Apartments & Housing Near Penn State

Immediately north of campus is College Heights. Due to its close proximity to campus, College Heights is home to many of the Penn State’s professors, staff members, and their families. The neighborhood is also popular amongst town residents. There are some student houses, but certainly not as many as other areas in town. Some students will live in duplexes and larger apartment complexes that run along streets closest to campus like North Allen Street and East Park Avenue, but again, single-family homes are most dominant.

To the south, Downtown State College runs adjacent to Penn State University and houses a good number of students. Downtown, you’ll find a variety of residential apartment units, retail shops, restaurants, bars, libraries, churches, and government buildings. There are several chain restaurants like Primanti Brothers, Qdoba, and Panda Express and local favorites like Zola Kitchen and Wine Bar and The Corner Room. Each of these is located on College Avenue which is State College’s “main street” and where most of the action goes down. Also found on College Avenue are popular bars such as Zeno’s, The Darkhorse Tavern, and All American Rathskeller. Walking, although not very common, to campus from Downtown is definitely possible but there are a lot of hills to conquer along the way. The Loop is a bus that circles downtown and campus all day long and it’s free!

South of Downtown State College is the Highlands and just west of that is Holmes-Foster. Families, grads, undergrads, townies, frats, and professors all call these two neighborhoods home. Getting to campus isn’t a far hike (again, not the preferred method) and riding a bike makes it faster. The Highlands houses over 40 Greek fraternities and has even been said to be the “most beautiful fraternity section in the country.” There are a variety of houses throughout the neighborhood that date back to the 1950s that tend to be on the smaller side. Throughout the neighborhood, you’ll also find several apartment buildings and small public parks.