Off campus apartments: your suggestions

akhbhaat
Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:44:51 +0000

If you are a girl, what is the risk of getting assaulted? The post about break-ins and drug lords was kind of scary.
Also, what about cockroach infestations?

When I lived in Seminole Suites, my girlfriend at the time (and my roommates’ girlfriends, for that matter) would not go to or from her car late at night unless I accompanied her. However, I personally never knew anybody to actually be assaulted or anything of that sort (there were always rumors, of course). Maybe she was paranoid, but better safe than sorry. Like I said, there were some questionable characters wandering around, especially on the weekends. She was perfectly comfortable going through her own complex at night.

Some complexes are undoubtedly worse than others. You’ll know them when you see them - that’s why it makes so much sense to pay attention to the surrounding neighborhood. If there’s a complex you’re interested in, I recommend that you drive through it on a Friday night (if you can) just to see what’s up. Regardless: no matter where you are, it’s always a good idea to pay attention to your surroundings and be prepared. The people who become victims are usually the people who act like victims.

Most of the drug dealers I encountered all seemed to mind their own business for obvious reasons, and there will be a lot more of them around than you would probably ever know. Wherever there’s demand, there’s almost always a supply - a good number of college kids use drugs of some sort or another. Just keep that in mind.

I’m not saying any of this to scare anybody - I just want people to be as well informed as possible.

Oh, and I never had problems with roaches. Ever - even in SS where people would leave trash bags in the hallway for hours or even days (we had door-side trash pickup). I did hear they were an issue in some of the buildings at Boardwalk (which was delayed and then rushed to completion in time for the 2003-2004 school year…) and Frog Pond, but it was never a common talking point. There’s no way you could cram that many people into a bunch of buildings (especially messy students) and not have a roach problem by default - so I’m guessing that a lot of complexes spray. You might want to ask them.



Does anybody have good ideas for an off-campus site for 4 guys where they can also play their music (music majors)?

I suppose that depends upon what you play. Strings, guitar, woodwinds? You’ll probably be OK wherever you go. Brass or percussion? You’re probably going to have to rent a house or make extensive use of the school’s practice facilities. Virtually every apartment complex I saw or lived in - even the “good” ones - had cheap construction with thin walls.

On the other hand, it isn’t too unusual to deal with people blasting bass through your floor or walls, so maybe your instruments will go unnoticed.