I'm hopefully going to be accepted to UCF so I can go there in January. I was wondering if any of you lived in Jefferson Commons. I was up there today looking for apartments and wondered if any of you needed a roommate. Even if you don't need a roommate, how many of you live there. It'd be nice to know that there are some camaro/firebird people there

 

MY girlfreind used to live there, they ahve individual leases, so you can go in, say I want a room and they will try to match you based on a questionare to some random roomates.

Its kind of a party place, its fun but gets tireing, and forget having any friends come over, and park. ALmost no visitor parking and roaming towtrucks for non-residents.

Nice places, I lived at College suites at Science drive(Now Village on science drive) and I thought it sucked, I was the first person to live int he freshly built place and it was falling apart.

But definitely post here, and get more experiences, I can give more info but southpark is on.


BTW how much you think you are willing to spend?

 

No more livin off Mitchell hammock?

 

northgate lakes isn't bad

VERY CHEAP... cheapest around, but they're not bad apartments AT ALL... you get a lot for your doller.

do be warned however they lowered the electrical allowance this year and we've gone 30 bucks over every month so far (10 bucks per person added onto rent)

 

I am probably looking at between $500-550/month for the most I can spend. I'll more than likely be looking at either the 4 bedroom/4 bath, or the 4 bedroom/2 bath.

Oh, do any of you drive a silver camaro with clear altezzas and the camaro sticker on the third brake light. Saw one behind the chick-fil-a yesterday.

 

I've already been accepted to ucf and am now on the search for a place to stay for next year (summer or fall of 2004). My parents went looking around at places on Sunday, and one of the places they saw was Jefferson Commons, and it seems pretty cool from the info they got. So I'm going out there next wednesday to check it out, along w/ a few other places. I'll post on here what I saw and what I think of the place. I also want to here what people think of their apartments around the ucf area.

Ryan

 

Honestly, I liked Northgate the best of all the "college apartments"

I first lived at College suites at science drive(Village at science drive, old company went out of business after 2 years of being opne ) THe place was crappy for me, dishwasher, never cleaned, our microwave was on the fritz, internet always down, or 10 times slower then,One winter, it was 30 degrees out, with heat full blast it was 50 degrees in the apartment, in the summer we were always over our electricity alot ment and the apartment was hot, just bad, inuslation if any. Also when I was there they had 22 visitor parking spots. So only 22 cars could visit out of the 18 buildings worth of people. So hard to get your freinds over, parking decals got stolen alot, and other problems.

MY girlfriend lived at Jefferson Commons, very nice place, pool is like a MTV grind type pool, but it was a little bit of a party place, which is cool to go to but to live at gets old, drunk people crahsing into your car, people loud all the time. I am can live with the loud people thing, but I know lots of people have problems with this. And parking is horrendous, was nearly impossible to get a spot in visitor there, and for awhile you coudl park at hte bank across the street but they started towing people from there. Other then that the apartments were nice, buildings were cool, I really liked how they had the porches setup. Internet was pretty cool as well.


Northgate, I lived there for 2 years, it was awesome for college places, had some parties, but not too crazy, plenty of visitor parking, but if you don't park there they will tow you. MY first time around they were harshe with the security deposit, but my second time they didn;t charge me for anything. The apartment depends on where you live, last year my apartment was bigger then most places, but the rooms are a little smaller. Also no ceiling fans, but I installed my own ceiling fan easily, where the light is located. Internet is ok not bad but nothing special. But they are the cheapest of them all. Currently I think rent is $470 a month, while most the other places are $500-530 a month. And I liked Northgate the best of all the places I spent alot fo time at.

Also its the the easiest to get to campus from.



I currently live at River Reach(Ghetto) Its goverment subsidized, and income restricted. You also must have one non-student living there. Luckily my girlfiernd is older and graduated. We just figured our bills and just spent $435.67 a piece. We have 2 bed 2 bath, big closets, big bedrooms. This includes, renting washer dryer, rent, electricity, Road runner(ownz any apartment complex), and digital cable with 100s of channels. But being in the ghetto and government subsidized there are families, with parents that work at McD's around so kind of ghetto.

Either way hope this info helps.

 

i'm paying 489/month (plus ~$10 for electricity per month) for a 3 bedroom 3 bath. the rooms at northgate are famous for being smaller than other places, but its also the cheapest.

the internet here sucks bigtime, and during the first 2 months of moving in you can expect to not get onto the internet, at all. this happened both last year and this year.

i might be renewing my lease next year, i havn't decided yet. entirly depends upon if i can find some other people to get an actual house or something that is cheaper. send me a message on AIM "workasazi" if you want more info about northgate... i can tell ya anything you want to know.

oh, and northgate doesn't secure their security cameras, so you can ... umm... "log into" them from your apartment and check out if there are any hotties at the pool, the clubhouse, or the workout room.

 

If I were you, I'd stay away from Jefferson Commons.

I know four people who live there, and they've told me horrible stories about people asking them if they have any crack, pot, or other drugs as they walk across the quad to their building, and the buildings are full of cockroaches, ants in the kitchens, and silverfish in the bathrooms.

Tell ya what, let me cut and paste a letter that was sent to the management of the place from the people I know:

To Whom It May Concern:

During our short time as residents at Jefferson Commons, we have encountered numerous problems and have found the management here to be sub par. We no longer feel safe or comfortable in this community and have found that many other residents have the same concerns.

The front office has been useless in assisting us. We approached management about our situation. Their solutions were inadequate. We discussed our issues with the safety, sanitation, and comfort of Jefferson Commons. It has certainly fallen short of our expectations.

We have requested pest control several times, not only for our apartment, but for the entire building. The area is infested with ants, beetles, and cockroaches. Our guests cannot sit outside without being bitten by ants. We pride ourselves upon keeping a tidy apartment and, more specifically, a clean kitchen. We have found bugs in our beds, couches, closets, and patio furniture.

