My husband and I lived at Chestnut Ridge for one year beginning in 2008. If you value your privacy, sanity or being treated fairly, do not live here. I can honestly say it was the most miserable experience of our adult lives. I can never get that year back.
When we first looked at the apartments, we were led to through the two bedroom model. It had clean walls, appliances and floors, dimmer switches on the lights; basically, a very pleasant looking apartment. Since we were not permitted to SEE our actual apartment, what we got was quite different. Let s begin by simply listing the issues:
-The dryer took exactly 180 minutes to dry a reasonably sized load of towels (that s at least three cycles on a good day). Maintenance was called and we were told that s just how the dryer vents are constructed they are all connected.
-The washer chewed holes through my king size top sheet. I was told I probably did to large a load and that they were not responsible for replacing it. The load was not too big; I ve been doing laundry for 15 years.
-The dishwasher NEVER thoroughly washed a load of dishes food particles on everything.
-In the winter, our heating bill, for a two bedroom, roughly 850 sq ft apartment, $165 (we kept it under 70 degrees). When I got out of bed I could feel a breeze on my feet throughout most of the house. I called the office and was told it was my responsibility to winterize my apartment and the old, leaky windows were not their problem. They would not even put plastic on them.
-We used the fireplace only a few times because, no matter WHAT we did, smoke billowed through our house. We ve had a fireplace before and never had this problem.
-Every time our next door neighbor smoked a cigarette, either outside or INSIDE his apartment, you could smell it in ours.
-When you sat in the living room against the outside wall, there was a distinct smell of sewer gas. Unmistakable sewer gas.
-The rule is no dogs over something like 30 lbs on the second floor. We have a 7 year old Labrador so we had to have a first floor apt. The guy upstairs had a Maltese that ran back and forth and barked ALL DAY EVERY DAY. After repeatedly complaining, we spent the remainder of that miserable year listening to the dog barking with no reprieve (not to mention every single sexual escapade the gentleman had throughout the year seriously, we heard everything).
-That brings me to the state of the grounds. There are poop bag stations all over the neighborhood but they were rarely filled. You couldn t walk in the grass for fear of stepping in something fresh. It was so bad that my dog got a urinary tract infection from stepping in so much feces (and subsequently scratching/licking).
-Although this is not the fault of the apartment complex, the location is terrible. It s right in the path of incoming airplanes. Very loud.
-There was no lighting on the main road of the apartments. Cars sped through and, if you are walking your dog, you have to move over in the poop filled grass to avoid getting clipped.
-The stop sign placement throughout the neighborhood doesn't make sense. The view is often blocked by parked cars to you have to just HOPE nobody is coming.
-Finally, the staff at Chestnut Ridge, although cheery, is VERY immature and apathetic. They seem to staff some the most unprofessional "airheads" I ve ever seen in an establishment (with the exception of Kim). They give you canned responses to your complaints/concerns, I assume, because they have heard them a hundred times and don t intend to solve the problem.
Basically, these apartments are in desperate need of upgrades which makes them not even CLOSE to worth the money (in excess of $850 each month with a pet charge and a corporate discount). The appliances are outdated, the walls are VERY thin, the carpets don t stay clean, the bedrooms are very small, the maintenance guys unlock your apartment and walk in whenever they want with just a brief knock (what if I was napping on the couch in my underwear!!) and the whole place is covered in dog poop. The thing that surprised me the most is how the office operated. They rent to so many people who end up so unhappy and they simply turn their nose up and say there is nothing they can do about ANYTHING. I felt like I was stuck in a bad dream for a year. I could go on for hours but I ve already wasted enough time thinking about this hole.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/24/2009
- Dear renteme, I assume you are an employee of Chestnut Ridge Apartments because it doesn't make sense that any resident would go to the trouble of bashing a negative review. Maybe you could spend your time improving the quality of living for your current residents instead of looking online for negative reviews of the apartment complex and then typing poor responses. - Dear non-residents of Chestnut Ridge, I would like to point out that there were some very hurtful things removed from renteme's response above before it was publicly posted to this site. That is probably for the best because it would just further my wife's point that the staff is very immature and would stoop to belittling someone who was just sharing their OPINION. I don't think that sort of behavior is becoming and is certainly not something people would expect out of property management. So, to all you hopeful renters out there, do NOT be fooled. Stay far away from Chestnut Ridge Apartments. You'll be happy you did.
From: LivesInPgh	Date: 04/29/2009
The dog feces is a major problem at Chestnut. Chestnut is one of the few apartment communities that allow large dogs, I have a lab and couldnt find anywhere else to stay. As a pet owner I can't believe that pet owners can be so irresponsible and not clean up after their pet. There is only so much that management can do when it comes to pet owners, the only option would be to restrict pets at the community. I dont believe that everyone should suffer b/c of careless people, that cant clean up after their pets.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/15/2009
I do agree that the dog poop is a problem. That's my biggest complaint about the place (I have a 60-pound lab mix. I ALWAYS clean up after him, whether or not they provide bags). Even when bags are available, people opt not to use them, it seems. Other than that, I've found Chestnut Ridge to be a GREAT place to live. It's quiet and safe and the maintenance staff has been great. My fridge was leaking so they gave me a brand new one right away! Cars do tend to speed through the parking lot like it's the Indy 500 or something, but I just stay out of the way.

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