Gateway Apartments

This complex was built in 1973, so I get all those complaints about how old the buildings are, because that’s exactly what they are. The complex overall isn’t aesthetically pleasing, but that doesn’t bother me at all considering the cheap rent. If you’re looking for a beautiful building, look somewhere else. Pros: • Closer to campus than Colorado, and I don’t mind having to use the UT Shuttle—you just have to keep an eye on the arrival times. • All utilities and laundry are included in your rent. • Spacious apartments (I live in a 1-bedroom and I’m more than pleased with the size). • For me, a huge pro is that we have a tennis court and a basketball court that almost no one uses. • When you arrive at your new apartment, it’s clean and pest-free. • It’s a very quiet place since it’s grad student housing. • You have restaurants and bars nearby. Cons: • Depending on the location of your apartment, you’ll basically need to hike to do laundry or check your mailbox. • Again, not very fancy-looking buildings, and the kitchen/dining area may lack lighting. • I saw a few comments on Reddit that worried me about break-in attempts, but so far I haven’t heard of anything here. Besides, I checked an app that reports crimes and nothing is reported in this complex.

This place has all the space, freedom, and access to goods and services that I could possibly need. Compared to the dorms, it is significantly less expensive and noisy. I live by myself, so I also have the privacy and opportunities to make my own choices, customize my living arrangements, and exercise time management skills. It really exposes me some of the responsibilities and freedoms of adulthood. I cannot give perfect feedback about community life, since I have not participated in it too much, but of the events I did go to, just about everyone is friendly and/or relatable. My main complaints are with appliances breaking (e.g., the toilet flapper disconnecting from the chain, leaks from apartments on higher floors, random puddles of water after heavy rain, etc.), and bugs. Namely, crickets, roaches, and strawberry seed beetles. I have spotted live roaches multiple times in the bathroom, but the main point of entry is the gap underneath the apartment's front door. By treating the baseboards, vents, and any other points of entry, I believe that that will at least minimize problems with bugs.

I like to call this place a commie block, because that's basically what it is. It's subsidised housing for UT students, and, even if the layout isn't the prettiest, the apartments themselves are reasonably spacious and the location is perfectly placed between UT and all sorts of amenities like restaurants, bars, grocery stores, outdoors activities, and others. If you do get a place here, I'd say probably go for it.

This community is okay-ish. Pros: The rent is cheaper than other apartments. The floor plans are good and the space is large. People living here are mostly Ph.D. students at UT, so unlike on-campus housing with college students, there are not many loud party events here. The maintenance is good and fast. Water is included in the rent. Cons: The buildings here are too old. If you live on the first floor, you can always hear the footsteps from upstairs. If your upstairs neighbor is jumping, then you are screwed up. The A/C compressor is installed at the roof of each building's staircase. It is so loud that every tenant in that building can hear the deep working sound of A/C. Also, it is close to the railways, so you can hear the sound of trains at the midnight. The vent in the bathroom seems connected to you neighbor's so that when they take a shower, you can smell their shampoo and body wash. Overall, if you can choose other communities, please choose them.

The apartments are good, albeit a bit small and old. The management (UHD) is the main issue, lacking transparency in decision making, having almost no communication about important changes, and having turned this into a dorm style living rather than apartments. Families are not allowed to live in these apartments. It used to be a great place to live, now it's no longer so. The living guide agreement keeps changing, like randomly banning pole lamps, then unbanning them. Now, they are going to randomly pair roommates and not offer a choice. Overall, if you are a grad student not wanting to sacrifice privacy and autonomy, stay elsewhere.