Buckingham Court

Price range: $800 for a one-bedroom/one-bathroom; two-bedroom units also available 

Pet policy: Pets allowed for a fee

Amenities: Basement laundry (free), water and gas included in rent, renovated kitchens

Parking: Free street parking; uncovered secured lot for $100

Walk: 10 minutes, door-to-door

Buckingham Court is located very conveniently in the Central West End. It is about a 10-minute walk to class, a block from Whole Foods, and within a block or two of the other popular apartment buildings (DelCo, Montclair, Parc Frontenac). It is also a block from Laclede Garage, the beginning of the covered link to campus, so you can walk to class without being outside for more than two minutes when the weather isn’t the greatest. The facilities themselves are not the fanciest, but they are fine, especially for the price. 

Each building only has six units, so it is pretty quiet most of the time. Noise from construction and ambulances is audible, but not loud enough to wake you. Laundry is shared in the basement, but at least it’s free. There is no elevator, which can be annoying during moving but is otherwise not a big deal. The building is quite old (built in the 1920s) and the age shows in a few ways despite the renovations (peeling paint, no ground in most of the outlets, so only two holes). There is central heat and A/C though, which is harder to find here than I would have expected. The landlady can sometimes be hard to reach, but she is very responsive to major issues, though less immediately responsive to smaller ones. Overall, Buckingham Court is a fine place to live, especially if you are looking for somewhere quiet but close to all the action, and affordable to live in alone.