Collegetown Terrace

Overpriced for Value but Convenient Location

Many students live here, so it is much easy to gather and hang out with friends

My apartment was move-in ready the day I arrived: it was clean, patched up where needed and free of odd smells from the previous tenant. It is spacious and modern with plenty of room for all of my winter gear. I'm so glad to have a washer and dryer in-unit and appreciate the newness of the appliances.

Reasons I ended up renting an apartment at CTT without having been able to visit it - it came highly recommended by the students, most grad students live in this apartment complex so you know you won't be alone, the Valentine buildings were recently constructed so the apartments are somewhat new, the rent includes just about everything except electricity and air conditioning, there is a washer/dryer installed in the apartment which is very convenient on days you have to do laundry but have a busy schedule (which is almost all the time), and most importantly, CTT provides a shuttle to campus which SO convenient!

Overall a good residence with friendly staff. The shuttle to and from Cornell's campus is a highly value amenity. The fitness facilities could use some work, the key system is extremely outdated, and parking is expensive with no guest parking option.

Review for 111 S Quarry (a.k.a. Casa Roma or Poor CTT)

Good: close to campus and most law students, pretty quiet, nice furnishings, nice floor plan, heating included in rent, stove has a vent hood, appliances are pretty nice, decent bathroom, maintenance requests get fixed fast, parking available (but costs extra)

Bad: slight price premium, WiFi sometimes great sometimes sucks (they have spent months trying to fix this), no AC (I did fine without AC, but my roommate bought a window AC unit, relatively cheap), they systemically do not respect 24-hr notice to show apartment (even when I went for my showing, we walked in on one guy that had not been given notice AT ALL!), the CTT shuttle gets PACKED at certain times in the morning (but the Ithaca bus stop is not too far)

Walking distance from campus. Has parking & gym in building. Lots of law students live here.

I love living in collegetown terrace. However, I pay way to much for it. I know that competing residences are similarly modern and nice and cost significantly less.

Also, the walls are super thin. I can hear my neighbor and the person above me all the time.

The interior design is also quite unimpressive. I do not like the dark carpet and the color or the walls. And the windows are so tiny - it would be nice to have more natural light hit my living room.

Otherwise, its nice to live in a modern building with a gym in the building and a washer, and dryer and dishwasher in unit. And having my own bathroom and a walk-in closet is nice as well.

The room itself is spacious and plenty of storage in the bedroom. Kitchen is small, with virtually no storage (4 drawers, 2 usable cabinets total) and as someone who uses cooking as a way to relieve stress, I had to buy an extra shelf to have somewhere to put my plates. The handles on both my fridge/freezer and microwave have come off on two separate occasions each.
The furnishings are cheap and uncomfortable. The couch has shed much of its thin faux leather covering through normal wear and tear; the chairs are a weird lattice that make it very uncomfortable to sit on when you're wearing shorts, and leave deep grooves in your skin. The floorboards in my room squeak and the walls are thin--you can hear music coming from both the room below you and the ones on either side of you.
There's a gym in the building, which is reasonably large and well-appointed, but all of the cardio machines are in front of a large glass wall that faces the street where people walk into the building, which is less than great when you're at your sweaty worst and you see someone you know.
They do not allow pets. Management has been rude and honestly mean in the past, though seem to have gotten a bit nicer after Maplewood opened up and they finally had competition. Management is inflexible, and unhelpful when it comes to finding subtenants if the need arises. They do not sign for packages, which are left open in a common area and theft has been an issue in the past.

One of the few redeeming qualities is the shuttle, which picks up in front of the building and drops off very close to the law school. They added a grocery shuttle this year, which is also nice.

One of the older CTT buildings so it does not have AC or in unit washer. But very convenient and management/maintenance are very responsive.