Fox Meadow

I moved into Fox Meadows a little less than a year ago, and it's pretty much what I expected it to be. It's close to the cheapest apartment I could find, and it's been adequate. After close to a year I feel obligated to give a decent impartial review if I can.

Size: Pretty big for the price, and the layout is open enough to let you use all the space. The closets are pretty big, though whoever set up the hanger bars in my bedroom closet must have been a bit of a numbskull, they should be an inch further from the shelf.

Location: You have to get on 73 to go anywhere besides the little overpriced plaza in the front. This is a pain, especially around rush hour. Outside of rush hour, it's 15-20 minutes to downtown Philly and close enough to everything else I need.

Parking: I'm back in the far corner of the road parallel to the driving range. If I get home late at night, there isn't enough parking in the immediate vicinity of my apartment, and I have to park a block away. This doesn't bother me, though I could see girls not wanting to walk around alone at night. Other than that, I can always park within 50 feet of my door. There are parking permits, but as near as I can tell they're not checked. There are definitely unused vehicles taking up some spots. Also, I don't think the driving range nets stop all the balls - I'm way out of range, but it might be something to consider. There are also pine trees over some of the spots, watch out for sap.

Trash: The dumpsters are usually overflowing at the end of a long weekend. They're not overflowing all the time, anyone who says so is lieing. Still, kind of gross on a Monday morning. There is a fair amount of trash on the grounds outside - I don't know whether that says more about inept management or resident slobs.

Laundry: This was my biggest pet peeve - several of the washers and dryers nearest to me were broken but would still take your money and either not spin after washing your clothes, or not pump hot air while drying them, wasting my time and money. All the machines in that laundry room were replaced about a month ago however and I haven't had any problems since then.

Pests: I had a few roaches when I moved in, which was a bit of a shocker. I didn't bother trying management - I bought some roach bait from the supermarket and I haven't seen any more roaches since a few weeks after I put them down (8ish months ago). I'm relatively tidy but not a total neat freak. I haven't seen any mice or anything like that.

Heating/AC: The heat is gas, and heats up the apartment fast. It smells kind of funky when it's been off for a while. The AC can't keep up on really hot days - if it's 100 outside don't expect to get your apartment much under 80, especially if you have a computer or television on. The units are old, and the insulation in the apartments is lousy, especially the bedroom window and porch door.

Maintainance: The maintainance people have been prompt for me. Once my bedroom window fell out of the track and shattered because it was a little too small, that was fixed within hours. Once my garbage disposal broke and started puking water all over the kitchen floor - I called that in in the morning and it was fixed when I got home from work.

Bathroom: Adequate. I wish there were a counter around the sink. Whoever moved out before me took the medicine cabinet shelf with them so I had to buy a new one. Ventilated well enough, shower pressure is good, hot water is VERY hot.

Kitchen: Appliances are old. Gas stove - pilot light goes out a lot and is a bit of a PIA to relight, which is sort of worrisome, though I've never had it leak much gas while it was out. Smoke detector is too sensitive, it goes off all the time. I think I broke mine.

Neighborhood: I've never felt unsafe here, though my girlfriend has had guys whistle at her when she's jogging. On that note, it's a 1.4 mile loop around the entire complex if you're a runner. People generally drive slowly. There are usually a lot of young kids out when the weather is nice, too. The pool doesn't seem to be open very often. I've never been in it to see whether it's nice or not. People seem to use the tennis courts though the nets are often sagging. The basketball court sees a fair bit if use too. The "Fox Ghetto" is sort of undeserved. Camden is a ghetto - this is low rent housing. Though, I lived in south Bethlehem last year, so getting through the year without hearing any gunshots or seeing the nightly aftermath of frat parties feels like a success to me.

Other: Ceiling not very high, a bit hard to get large furniture upstairs. First floor shoud be easy with porch door. Sort of lacking in natural light in the living room. The electricity goes out a lot during thunderstorms - more than anywhere else I've ever lived. The carpet is nice, mine is new and unstained. I'm not comfortable having anything expensive delivered here, though I've never had anything stolen.

The in house Hotwire Communications is lousy... they lose cable and internet connectivity from time to time. Am I allowed to say that here?

I think that about covers it.

Recommended: YES Overall Rating

Parking: Maintenance: Construction: Noise:

Grounds: Safety: Office Staff:

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