An insider’s thoughts on the Manor

By Robert Quinn
Collegian Reporter
January 31, 2007

Over the next few weeks, students are going to have an important decision to make. It’s not about whether to study for that test or to go to a party. It’s, also not about whether to poke back on Facebook. It is, however, one of the most important decisions any student makes as they go through the college experience.

This is the decision of where to live for the next year. At La Salle, you have a lot of options. On-campus housing is pretty cool, because you’re close to hundreds of individuals, each with their own values, goals and dreams. And then there is off-campus housing.

I currently reside in the Manor Apartments with my three roommates, but I hope not for long. I say this because living in the Manor was probably the worst decision I’ve made since my parents dropped a bright-eyed freshman at St. Neumann Hall.

Last spring, my friends and I began talking about housing, as everyone else did. We decided that though campus life was fun, we wanted more freedom, so we opted to check out off-campus housing. The first and, unfortunately, last place that we checked out was the Manor Apartment Complex. We liked that it was so close to our classes, in addition to the aforementioned freedom we desired.

To seal our deal, we walked over to the Manor, on time, for our pre-scheduled appointment with building management. We arrived, the four of us, not knowing what to expect. We were, however, optimistic about the apartment. And why wouldn’t we be? We had no idea what life in the Manor was actually like. We did discover, however, that the picture painted for us on that day was an idealist vision of what the Manor could be.

The first inconsistency came with the price of the apartment. When we’d spoken to a nice lady about living at the Manor, she informed us that the apartment would be $2,000 per semester and that the lease would cover from Aug. 1 until May 31. She also told us that if we chose to live there both semesters, we would receive a discount of $500 off of the year’s rent. This was not the case at all. This discrepancy may have caused some to rethink signing their lease. However, we decided to throw caution to the wind and think that was the only bit of falsehood.

Many times during our conversations with Manor management, we were told that towers D and E would be “student towers.” They led us to believe that these towers would be used specifically for students; however, this was also not true.

Before we left that day, the woman assured us that we would be safe living in the Manor. Safety at the Manor is something that has gone just a little bit overlooked. For the first two months of school or so, there was a security force at the Manor.

To be honest with you, as a general consensus among residents, it is safer without the security force. To our knowledge, they provided us with anything but security. They did, however, feel it was necessary to kick us off of the balcony every evening because they’d been having problems with garbage being left out there. In our encounter with the security staff, they were foul-mouthed and accusatory, mostly without cause. If that was the extent of our security problems with the Manor, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

As many recent La Salle Security Reports indicate, our problems did not end.

Friday, Dec. 29, our apartment was broken into. The door was broken and impossible to close. Nothing was taken. Of course, neither I nor any of my roommates were there because of the winter break. I only found out about this break-in because my friends from across the hall informed me. Soon after, I called the Manor’s office. The phone rang and rang, but nobody picked up. I called a few more times Friday and made calls all Saturday and Sunday as well, however, the response was similar: nobody picked up.

On New Years’ Day, my roommate went back to see if he could get the door fixed. Upon entering our apartment, he noticed over $800 in missing items, including DVDs, a bongo drum, a power drill and other assorted appliances.

In the last week, two students were robbed at gunpoint on the Manor property. Also, one student, sleeping in another student’s apartment, woke up to two men robbing the apartment he was sleeping in. One waved a knife at him and told him to simply close his eyes and go to sleep.

Recently, the Manor has come under new ownership. This new owner claims to have made the complex safer already. A new security camera system was promised, but nothing has been implemented. Two night-time security guards were hired, but when asked a few days ago about it, they said they were only expected to be there for two weeks. The student intercom system and front gate, which have been broken since we moved in, are supposed to be fixed; however, we have no exact date. The elevators are often out of order and sometimes broken glass sits for days unattended.

The only promises that were made to us while talking to the new owner was that if we came back next semester, everything would be fixed. I wrote this article because I don’t want other students making the same mistake that we made. I urge, you, please, do not consider the Manor Apartments for your housing next year unless you are willing to take a risk. To us, the risk is simply not worth taking again.

quinnr1@lasalle.edu