Does anyone have any experiences with renting/living in apartment complexes in Salt Lake City, Utah?

Question

We are currently living in Tampa, FL, and we have owned our own homes for the past 8-9 years. We are relocating to Salt Lake City at the end of the year (for my job),and since it's such a big change, we just want to rent initially...

Everytime I find an apartment complex that seems to fit our needs, I go to apartmentratings.com, and the rating are always horrible! I'm sure that people who take the time to go to apartmentratings.com are probably the ones with problems, but could they all be that bad??

We want to stay in Salt Lake City proper...either in the downtown area, or East of downtown (in Millcreek, the Foothills, or Cottonwood areas), and not any further than South Salt Lake (Murray). We will want a 2 bedroom and we do have small dogs.

Most of the concerns that I've now read about deal with: noisy renters, lack of response to maintenace problems, crime, people not cleaning up after dogs, etc.

If anyone has any apartment renting experience in these areas, good or bad, I'd love to hear from you!

Answer 1

Actually, I have lived on the west side my entire life and the advantage is that most of the buildings are newer. There are plenty of townhome style rentals that are pretty new - I think even in Murray, but the majority are in South Jordan, West Jordan, and Riverton.

Don't go to South Salt Lake, Rose Park or anything in 84116,84119 or so. those are the areas with more crime.

If you choose the east side, you pretty much want to stay above 10th east. If you choose the west side, you want to live in the newer developments, which are very nice and have nice shopping centers nearby. Daybreak is one alot of people like and it is on the west side.

Also, if you want to be in the downtown area there are some cool places now near the Gateway area. I don't know if any of them are rentals, but they are loft type condo's and stuff. There is also a complex called "Palladio" right in the mix of everything.

Answer 2

There are some good apartments in the millcreek/holladay area. I can't remember of the exact name of the one I'm thinking of, but it is in Olympus Cove (holladay area). Its REALLY nice looking. there are also some people in that area that are renting their house (its a REALLY nice house, maybe a little bigger than you want though). I also know there are some people in the cottonwood/murray area (next to cottonwood high. Its not quite murray) who are renting their houses (don't know their names though). I worked for some people who rented a 5 bedroom 3 story house in cottonwood for like $2,000 per month. So if you wanted a 2 bedroom, it would be much cheaper.

I don't recommend Foot Hill Place. Lots of druggies. Downtown is pretty expensive, but you can get some nice little apartments or small houses for rent in the area around the University (like 1300 E around 100-400 South).

Another place you might want to look would be Sugarhouse. The houses and apartment there are usually the smaller ones (so the 2-3 bedroom rather than 5 bedroom)

I wouldn't pay too much attention to apartmentratings.com

I found my apartment in Logan from them, and the ratings were horrible. People said the landlord was a dirtbag, neighbors were noisy, etc and I have yet to experience ANY of those things. In fact, its quite the opposite.

Try looking for a townhouse rather than an apartment. I think that sounds like more of what you are looking for, and they are basically the same price.

when you do go to buy, I highly recommend the Olympus Cove neighborhood, as well as the Harvard/Yale area in Sugarhouse.

Answer 3

There are wonderful apartments waiting for you.  You can not do this online.  You have to go in person.  Ask the neighbors if they are happy living there. They will tell you.  and you will see if there are barking dogs or loud music next door.

Answer 4

Amy B, I moved from Utah to North Carolina last year, so I'm not sure who I could contact to assist you. Here is a resource of apartments in Utah that you can call. http://www.findanapartmentonline.com/Uta... I'm sure someone can help you.



Good Luck!

Answer 5

You definitely want to stay on the east side... Cottonwood, Sugarhouse, the Avenues, and Foothill is probably the best.  You can rent a decent house in Sugarhouse for probably the same as you would pay for an apartment.  A lot of the houses in Sugarhouse are older, but many are remodeled on the inside.  Cottonwood is all right, and if you like to ski it is good because it's close to Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude.  But during the winter the commute might be a pain because of all the ski traffic, since there are limited roads in and out.  Foothill is also nice, but it is very close to the U of U, so you may have to deal with noisy college kids for neighbors.  The Avenues is also very nice, but it's a little more on the expensive side.  Depending on where you will be working, you may want to pick an area that is closer.  Where are you going to work?  

Also, Sugarhouse has a big park nearby, and since you have dogs, it might be nice to be near a dog-friendly area.  Crime isn't too big of an issue... I have heard of a few cars being broken into, but just make sure you take your valuables into the house at night.  Crime becomes a little more frequent the further west and south you go.  I would definitely recommend staying on the east bench.. it's close to downtown, it's a nice area, and it's close enough to the highway to make commuting a little easier.