The townhouses generally compare well with the other apartment complexes in the Amherst area. I've lived in a couple townhouses over the last few years as well as a few other places in Amherst, so I'll try to give my impressions.

The complex is mostly rented out to students, so it can be a bit noisy with parties almost every weekend. On the other hand, if you like to party it's a great place to live. While they've tried to cut down on crowds starting bonfires in the middle of the quad and 1500 person parties, the management still tolerates any kind of reasonable gathering pretty well.

The apartments are decently well kept. Really, this is a personal standards thing. While the whole complex was probably built in the 1970s and could stand a little bit of renovation, none of the apartments are in bad shape. There are two guys working full time as the maintenance staff. They are usually around, very nice, and will fix anything pretty quickly.

The apartments vary in terms of their condition depending on a number of things. However, the management tries to keep things pretty standardized. Most apartments have all new windows, which is great for bringing down heating costs in the winter. Carpets are replaced as needed, so some of the apartments have new ones and some don't. They've also replaced the doors to the rooms and closets for most of the properties. Some also have new kitchen cabinets. Most have newer bathroom hardware too. I've even heard of one or two with stacked wash/dryer units. If you are thinking you want to move in, try to find out everything you can about which apartment you'll be in and what condition its in. The office staff or previous tenants can probably tell you.

Water is included in the rent. This means you only have to pay for electricity, gas, and your preferred internet/TV plan. Overall, this stuff isn't too bad. Each apartment has both electric baseboard heating in each room as well as a gas heater. The buildings are pretty well insulated and two walls of every apartment are shared (except the ones on the ends), so heating costs aren't too bad. Of course the exact cost depends on how cold it is, how careful you are about opening windows/doors, and what temperature you keep your apartment. Again, ask some tenants or the office staff to get an idea. Just keep in mind that this stuff varies.

Noise from adjacent apartments isn't too bad. If you are next to an apartment playing loud music or banging things, you will hear the thumping. Occasionally you can hear the hum of a shower or dishwasher or someone running down the stairs. Overall though, if you're coming from a dorm, it's pretty quiet.

There's now a security guard who patrols the place, but he'll only give you trouble for stuff that's a serious liability for the management. But this brings me to my biggest gripe. The primary occupation of the security guard seems to be to work with the towing companies to help tow cars without parking passes. They recently repaved the entire lot (the speed-bumps are still ridiculously huge and will scrape any full or low cars). In the process, they re-zoned guest parking to essentially nothing. Basically this means that guests can't park. However, most people can take either the Puffton (North Amherst) or Sunderland bus lines to get there. Otherwise, they can park at the Cumberland Farms just down the road (which is open 24/7 and is really convenient).

The location is great. It's right off Rt. 116, so Rt. 9 is just a straight shot down the road (about 5 minutes). And the fact that you can take either of the bus lines means that you can hop on a bus through campus almost every 7 minutes. I can often get to classes faster than friends who live on campus.

Overall, the place isn't bad at all. You really just need to evaluate your priorities. Generally, if you're considering living in the Townhouses, you're a UMass student. If that's the case, you really want to live on North Pleasant Street because it's where everyone else lives and it's on the bus line. This means that you should probably be comparing the Townhouses to Puffton, Hobart, Crestview, and Brandywine. Good Luck.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates