I lived in Ashford Crossing for about 18 months from 2003 to November 2004. I was very happy there or the most part, with only a few minor complaints.

Pros:
1. I always found all of the staff to be extremely helpful and courteous. Any complaint I had was addressed immediately. The maintenance staff know what they're doing and appeared to be dedicated to doing a good job. One of them even came out late one night to fix my heat when it stopped working on a cold, mid-winter night!

2. The grounds were nice, well-kept, and the snow was cleared promptly in the winter. I beautiful new fitness center and swimming pool was build recently. I got to use the gym a couple of times, but not the pool (although it looked very inviting).

3. Parking was never a problem, although some nights I had to walk about 100 yards to my door.

4. Crime never seemed to be an issue. I never knew of cards broken in to or people being harmed in any way. There were a couple of domestic incidents that I saw in the police reports in the local paper, but never saw first hand.

5. Cable service is Shrewsbury cable - it's about $10 cheaper for Basic Expanded cable per month, 25% cheaper than Comcast!

6. Many of the apartments are newly renovated - I had a brand new kitchen and carpeting, which was a treat.

7. Washers and driers are good. They're coin-operated ($1.25 per wash, $1.25 per dry) and quite efficient. They were seldom very busy except some weekends.


Cons:
1. Noise - I was on the second floor, this one apartment above me. The floors creaked horribly! I could hear each footfall of the people upstairs when I was in my bedroom (strangely, not in the living room). It used to sometimes wake me up in the morning until I finally got used to it. I think the problem is that the carpets were laid without much padding, and the old wooden floors were not repaired before being carpeted. This might have been a problem unique to my apartment... I don't know.

2. Pool - this is a problem that is not unique to Ashford Crossing, as I encountered it at previous apartment complexes, but I thought it was worth mentioning: there was only a single lifeguard at the pool in the summer. So when the lifeguard took a break or lunch, or was ill, the pool wasn't open (since in MA it's required to have a lifeguard on duty when people are swimming). This isn't necessarily the fault of the Ashford Crossing management, but I think there should be a back-up lifeguard. I loved swimming in the summer, so it was annoying getting into my trunks and walking all the way to the pool, only to find that it was closed.

3. Rent - although it wasn't outrageously expensive to live there, I thought it was overpriced for Shrewsbury. But I guess they charge what the market will bear. One great thing, though: they offer (or at least they used to offer) excellent move-in deals. I got 2 months free, which made it a great deal at the time.

Summary:
Overall I'd definitely recommend Ashford Crossing. I'd recommend getting a third (top) floor apartment so that you don't have noise. And if you prefer a lighter apartment, get one that faces south.

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