Off Campus housing

Being a student here at the University of Tennessee is a college experience that has so much to offer, and one of the best parts of that experience is moving out of the dorms your sophomore year. Knoxville offers may different options for off campus housing that are all mostly cheaper than living in the dorms. I know that personally off campus housing was a necessity because I brought my car and hated finding a parking spot in a student garage. Off Cumberland avenue alone, there are three big apartment buildings called Slate at 901, The Tenn, and The Standard. They are all very close to campus (closer than some dorms) and they are all relatively luxury when compared to the gut-wrenching horrors of a dorm hall. Also, depending on which apartment layout you decide to get, you will save anywhere from two to three thousand dollars. The apartments average out to be anywhere from seven to nine hundred dollars a month, most likely for twelve months. If those three buildings do not catch your eye, there are many other apartments that are within a 10-minute walk to campus.

If you are not feeling the apartment thing, you can always choose to get a house in the Fort Sanders neighborhood or “The Fort” as well. Many of the students participating in Greek Life choose to get houses there, as well as any other students here. Houses can get a little more complicated because you want to find a nice house, that has nothing broken. Granted, many of the houses get redone before every school year, but there are a few that have not fully finished. Within the fort, there are many parking spaces on the street or in a driveway, and it is relatively close to everything as well. For class, there is a campus bus route designed specifically for picking up students in the Fort. Students usually only go for the house option if they plan on staying in Knoxville for the summer instead of returning home.

If houses in the Fort still do not do it for you, you can choose to live across the Henley Street Bridge, where there are also many living options. As soon as you cross the river, there are two apartment buildings, and one condominium that all overlook the Tennessee River. The two apartment buildings were both finished last year so they are nice and modern. If you travel further across, there are two complexes called the Woodlands and Knox Ridge which are both gates communities that house both students and regular people. Both complexes have a shuttle that goes to and from campus, so students are not left stranded, and so that they are not forced to look for parking because UTK does not have anywhere near enough for everyone.

One last thing is making sure you look for housing early, most leases for fall of the next year open in October and they fill up quick!