The first two years at San Diego State, I followed the normal path of staying in the dorms freshman year and moving slightly off campus sophomore year. This last summer, however, my roommate and I decided we were done with campus living. We knew we loved Hillcrest, but after apartment searching for a day and a half in a cramped car under the San Diego sun, we were fed up and tired.

Luckily, on our way back to campus we got lost. We ended up in University Heights, a community at the ends of Park and Adams Avenue. This mini-haven had everything we were looking for: affordable apartments, booming bars and calming coffee shops.

When we describe it to our friends, we call it a satellite community of Hillcrest. There are two gay bars that have great vibes, killer Thai and vegetarian food and free music or comedy acts on weekends. It’s convenient being able to hit up happy hour and walk to do anything else because it’s all located on one street.

When driving around the neighborhood, you’ll notice a lot of SDSU faculty parking passes, and it makes a lot of sense. It takes 10 minutes to drive to campus, two minutes to walk to a bar and five minutes to bike to Sprouts Farmer’s Market. The neighborhood itself is also a lot of fun to walk around in, with a weird mixture of large and small old houses painted interesting color as well as apartment buildings like ours.

Trolley Barn Park is just a short walk away from Park Boulevard and there is a cute little park and a beautiful view of Mission Valley. All along the cliffs the beautiful expensive houses are hidden and you can just see them from the vantage point. During the summer you’ll find concerts and hidden bottles of wine in picnic baskets.

If you are really looking for a place that gives you a break from the party-heavy atmosphere of SDSU while still giving you enough to do, you might want to check it out. But good luck finding an apartment. No one wants to leave.

Photo by Monica Linzmeier, photo editor