Upon talking to current and past residents, it seems that there are widespread and ongoing problems that the management and maintenance have yet to address. A main source of our pest problem is our door jamb. Since June, we have been asking for a replacement. Maintenance has not been out to assess the problem after five months. We were also promised new carpeting when we moved in, due to pet odors left from the previous resident. We both have allergies and have experienced health problems. A resident complained that the carpeting in her unit was ripped up. There are now tacks sticking up that have caused injuries. No one has been out to take estimates or look at these problems.

Another concern is with maintenance and the violation of our privacy. Maintenance knocks once and then unlocks the door to the units. They are frequently not in uniform. Times should be scheduled for maintenance work within a unit. We have been in bed or the shower and walked out to the living area to find a stranger working.

The amenities on the property are frequently closed. Several times, we have found the gym equipment to be broken. The pool and grilling area have been closed for a few days due to broken glass. The entire club house was shut down for a haunted house that requested donations. This week, one resident complained that he was turned away when attempting to play pool. The computer lab was also closed. Many residents with online classes were unable to complete tests. The printers and some of the computers are constantly out of order. It is my understanding that use of these amenities is included in our rent and should be in working order at all times. Also, the mail service is incredibly slow. Several times, we have received late charges on telephone and credit card bills. The mail boxes are in poor condition.

Previously, we have ignored the problems with the conditions and management. They are now affecting our scholastic performance, employment, and well-being. Our sleeping habits have been interrupted by loud music from a neighboring unit. Over the past five months, we have filed numerous noise complaints via phone and resident concern forms. The management has just recently taken action this week. Reports of pets, from both residents and security, have been ignored. Underage drinking and heavy drug use have become problems. We have been solicited for cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs while walking to our unit from the parking lot.

Jefferson Commons is sponsoring a “Halloween Porch Decorating Contest” for a cash prize. We decided to participate in this event. On October 26th, we noticed that some of our decorations had been torn down overnight. Later in the evening, we heard commotion outside of our unit. We thought nothing of it because there is frequently loud noise. We soon heard yelling and someone walking into our apartment. We looked out onto our porch to find our decorations in flames. We grabbed the fire extinguisher and quickly put out the blaze. There were no electrical wires or lighting near the source of the fire. We found that our spider web decorations had been altered. Someone connected a section of webs from the source of the flame to the utility closet containing the water heater. Later that night, we found our carved pumpkin smashed in the courtyard. More decorations were mangled or stolen. This morning, we found more damage. Apparently, these incidents were premeditated.

We feel threatened and extremely unsafe. It is obvious that someone is watching when we come and go from our unit. When we reported these incidents to security, they were tremendously helpful and concerned. They assisted us in filling out reports and cleaning up the damage. We were shocked to find that the management had not informed any of the employees about the arson, theft, and vandalism the night before. The office dismissed it as a petty Halloween prank. We were appalled that they did not take these offenses more seriously.

Upon discussing our safety issues with a public relations employee, she offered to move us to a different building or affiliated complex. Although we appreciate her suggestions, we feel that they would not solve the bigger problem. A different building will not make us feel any safer. There are no empty two-bedroom units and we would be separated. Our experiences with College Park properties have not been pleasant. We asked about a release from our lease without penalty. She told us the only way out was a sublet. This is not acceptable.

In conclusion, many residents have voiced complaints that the property is not up to standards. We feel the management at Jefferson Commons is incompetent. We do not think this property was supposed to have this connotation of “unique college residences”.





So, hey. Draw your own conclusions. Good luck.

 

Thank you very much for all your replies and thanks for sending me the complaint letter. Keep them coming if you have them. Jefferson Commons sure doesn't sound like a very good place. It definately had me fooled from the outside.

 

In know a couple people who lived there, all have moved on now.. It's not as bad as some people would think. I'd live there, but thats me.

Steve

 

In know a couple people who lived there, all have moved on now.. It's not as bad as some people would think. I'd live there, but thats me.

Steve

 

With the exception of northgate, the whole peopel asking for crack, and god knows what is pretty common at all the college places(lots of rich kids who do drugs go to school)

If you want to do it all over again.

GO on Campus to the Student Legal Services, ask them where the book of complaints about apartment complexes is.

I saw it one day waiting to talk to a lawyer abotu some traffic problems I had, and lots of good stories in there to really see what places are like.


But a general break down from the average apartment complex...

Don't care
Don't know
Want your money
Charge you more money if you are in anyway delinquent
Crooked
Screw up your mail
If you bitch enough to them, you start getting eviction notices for crap you didn't do(happened to me at College suites, they gave me an eviction notice for being rowdy, when I was in Ft. lauderdale, I had to prove to them I was in Ft. lauderdale not Orlando, luckily I got a speeding ticket 15 minutes after the supposed incident in Ft. Lauderdale)

I woudl stay away form Jefferson Commons a little, they are nice, but the parking thing is a bitch. As for drugs and crime depends on your neighbors, but you can have bad neighbors everywhere.

 

JC is _HORRIBLE_.

Ghetto as all hell.

Management is useless. They don't give a **** about you after you sign their lease (which, I might add, is rather iron-clad). They screwed me out of my covered parking spot, and told me tough ****. They didn't tow AT ALL last year (with exception to a couple of weekends, one of which my roommate's car got towed because they just went at random).

There was a double-stabbing that happened there last year. Some black kids on the basketball court one night thought they'd duke it out .. They had to shut down Alafaya to bring in the medical helicopters.

The place is party-central. And DRUG central.

Horrible, HORRIBLE experience. That person's letter summed up a lot of my experiences, AND more.

Stay FAR, FAR away if you can.

Chris