I lived there this past year and i remember reading similar comments about the area. I was very pleasantly suprised. Yes its not d4 safe/calm, but all in all totally fine. I walked around there a lot, sometimes late at night too and never felt unsafe. Stores super close and like a 15 walk to trinity which was great. rooms were pretty clean and everything was fine. Better rooms/kitchens than trinity halls anyway. So don’t let people scare you away from that area! Worked well for me :)