No quick sand removal

It's been two weeks now since the last snowstorm and the parking lot is still awash with sand. Sometimes I wonder if management just hopes that either problems will disappear on their own or that residents will give up hope of ever having them fixed. That seems to be the attitude toward the sand in the parking lot which has been whipped up by recent high winds and made walking through the parking lot a messy and painful experience with sand being blown in your face. I would hope for a heavy rain to wash some of it away, but the rain would only leak into the building and cause more problems on the ground level, so that is probably not the best thing to wish for :-P

The Electric Slip & Slide

I think the following graph of my recent electricity bills speaks for itself:



Electric heat is not cheap...and this was not even a particularly cold winter.

Holes, more or less

The pothole at the (currently) only parking lot entrance was filled in yesterday, so that was a good sign. However, there are still many, many other rough spots and potholes throughout the parking lot, mostly thanks to the shoddy paving job done at the end of last Fall. Many soft spots opened up at the beginning of March and now the pavement is simply beginning to crumble and disintigrate in these locations, mostly in the through-traffic area in front of the building.

The property manager claims that she was completely caught off-guard by the Jersey barriers going up Tuesday. Even though she apologized, she still tried to shunt the blame. The fact remains that just because you were caught off-guard does not mean that you weren't at fault. She should have kept better tabs on when the Jersey barriers would be put in place. Additionally, she knew about the fact that they were coming beforehand. She made no effort to inform residents that this change would be taking place. I would have appreciated some information that the change was coming, even if told that it would be at an unknown time in the future. This is simply more evidence of a complete lack of professionalism on the part of the property manager. Ignorance is not an excuse, it is an indictment.

Finally, there does not seem to be any timetable for opening another parking lot entrance on the Broadway Street side of the parking lot. The property manager claims to be waiting to hear from the city but appears unmotivated to make the process happen as quickly as possible. The problem is that this is already overdue: it should have happened well before the other entrance was blocked off.

Lions, tigers and Jersey barriers, oh my!

I returned home yesterday to find Jersey barriers blocking the southwest entrance to the parking lot, much to my disappointment. I usually exit the complex that way since the stoplight at Broadway and Dutton Street backs up past the Hellenic American Academy, blocking any egress from the Broadway Street exit. I understand that this was likely done in order to prevent through traffic from speeding through our parking lot to avoid the aforementioned stoplight, but this was done with absolutely no prior notice. Plus, management claims that they will open another entrance on Broadway Street, but they do not seem motivated to do this anytime soon, despite the large pothole in what is now our one and only entrance. Hopefully, they will get the city to ban parking along our side of Broadway Street so that we can safely go in and out of our parking lot. Right now, whenever you pull out, it is often a guessing game because of the cars parked on the street that block the drivers view of cars coming down the street.

Snow!

This past winter has been relatively mild and that has most certainly been a good thing. Management handled the Valentine's Day snow reasonably well, but completely dropped the ball on the St. Patrick's Day snowfall. Snow began on Friday and ended early Saturday morning. The staff had been keeping up with the snow through most of Friday and into Friday night, but when I came outside Saturday morning, there was at least 6 inches of unplowed snow all over the parking lot. This situation persisted until 11:00 AM when the property manager and a plow finally arrived. She blamed the plow company for having one of their plows break overnight, but she should have been in a position to call in a back-up service to fill in. There are very few occassions when I would expect a property manager to be working through the night, but when there is a major snowfall that occurs overnight, that is one of the times. So the snow did not get plowed until very late and then she somehow failed to inform the driver where to plow the snow, since both pet areas managed to get completely plowed in with piles of snow that exceeded 6 feet. This forced pets to eliminate all throughout the parking lot. All that would have been required was (at most) five minutes of her instructing the plow driver to pile the snow elsewhere (there are plenty of side areas for snow to be placed). However, she completely dropped the ball on this one, which is surprising since she is a dog owner herself and since the snow was cleared appropriately after the Valentine's Day snowfall. Otherwise, though, the maintenance staff was proactive in asking any car owners who ventured into the parking lot to move their cars so that the plow could clear as much snow as possible from the main parking areas. This was the one positive in the midst of the snow fiasco.

