Collegetown Terrace

I warn you this is not the place to live in Ithaca and here's why:

Collegetown Terrace or CTT lures you in with pictures of pretty lofty buildings and its excellent location between the downtown commons and Cornell, but unfortunately the experience of living at CTT otherwise has been completely regrettable for me. Internet connectivity is pathetic with frequent drops in connection and lagging. Residents have been complaining about CTT internet access for years, but now that Covid has forced us all inside it is downright unbearable to work.

Management is frequently unfriendly and transparency of issues in my building and complex have been poor. After the state allowed gyms to reopen, management refused to reopen the gym (as every single other comparable building in the area had opened there's) until residents complaints became unbearable for them and they were forced to reopen. They issued no refund for the money we paid for the rent.

If you're looking to move to Ithaca, consider other comparable apartment complexes or standalone rentals. Don't make the same mistake as me and hate my experience living here everyday.

The apartment is rather new and in good state, moreover, the layout of the apartment is very comfortable with many windows and enough storage space for two.

Having said that, the management office is terrible - super rude, non-responsive, and un-supportive. You will have a great experience at CTT, unless when you have to interact with management.

I do not recommend living here. The price of the apartment for "perceived" convenience is not worth it.

Several issues worth noting:
1) Internet is atrocious, creating significant issues with online class and streaming services. Management's first response was "disable your wireless printers."

2) Management is rude, cheap, and unreliable. Issues are often met with "nothing we can do" or "here's a number you can deal with it directly (i.e. internet). It took over one full year to get my dishwasher fixed.

3) No guest parking, which creates chaos on the narrow streets

4) Little security. My apartment does not have the capability of buzzing people into my building, requiring them to either get buzzed into another building, walk up a set of stairs, across the entire building, then back down (on my ground-level apartment) and no elevator access from the parking garage.

5) Refused to open gym amenity for more than 3 months after NY State allowed post-COVID

6) No socializing space for groups

7) Frequent issues with automatic rent withdrawals

8) Lack of cleaning. On one occasion, food was offered by the apartment on a Friday and was left out until Tuesday, causing mold and smell in the main lobby/mail areas.

9) No secure package area/disorganized to find packages.

10) Included furniture is uncomfortable and many couches are literally disintegrating.

The only upside is the shuttle to Cornell Campus. However, this can also be unreliable and often already filled during peak travel times, resulting in being late to class and waiting outside in the cold.

The location to campus is awesome, and I have been very happy with maintenance's responsiveness. They have also worked very hard to improve their wifi, and it has gotten a lot better. My room/desk are really large, and this has been hugely beneficial given the current environment we live in.

Great location. No pets allowed. Poor internet connection that drops you regularly. Units are reasonably quiet. Office staff can be kind of rude. Maintenance is worse. Not terrible overall but there are better options so I'm moving next semester.

Expensive and management/maintenance can be unresponsive. No rent concessions during COVID even though no longer had same amenities throughout the property (gym closed) and already charge rental prices that you would expect to find closer to NYC.

Also only do 12 month instead of 10 month leases forcing you to pay for summer months when you likely wont be there.

We have recurrent internet issues. Management does not reply emails and they do not solve the issue.

Not a good place to live

I didn't spend too much time looking for an apartment so I relied on the reviews of others and the quantity of students already at this location. I enjoy the proximity to campus but the apartment management is not responsive nor do they take initiative to fix headaches such as the gym's 2-month delay in reopening or the wifi upgrade.

The Good

- Great location between College Town and Downtown.

- Study areas and gym are pretty new and clean.

- The staff in 106 are nice.

The (Really) Bad

- The management office is awful. They know they have a new class of students every year and have little incentive to fix things in an timely manor or treat tenants well.

- The internet never works, I have to reconnect my devices (phone, tablet, & TV) every time I use them. The internet drops consistently and the management blames it on Spectrum, rather than just getting it fixed.

-The walls are paper thin, you will hear your neighbors like you are in the same room.

- The fire alarms are super sensitive and go off nearly once a week, sometimes at 3:00pm, sometimes at 3:00am in the winter.