I have lived at Charlestowne for a year and just want to offer my opinion to those looking for a place to live.
First off, I just want to say that the breezeways and walkways in the actual apartment buildings are some of the dirtiest I have ever seen. Vast amounts of different contributions, including sticky substances, splash back from god knows what, pollen, and vomit (yet, even vomit). Although the vomit had more to do with the inconsiderate college-going idiots of neighbors that swarmed the place. But I will save that for later. At my old complex before Charlestowne, the maintenance staff would pressure wash these walkways about every three to four months, which is very acceptable. Not once has anybody taken the time to do such a thing at Charlestowne. It could be dangerous when someone is moving in or out, or simply walking to their car, that they could slip on something and potentially injure themselves. A great way to avoid lawsuits is to maintain your property, especially when you have hundreds of others on said property.
On to the neighbors now, which I am very irritated with. Not only are they very noisy and loud, they do not know how to park which is important to do properly at Charlestowne since parking is very scarce. Add to the fact that all of these college kids have their friends come over and try and race you to the gate, which is very dangerous not only to the people in the vehicles but who knows who they are and if they belong inside the apartment complex at all. In my building alone, out of 12 apartments and after having been a resident for a year, I have seen three eviction notices on doors. I'm actually not surprised at all by this.
The facilities at this complex are a joke. The washer/dryer area is never clean, the soda machine inside is never working or never stocked, and there is no change machine. These washers and dryers take quarters only, so one would think there would be a change machine there. I used to have to do three loads of laundry every weekend and it was a pain having to drive elsewhere just to get quarters to come back and clean my clothes.
The parking is pathetic. In front of the buildings with two or three room apartments, there are maybe 1 or seldom two spots for each flat. I often sit on my porch and see cars drive by, back up, drive by again, for several minutes just looking for a space. Granted, this is on weekends when some of the college people are having friends over, but honestly this is a huge problem when you see able bodies parking in handicap spaces.
The staff themselves are nice people. They always have a good attitude and try to be as helpful as possible, but that isn't enough when all of these problems are factored in.
Now, on to the apartments themselves. I've had to make several maintenance calls about the air conditioner. It freezes up easily and has to be looked after like a baby. Other minor complaints are that in the bathroom, the Hot and Cold valves on the sink have been switched, so I nearly burned my hand the first time I tried to wash up. There is paint splatter on the hardwood floor inside the bathroom, which looks very ugly. The closet door for the washer/dryer has been broken off of it's hinge. I fixed it myself because I really didn't want to deal with the maintenance people who never take off their shoes inside of someones home, and barely speak English. Again, these are minor complaints, but I thought they were worth mentioning.
After living here for a year, there will be some complaints as with every apartment complex. Most of the things I stated above are avoidable and can be improved upon but I have yet to see any effort whatsoever to do anything.

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