The ugly

So there are good things and bad things with any apartment complex, but unfortunately things have only gotten ugly since I moved in. Here it is:

• Towing - There is a tow truck driver who lives in the complex and he has a propensity for actively towing anyone who does not fall within the parking regulations (more on that soon). I have seen him watch people get out of their cars and go into the building and then immediately hook them up and tow them without even giving them the courtesy of reminding them that they need a parking permit.
  
• Parking - When I first moved in, residents could obtain resident parking permits for their cars and then visitors parking permits for visitors whenever necessary. Since then, though, management has decided that visitors parking permits must be dated and will only be good for the dates indicated on the permit. Gone are the days of providing a permit to a dog walker, house cleaner or other frequent visitors (family and friends!). There was absolutely no good rationale for this since, as I stated earlier, there has never been a lack of parking. Visitors now must obtain a parking permit as soon as they step out of their cars or risk towing. Management claims a 24-hour security presence on-site, but this is a joke since the night security guard leaves promptly at 7:00 am and the property manager sometimes does not arrive until 9:00 am. Sadly, it seems as though the parking permit policy is intended only to make it more difficult for visitors to park and easier for the towing company to make more money. This leads one to the unfortunate conclusion that management is likely receiving kick-backs from the towing company for each vehicle towed. If anyone can give a better answer, I am willing to listen.
  
• Lowell Sun - Our friends at the Lowell Sun have moved into the American Textile History Museum building next door and clearly did not plan for parking well since their employees now park in our lot. The memo from management indicates that this will be only between the hours of 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM Monday through Friday. However, I have seen Sun employees parking in our lot before 7:00 AM and leaving well after 7:00 PM on a regular basis. Where is the ravenous towing to which we (and our visitors) have been subjected? If Sun employees can park with what amount to permanent visitors passes (placards indicating that they are Lowell Sun employees), why can't 305 Dutton Street residents have the same privilege of permanent visitors parking passes (a "privilege" that we formerly enjoyed)?!?
• Pets - I think that one of the greatest advantages of this building is its allowal of so many pets. However, it comes at a steep price. Management charges an illegal (in Massachusetts, at least) pet fee upon move-in (Mass. state law indicates that only the equivalent of one month's rent may be paid at move-in in addition to the first month's rent...since a security deposit of one month's rent is charged, that makes any other "fees" illegal). Management disavows any responsibility for messes that pets (usually dogs) make throughout the complex. They send many memos out when pet owners irresponsibly leave feces on the ground (or worse, in the hallway) and threaten to take away pet privileges. I am all for aggressively going after the irresponsible pet owners, but management should at least make a regular effort to clean up areas that are frequently marred by pet feces. One example is at the southwest corner of the property which is partly landscaped with mulch, trees and plants but has an enormous amount of dog feces. I am sure the "pet fee" could cover a once-monthly visit by a dog feces removal service. That area is simply disgusting and a huge black eye for the complex.
  
• Management Attitude - Although the "on-site" property manager is friendly and reasonably accessible, the tone that she takes in her memorandums is decidedly unprofessional. Rather than informing residents and taking a community-friendly or cooperative tone, her memos exist solely to either inform residents when amenities are being taken away (such as permanent visitors passes and an entire entrance to the parking lot) or to threaten to remove further amenities (such as threatening pet owners with the elimination of pet privileges.
  

The bad

At first, there really weren't many obvious bad indications. The idea of heating and cooling a place with such high ceilings had me suspicious from the start. The thin walls take even less than a knock to detect. I should have guessed at the outside noise level in light of the location, but I didn't really even notice until after I had moved in.

The good

When I first began my apartment search, 305 Dutton looked like a great place: pet friendly, plenty of parking, super-convenient access to both downtown Lowell and the commuter rail station. All of that is still true to varying extents. There is a great deal of flexibility with regard to the number and kinds of dogs and pets allowed. There has never been a lack of parking, even when it snowed. The walk to downtown is easy and the walk to the commuter rail only takes about 15 minutes.

Beginnings and endings...

This blog is dedicated to my life as a resident of the 305 Dutton Street apartment complex in Lowell, MA. I hope to use it as a dynamic forum that will let me chronicle the ups and downs of 305 Dutton life easier than some comment outlet such as apartmentratings.com. This can serve as a resource for people considering renting here and maybe even a forum for other residents. Even if I am the only one commenting, though, I feel like it will be worthwhile.