I moved into Charleston Manor in Feb 2004 and I'm moving out in Jan 05, and I'll be up front-the only reasons I'm moving out are because my job is in Bethesda and the commute is hell, and I want to move in with my girlfriend. (I'm in a 3rd floor one-bedroom, w/d in unit in Charleston Manor)

Now-since so many of the reviews here are completely useless, let me try and give a prospect a fair portrait of what they'll see when they move in.

My dealings with the leasing agents and staff before I moved in were pleasant enough-they were eager to land a rental, and they had exactly what I was looking for. There was no bait and switch, I was quoted numbers that stood and when I moved in the place was in excellent order, clean, and ready to be lived in. Over the course of the months I lived there, I had a few maintenance problems, of which the maintenance staff usually responded quickly and repaired the issues on the first try. The first time I met a maintenance worker was when apparently a wax ring under my toilet had broken and was leaking into the bathroom below me; the maintenance worker, sheepish for having woken me up, repaired the damage and was gone before I knew it. Once when my faucets were getting very low water pressure and little hot water, maintenance was in and out and had the problem fixed very quickly, even if they took about two business days to get around to it. I had a broken screen outside my apartment window when I moved in, and unfortunately that must not be enough priority to be repaired; I'm moving out in a month after a year, and it's still broken.

The office staff for the most part are nice, but at times you can hear the duplicitousness in their voices; like any customer service gig, they've probably had it up to here with complaints and silly requests, so I suggest being courteous and understanding with them. As soon as you establish a rapport with them, you'll find your issues will be resolved quickly and to your satisfaction-don't go storming in complaining about this or that and expect someone to work for you. If you ask nicely for service to be done and give them time to do it, it'll get done. You get the treatment you dish out. I had a rapport with some of the agents there, so things went smoothly.

I had a mild insect problem during some of the summer months, I saw a roach here and there-maybe one every week-for a couple of weeks. Each time I saw one, I called the office asking for the exterminator(on the property weekly) to spray my place. The company they use for pest control services is VERY small-their website is a geocities page-, and to be honest, I couldn't tell if they did anything at all, but between their work and my own spraying and treatment, the problem vanished. I still see a silverfish here and there, but nothing serious or warranting concern.

As for the neighbors, you can hear the occassional loud thump, but my apartment has always been quiet, I've never heard my neighbors, and the one that heard me once mentioned it to me and I made a point to pull my speaker off the wall I shared with her. My other neighbors generally kept to themselves, but everyone shares a nod or hello going in or out of the building. Never had a problem with them, either.

One of the other reviews noted "if you don't mind diversity, then you'll like it here;" I'd like to reiterate this, except not in a racist way: I love this community because of it's diversity; it has a balance of all kinds of people from all walks of life, and if you can't deal with people who are different than you are, live somewhere else-you're not wanted. I, for one, enjoy cultural richness in a community, not to mention seeing families walking and children playing.

Deer routinely graze on the hill next to my building, and during warm months bunnies, groundhogs, foxes, and other amazing wildlife get close enough to take pictures of. I have. I've never felt unsafe, even when walking from a parking space to my apartment in the middle of the night. All the lots got new lighting in the year I lived here, and police patrol the community with some regularity.

That brings me to parking-the parking is usually pretty bad. If you get in from work at about 6-8PM, you'll find a good space. Earlier than that, awesome. After that, expect to walk a little. There really isn't enough CLOSE parking, but you'll always have a space somewhere. That's my only discontent, really-walking what seems like an age to get to my apartment, especially if I come in during the wee hours.

Rent's not horribly pricey and the neighborhood is good; close to several grocery stores, car dealerships and repair shops, gas stations, and of course, right on the corner of Rt. 40 and Rt. 29, so it's easy to get anywhere-just be careful of the traffic, it can get busy trying to get out of the community sometimes.

Other than that, I thought it was a good place to live. They wanted to up my rent 6% for my second year, and I probably would have considered staying if I didnt want to move closer to work and into a larger apartment. Then again, I'm not horribly demanding, and I'd reccomend the community to others. If anyone wants real information from someone who lived there, go ahead and drop me a line.

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