A very detailed review
From:
hmp2z
Date posted:
7/29/2006
Years at this apartment:
2001
-
2006
We've lived here for the past 5 1/2 years. When we signed our lease, the apartment complex was Alta Ridge, and then became Chancellor Park, managed by Crosland. It is now under new management, by Colonial, and is called "Colonial Village at Chancellor Park."
Safety - Car Break-Ins:
There are repeated break-ins here, on a very regular basis. However, my husband and I have (knock on wood) never had a problem in the entire time we've been here. Mainly the break-ins fall into two categories: people with older model Hondas that were stolen because they're easy to jack, and people who leave things lying around inside their car. Just walking through the apartment complex, we've seen purses, CD collections, etc. lying in broad view inside cars. Some people even very obligingly leave their car's engine running, unattended. Almost all of the car break-ins concern vehicles with irresponsible owners like these.
Safety - Robberies/shootings: In the entire time we've been here, there have been a total of three incidents involving actual violence. In the first case, a man was checking his mail, alone around midnight, when a robber walked up to him with a gun and asked for his wallet. We knew the victim, and he was unharmed. The robber calmly took his wallet, got into a truck, and drove away.
In the second case, a man who worked at Best Buy kept very expensive stereo equipment out in his car. He was leaving for work one morning around 6:30 am, when a robber came up with a gun and asked for him to step out of the car, so the robber could take the car & the equipment. The man refused and tried to drive away, at which point the robber began shooting at him and actually hit the driver with one of the bullets. The driver was injured but recovered. The final case was a woman who left her apartment unlocked and her sliding glass door wide open this summer. A man just stepped onto her porch, opened her sliding glass door, and the resident ran out screaming and escaped from him.
Most of these cases could be prevented if you use good apartment-living sense: Don't leave your doors open/unlocked, don't wander around alone late at night, and don't leave valuable items in your vehicle. It's the University area; there are going to be car break-ins, but you can definitely take steps to keep your car from being the one that is targeted.
Apartment conditions:
There are several models of apartments here. We are in the 1 bedroom with den model, and it is spacious. When Crosland managed the property, our dishwasher broke, and we had a brand new one the very next day. They were excellent about correcting any maintenance issues. The carpet when we moved in was a bit old and ratty looking, and we could tell they hadn't replaced it after the last person had lived here.
We did have one maintenance problem since the new owners took over: wasps had built a large nest on our door frame. I called the office, but no one came, so I went in person to follow up, and the woman there said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to write that down." It seems like a very obvious, stupid mistake to make, especially from someone whose job it is to write these things down. So my advice would be to stay closely on these new managers.
Parking:
There are always parking spots by our building, and we are one of the most heavily trafficked buildings since we are located by the pool. On summer afternoons, parking is scarce but still available, and there is always plenty at night, after the pool-goers have departed.
Swimming Pool:
The pool is small and inadequate for swimming, but is good for small children or for those who just want to lie out by the pool. When we first moved here in 2001, this complex was more family & professionally-oriented. Since Crosland took over, they brought in a huge college crowd, so now the swimming pool is a real meat market, with sratties & fratties showing off their wares to each other. Because of that, I feel uncomfortable going there as a married woman, so I don't use the pool any longer. If you are the kind of person who likes to get drunk and hookup at the pool, you will love this apartment community.
Laundromat:
The laundry facilities are adequate. Not stellar, but definitely adequate. It is rare to have to wait for a machine.
Exercise room:
The exercise room is also adequate. Crosland expanded the equipment offerings in the past year, so there are now 2 treadmills, 1 stair machine, 2 elliptical trainers, 1 stationary bike, and 1 weight machine, as well as free weights. Children are not supposed to be allowed in here unattended, but that rule is often broken, especially during the summers & on weekends.
Pets:
This community is very pet friendly. There are pet clean up stations everywhere; my issue is with the residents who choose to let their dog eliminate everywhere without cleanup. Perhaps the management should have fines or some other deterrent.
My other complaint is also one about the residents' pets. Many people allow their dogs, even aggressive dogs, to run around off leash. Our little 9-year-old beagle/lab mix was on a leash but was attacked by a loose dog. Luckily, my husband was there and he simply picked up the other dog off of her, but he could have been bitten. The loose dog's owners ran up and never even apologized, so we went to the office to complain. It turned out that that same dog had chased a Chihuahua (yet another dog off-leash!) into the highway the night before, and the Chihuahua had been hit. A few years ago, a little girl who lived here was playing with her new puppy when the puppy was attacked and mauled by an off-leash labrador retriever. I believe that the apartment management should levy fines against those who choose to allow their dogs to run freely. This is a danger to children and to other animals.
Location:
The location is excellent. This community is at the intersection of WT Harris and 49, two major highways. It is very close to 29, as well as to I-85 and I-77. I commute to Concord with a 30 minute drive, and my husband has a similar commute to uptown Charlotte.
Additionally, the complex has a good number of wooded areas, so we get a lot of birds, squirrels, and rabbits here, which are very cute.
Schools:
The public schools here are terrible. I am a teacher, and fled screaming from the schools in this area of Charlotte. I used to teach at the middle school, James Martin, and I would not send my worst enemy's child there. The high school, Vance, is even worse. They are both low income schools, which is not the problem, because the school I teach at in Cabarrus County has a similar number of children from low income homes. The problem is that the administrators have low standards of behavior for these children, and will allow anything to go. In the time I taught in Charlotte, I witnessed twice-weekly fights on my team, extreme profanity, distribution of pornography in class, and even a sexual assault by a 7th grade boy onto a mentally handicapped girl. NONE of these offenses incurred the perpetrators more than a day in in-school suspension, at most. If I had children, I would choose an apartment complex in neighboring Harrisburg, for the excellent Cabarrus County Schools.
Neighbors:
We have never had any real problems with our neighbors here. The worst was a prostitute who lived below us and would have men crawling through her bedroom window at all hours of the night. This upset our dog to no end, which naturally disturbed our sleep. She personally was not a dislikeable person, though, except she did bring in roaches when she moved in. The exterminators came several times and couldn't get rid of them, so we ended up moving buildings.
The noise level is not bad. We can hear when our upstairs neighbors vacuum, but we can't hear their conversations. We've had one complaint from our new, grouchy upstairs neighbors about our dog barking around 3 pm. The management was very understanding; they agreed that dogs do sometimes bark, and it's not like he was left alone to bark at 3 AM!
Caveat:
This apartment complex was recently purchased by Colonial Properties, who intend to turn it into a low income apartment complex. This will obviously change the apartment's makeup dramatically. Additionally, they have raised the rents significantly, I assume to drive away paying customers and attract the low income ones so they can then bill the government for the rent. I will write another update in a few months, when I see how the changes go. Already, in our half of the apartment building (12 apartments), 4 residents have moved out, and 1 intends to move when their lease is up, so the makeup is changing dramatically.
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