I lived here for two years from 2005 until 2007.
The best (and possibly only good) thing about the place is that the rent was quite affordable, especially given the fact that it was so close to CMU. I could walk (15 min), bike (8 min), take the
shuttle from the stop across the sheet, or drive (since there's a dedicated parking lot). I paid $545 one year and $560 the second year.
But you get what you pay for. For this price you have to put up with:
(1) the building is very old and there is a roach problem (although I got rid of most of them in my apartment with some disposable square poison dispensers you can buy at Target)
(2) the parking lot can fill up at times. Once or twice I had to "create" my own spot by parking in the corners
(3) winter snow removal on the uphill driveway is very slow. One icy day my car slid down the hill directly into traffic and almost hit a passing ambulance
(4) the rental company staff is not helpful at all. The secretary cannot to anything beyond taking messages and is very hard to communicate with. The owner of the rental company (well I assume he's the owner since Sachs Management Company bears his namesake) is the only person that can do anything and he is often not available. For example if you lock yourself out, he is the only one that has a master key. So don't count on getting back in if he is not around. My maintenance calls were usually handled in a reasonable amount of time (but also none of them were urgent).
He also charged carpet cleaning to my security deposit which I is not justified since the carpet was not abused and cleaning should be part of normal maintenance.
If you only care about minimizing rent while staying close to campus, live at the Markwalt. But if you want good service and a nice apartment, go somewhere else.
I rented from fall '05 through fall '07.
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