To be clear my info is dated. But, I avoided downtown while I was a student. I lived much closer in Goose Creek (aka Goose Crack ... you've got to smell it to understand).
Downtown will require much more driving. And, you can always get to downtown easily from Goose Creek for those times when necessary ...
You need to walk the downtown area if you want to live there to avoid the wrong areas. A good area to bad area can be as simple as crossing the street.
Again, my info is extremely old. Like when they opened the place.
Mac