end stairway.

* Easy access to the central campus (about 5 minutes by bicycle)

* Reasonably easy walking access to MTS bus stops

* Laundry facilities have enough capacity and are reliable. The machines accept quarters or credit/debit cards. They charge $1 per wash cycle and $1.25 per dry cycle.

## Bad

* Waste disposal: No easy way to handle compost

* Since August 2020, the doors leading from the central stairway to the hallways on each floor have been locked. This means I have to insert my keycard, remove my keycard, and enter a 4-digit number first to get into the hallway, and *again* to get into my apartment. This is very inconvenient.

# Packages and mail

## Good

* Incoming packages from UPS, FedEx, DHL, and other carriers come directly to the mail room and are available for pickup soon after the carriers deliver them.

* Mail room opening hours are good.

## Bad

* Incoming USPS packages first go into the university-wide mail system, which then takes 1-2 extra days to get them to Mesa Nueva so you can pick them up. This process doesn't work on weekends, so anything that USPS delivers on a Saturday or Sunday won't be available to pick up until Monday.

* The mail room doesn't accept outgoing shipments. For about a year they did, but then they took away this important service. Even when they opened a new, larger mail room they did not resume handling outgoing packages. This means I have to take my packages to the campus mailing center or a shipping carrier's location. This is a difficult task for large packages when you don't have a car.

# Utilities

## Good

* Everything is included in the rent, no extra bills or relationaships to worry about

* The Internet connection is fast, and a working Ethernet port is provided

## Bad

* The Internet connection could be more reliable (although it's a lot better than it was in 2017).

# Amenities

## Good

* I haven't used any of these amenities, but they look very nice: pool, 2 hot tubs, fitness centers, playgrounds

# Management

## Good

* I received a Student Housing Option for Recruitment Enhancement (SHORE) offer, which allowed me to use the University housing for basically as long as it takes to

Great place and good price !

Mesa Nueva housing is a very safe and comfortable place to live. The only downside is its price but it's still relatively cheap compared to more expensive housing options around this area.

Could've been a bit more spacious!

I lived in the studio on my own for about 8 months, and another 8 months with my wife. Alone, it is perfect. Large enough that space is not an issue, but small enough to clean and maintain regularly, and comes furnished. It is also walking (~15 min) distance to campus. With my wife, it no longer feels spacious, but still plenty of room, and the fridge is big enough to hold groceries for us for weeks. As a place to live for 2 years while getting my graduate degree, I couldn't ask for more.

I live in a studio at Mesa Nueva Cresta. The studios come furnished with a bed & mattress, side table, dresser, dining table with 2 stools, desk & chair with table lamp, stovetop with oven, and refrigerator. The monthly rent is $873 which includes water, trash, gas, electricity, cable, internet, parking, and gym access. With a floor size of 275 sq. ft., the room might seem a little small, nevertheless, it is quite comfortable and very well ventilated. It doesn’t have air conditioning, but that has not been an issue. The internet has also worked great so far. The parking lot is very close to the apartments. There is a lot of storage space on top of the kitchen which makes it really convenient. The full refrigerator and queen size bed is quite nice. Although the kitchen counter space is minimal, the dining table is very large and can be used if extra space is required. There is no microwave oven, which can be an inconvenience sometimes. There are laundry rooms on every alternate floor and the trash chute on every floor makes it super easy to dispose of waste without having to go down to the ground floor every time. There is a campus shuttle stop just in front of the apartments, which makes travel to campus very convenient. There is also an Amazon locker nearby from where packages can be collected as per one's convenience. Overall, Mesa Nueva is a wonderful place to stay.

Amazing atmosphere!!