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Clarksville, Tennessee is a rapidly growing city on the Cumberland River about 45 miles northwest of Nashville, and one of the fastest-growing mid-sized cities in the United States over the past two decades. It is home to Austin Peay State University and sits adjacent to Fort Campbell, one of the largest Army installations in the country, which gives the local economy and housing market a dual-engine structure uncommon in most college towns. Downtown Clarksville has been significantly revitalized along Franklin Street with restaurants, bars, and event venues. The city offers a low cost of living relative to the Nashville metro, affordable apartments, and an increasingly active arts and dining scene that has grown alongside its population.
College Heights is the residential neighborhood that wraps around the APSU campus and is the top choice for students who want to walk to class. Rental houses and small apartment buildings on streets like Kraft Street and Drane Street lease out early every spring.
Downtown along Franklin Street and Public Square is about a mile from campus and has a growing concentration of restaurants, coffee shops, and bars. Renovated buildings have created new apartment options above ground-floor retail, appealing to students who want an urban feel at reasonable prices.
The Riverside Drive corridor runs along the Cumberland River and offers apartment complexes and townhomes with easy access to both the campus and the commercial strips on Fort Campbell Boulevard. It is a quiet, well-maintained area popular with upperclassmen and graduate students.
St. Bethlehem in northeast Clarksville has newer apartment construction, strong retail and dining amenities, and generally lower crime rates. The 10 to 15 minute drive to APSU is a trade-off some students make willingly for newer units and a suburban feel close to Fort Campbell Gate 4.
Here's what you need to know about getting around Clarksville.
Clarksville Transit System (CTS) operates fixed bus routes covering the main commercial corridors and connects parts of the city to the Austin Peay campus area. Service frequencies are limited, with most routes running once per hour or less, making CTS a supplemental option rather than a primary commute mode for most students. The system has expanded routes in recent years as Clarksville has grown, but car ownership remains the dominant mode of getting around for APSU students. Students without cars should factor in route planning carefully when choosing a neighborhood.
The area immediately surrounding the APSU campus in College Heights is walkable, with housing, dining, and convenience stores accessible on foot. Downtown Clarksville along Franklin Street is about a mile from campus and accessible by bike on relatively flat terrain, though dedicated infrastructure is limited. The Clarksville Greenway system offers a growing network of multi-use paths that connect several neighborhoods, making biking a more pleasant option for recreational trips even if it does not always provide direct campus-to-neighborhood connectivity. Students living in College Heights can reasonably go car-free for day-to-day campus needs.
Parking in Clarksville is generally easy and inexpensive compared to larger metro areas. On-campus parking requires an APSU permit, and demand for the most convenient lots is competitive during peak class hours. Off-campus, nearly all apartment complexes and rental houses include dedicated parking, and street parking in College Heights and surrounding neighborhoods is widely available. Students with cars will find Clarksville's road network straightforward to navigate with minimal congestion outside of Fort Campbell gate change times.
Common questions from students searching for housing.
Clarksville is one of the most affordable cities in Tennessee for renters. One-bedroom apartments near APSU typically run $700 to $950 per month, with shared two- and three-bedroom units bringing per-person costs to $450 to $650. Newer complexes in suburban areas like St. Bethlehem run slightly higher but still compare favorably to the Nashville metro.
Browse student housing near each Clarksville-area university.