Apartment Review for Meadow Lane Apartments - Baltimore, MD

It's pretty cheap. 2Br for under $700. Also, it was a requirement of ours that we not be subject to a lease so we can move as soon as we found a home to purchase. Definitely fit the bill by those two standards. Some people complain about the crime here, but being a city boy there's nothing that goes on here that's all that worrisome. I never see packs of drug dealers or gangs or anything. While there's no private security, cops routinely stroll through the complex. It's well lit in front of our building, and frankly I never feel unsafe here, whether for myself or my wife and daughter. We only have one car, and there's always a spot within 50 ft of my door, and there's even a loading zone right in front of my door that I can use to unload groceries and the such. On the other hand I can see having two cars or a large truck being tricky. The place is kind of dumpy looking, but it's about what anyone should expect for the price. The grass is uneven and dried out, parking lot is all cracked up and the issue with ice snow is a very real problem here. The office staff is ok, but the maintenance guy was a drunk and an asshole, as was his moronic girlfriend, but they've moved so I assume he's been replaced. I haven't had to call a maintenance person in the past couple months so I'm not sure whether that area has gotten better or worse. The heat issue is another big problem for us. The bedroom unit doesn't work (thank god) but all the other rooms feel like the bowels of hell during the winter months. I am so thankful that the heat is off in April that I hardly care that it was still 40 degrees outside. That's what blankets are for. I asked to have it turned down several times, and they claimed that they had, but I could not tell the difference. I came in the middle of the winter last time, but this time I plan on being more proactive about it and complaining before they even turn it on. My unit does not have any visible pipes or chipped paint that others complained about, and while by no means could any rational person call the place nice, it's doesn't fit into the horror stories others have complained about on here. It serves its purpose just fine, and it there was new paint and hardwood floors when I moved in that are still in decent shape. The plumbing has issues, including an occasional sound that comes from the kitchen sink that at first I thought was a sign that it was about to blow. But nothing ever happened and I don't even notice it anymore. The bathtub used to back up, but they came in and fixed that and now it's fine. Electrical works fine, though the neighborhood seems to blackout too often. There does seem to be a vermin problem, but we have two cats, and the only time we deal with any of it is the occasional mouse tail that was left uneaten. Never seen a roach here, then again we keep things fairly clean. The noise issue is funny to me. Yes there are kids outside playing. I think it's cool. My daughter is probably one of the "obnoxious kids" another reviewer complained about. Whatever. If kids playing outside bothers you this is not the place for you. On the other hand, I can almost never here my neighbors on any side. We've apologized to the neighbor below because my daughter is always stomping, but they claim to have never noticed, and then apologize for the various noise producing activities which we've never detected. For a while, there was a couple who would have these annoying screaming matches out in the commons for the whole world to hear, but I haven't seen (or heard) them in months. Overall it's alright. Like I said before rent is cheap and no lease, plus its close to the MARC. Also, as I've gotten to know my neighbors, and see my daughter playing everyday with their kids, I think I'm going to miss this place to some extent.