Is Pepper Canyon the best dorm at UCSD?

A harsh environment under the best of circumstances. Aging infrastructure, paper thin walls. Raccoon mafia waiting for you outside if you need to come home late. I once saw the street lamp turn on to reveal 5 raccoons waiting in the middle of the stairwell to collect rent. Avoid if possible. Survive if necessary.

For what it is, it is not entirely bad. (Essentially, it could be worse, but it's fine.) Know that you will likely run into many bugs so invest in a fly swatter of some sort, unless you're not afraid of bugs. The windows aren't that well insulated in the sense that you can clearly hear what's going on outside. However, from the outside, it's fine. The closet space (in a double) is a tight fit if you happen to bring a lot of clothes, so really utilize an in-closet hanging storage type thing. The bathroom area is fine, though if you plan on installing a bidet, know that HDH will be giving you no help (at least in my suitemate's experience). The kitchen area is small in terms of counter space, and the stove/oven sometimes doesn't work... (at least some of the stovetops). The light indicating the oven is on sometimes turns off even though the oven is still heated (so don't worry). The common area/living room/dining area, the couch and chairs are fine, they're not the worst but they're not the best either.

I live on the second floor with two other roommates and it’s not as bad as people say it is. It’s definitely old and far from campus, but being able to have two floors is great. You can have guests over in the common area while the roommates can enjoy their privacy upstairs. The double is also pretty spacious, probably one of the bigger doubles on campus! Another thing to note is that the dorm is mostly carpeted, so cleaning is a bit of a hassle. Because the building is old, you can hear everyone outside including the trolley. However, because this is a transfer housing, most of the time it's quiet. Pepper Canyon is near the trolley, and the campus shuttles so you have easy access to transportation. The walk to Sixth (the main part of campus) takes around 15-20 mins.

Pepper canyon 1600 is a quiet building tucked away in the very bottom of UCSD. The trolley and Design innovation building is right next to the campus which makes traveling easy and the DIB is a good study space. There is a dining hall nearby but it’s kind of bad. The parking lots near by are tiny so walking is necessary to get to your car. My double room is absolutely tiny although it does come with a balcony. There is a bed, desk, dresser, and closet but there is not much physical space on the floor. The kitchen is decent yet small with older appliances and cabinets. Our fridge is rusty but usable. The living room area is a sizable space with a couch, TV stand, and chair. There is also a dining table with chairs next to a balcony.

Pepper canyon east is one of the older areas with different layouts (matthews and PCE apartments): Pros: homey/campy feel, close to trolley/Gilman bus stop, second story apartments feel more spacious, balconies/patios, lots of storage space Cons: far from rest of campus, apartments aren’t accessible (multiple stories without elevators), older apartments, few lawns, small market The dorm rooms are pretty average. East will only be there for another year, but the new pepper canyon West looks like it’ll be much nicer.