Sierra was much less than ideal. I paid nearly $9/sqft for my bedroom and rent rose 6% the next year. There is no common room and the kitchen is cramped with poor lighting and older appliances. My bedroom used to be a common room before they converted all units from 2 bed into 3 bed units, so 1/3 of all the rooms here lack a proper closet, lack ethernet connectivity, are smaller rooms overall, and yet you pay the same rent. There is no way of knowing which type of room you will receive before moving in.
Housing was extremely uncommunicative about everything: construction, the frequent room inspections (about which they do not have to give you any warning), and building maintenance. They often did not reply to emails at all. As an example of their lack of communication: they performed AC unit maintenance this summer and, despite a written promise from the staff that they would let me know when they were coming inside to perform this maintenance, they did not tell me ahead of time and consequently dirtied my bed, pillows, and sheets with dust and debris from the AC unit repair. They were not very understanding of my complaint or health concerns.
There were at least half a dozen bikes/scooters stolen from the garage (even with proper U-locks) and Sierra was rather unsympathetic, being unwilling to track down perpetrators using security cameras, change their rules to allow you to store your bike/scooter in your apartment unit, or respond to other requests for changes in simple security protocols.
In fairness there are definitely some benefits: it is close to campus, has a very small gym inside, has a parking garage (though street parking is free and almost always available), has plenty of laundry, and has kind front desk and cleaning staff. However, you can very easily get a much better standard of living for a cheaper cost elsewhere near campus, and especially if you are willing to commute via the easily accessible Expo Line into campus.
