Where to start....

You are greeted by a guard who could care less if you swipe in or just walk on through. Sometimes you'll get a guard who actually does his job but he usually gets fired do to resident complaints. According to some, doing his job of making sure people don't a) throw anything from beer bottles to couches out of windows b) dangle out of the fire escape and a plunge to certain doom c) making sure strangers don't just walk in is extremely inconvenient to them.

Next is the hall of the two working elevators. It seems odd that an apartment building with 12 elevator shafts would only keep 4 of them usable, but only two of them working. Of course the elevators are a disgusting mess from Thursdays to Sundays due to vomit, beer bottles, cups, and a mysterious pool of liquid. What is it' I don't think anyone wants to know.

So you get off the elevators into the hallways leading to your apartment. If your lucky, it'll be clean. If your everyone else, there's vomit, cups, beer bottles, clothing, trash, and the occasional locked out renter scatter amongst the floor. Along the walls will be holes or graffiti that will be patched the next day, and be put back the next night.

Eventually, after braving all of this, you get to your apartment. A quick jimmy of the handle with a credit card and you're in. If you got a good room, you'll have a splendid view of Center City (which I was fortunate enough to get). If you got hit with the bad end of the 3/4 ratio, you'll have a lovely view of the oil refinery in the distance as well as Drexel's campus, train tracks, or West Philly. Your dishwasher will be working enough to get the dishes wet, but you'll be better off cleaning them by hand. Your stove is an electric model and you'll have plenty of counter space and cabinet space to spare. The living room that I had was rather large, easily fitting three couches, a coffee table, three book shelves, and a 72-inch plasma.

Your room may or may not have a support structure going right through the center of it which severely cuts your square-footage in the bedroom. Bathrooms were decent with the only problem being poorly maintained flappers, which would cause the toilet to run or flush to the point of sickness.

On weekends, there will be at least three parties going on at all times, making sleeping at 4 AM nearly impossible. During this time expect yelling, wall banging, and the occasional door knock from the ambulatory drunk.

In short, the place would be fine if it weren't for the residents and poor room maintenance.

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