I was looking for two bedroom apartments, so my information below is focused on that. ALL PRICES ARE LAST YEAR'S PRICES UNLESS SPECIFIED. Send me the newer prices and I'll include those.

Pinnacle Ridge was a little bit older than some of the others, but is still nice, and is not as expensive. The route to Fuqua is easy too. The foliage is much heavier (their brochures say "more mature") and is beautiful. Some were afraid of the bugs or snakes it might bring. To me it was a plus. It's a very good option.
Long URL for Camco's Pinnacle Ridge (thanks Jason W.)
Web address that only has contact information
pinnacleridge@camcoinc.com
919-490-0531

The shape of the 2BR apartment was unique and pleasing. (The 1BR+den was more plain but still nice.) The pictures do not show how nice these look. At least some of the 2BR 2BA apartments have a "garden bathtub" (which is large). Ask if your specific apartment has one, if you care about it. Some have 9 foot ceilings and the added look is very nice. I believe 9 foot ceilings are only available on the first floor apartments but check with them. The third floor apartments may have a cathedral ceiling, but in my opinion, this added little to the look.

See write-up for Alexan Farms concerning floor construction.

Garages are available
home.nc.rr.com/alexanplace/
Another URL for Alexan Place
alexanplace@tcresidential.com
919-490-6998

We did not visit this place, but the tour guide pointed it out and said it was nice.
Thanks to Matt for this input on Alta Crest: With a Duke discount, you can get a 830 sq ft 2 bedroom 1 bath for ~$700, a 2 bdrm 2 bath for ~750, and maybe less if you are lucky and get a special (ours was actually a good deal less than that). They had quite a variety of floorplans. It was the best value that we saw when we were down there.
919-401-1912

Alexan Farms

The BDW apartment tour didn't go to this place. It's the same management company as Alexan Place, and the apartments and prices are the same, with a few exceptions. ALL the 2BR 2BA "garden apartments" (the apartments that are similar to those of Alexan Place) have a "garden bathtub" (which is large). See comments for Alexan Place concerning ceilings, etc. There are also townhouses and cottages that are not available at Alexan Place (but they are more costly). So keep this place in mind if you can't find what you want at Alexan Place. This is where we ended up living. But there are problems.

Drawbacks

• The floors are poorly made so you can hear people walking above you very easily. We sometimes hear the tenants walking upstairs. (This is likely true at most of the apartments.)
• The parking is not so great for some apartments, and for ours it's very bad, especially late at night (and you will have late nights at Fuqua). It's frustrating to have to walk the length of three apartment buildings in the cold because they didn't plan their parking well. The buildings that should be avoided are: 815, 825 and 835. (825 and 835 are the worst, and 815 is still not ideal.) 845 is good for apartments A, B, C and D. The others are further away. Building 855 generally has very good parking. Those near the pool are better than where I am.

Plusses:

• There are many Fuqua students living here.
• The design of the two bedroom apartment that we have is nice
• The Townhouses and the Cottages would not have the problem of noise from the neighbors and they have better parking. Of course, they're more expensive.

Townhouses and Cottages include a garage in their price (so if you want a garage, consider these - the cost isn't that much more in many cases).
www.alexanfarms.com
alexanfarms@tcresidential.com
919-401-4660

For what it's worth, here is a poor quality map that shows the locations of the apartment buildings (top is North - I had to zoom in on the image to read the poor quality numbers). I also know the configurations of many of the apartments (as verified by two representatives on two occasions at the apartment office).

This information is useful if you want sun, satellite TV, or to know if you are facing the pool, pond or parking lot

This is very close to Fuqua, has a lower price than many others, is gated and you can drive to Fuqua without hitting the main traffic arteries. This seems like a very good option from what I've seen. There are a number of Fuqua students living there, and the Archstone progressive party put on my our Fuqua classmates was great.

1/5/2005 a note from Zahid who lives there: I'm a second year (class of 2005) and have been an Archstoner for the past year and a half.

I've definitely enjoyed Archstone. It's as convenient to campus and shopping as Pinnacle Ridge and Alexan Place, two other popular choices for the class of '05. It was built in '97, which is newer than PR and older than AP. The apartments are in good shape, the grounds are nice, and the complex has been pretty secure during my stay. I'm in a 2 bedroom with a roommate, and the floorplan is pretty standard. There is also a really cool 1 bedroom loft floorplan that is pretty unique for Durham.

Archstone is priced higher than PR and lower than AP. There are about 15+ from the class of '05 at Archstone, which is significant but smaller than the numbers at AP/PR.

NOTE: North Creek changed their name

These were quite nice. I was tempted because of the garage option which is much less expensive than the garages at Alexan Place/Farms.
www.northcreek.net
northcreek@cwsapartments.com
919-490-6013