The Connection at Lawrence — Local services in Lawrence

I would give it 0 stars if I could.

The very first day I moved into the apartment, barely anything worked. The garbage disposal was full of rotten food and would not work; it smelled to bad I had plug my nose anytime I was in the kitchen for weeks. When it was “fixed” the only thing that was changed was the garbage disposal being able to be ran; I had to run it multiple times to get the rotten food out of there. The dish washer leaked the first time I used it and covered the floor with water; not only did that happen, but it made the dishes I used smell like rotten eggs. When it was finally “fixed” all they did was shut the door of it. When I opened it, there was a puddle of foul smelling water in a pool in the washer and it still wouldn’t run properly, so I just never used it.

The washing machine made screeching noises anytime I would run it. I still don’t know what it was, because when it was “fixed” I was told that “that’s just how it sounds.” I would always have to wash my clothes 2 times most times just so they could get clean.

While cooking in my apartment after a few months of being in the unit, there was smoke from food I had cooked and I wondered why the smoke detector wasn’t beeping at me. After checking the detector, I realized that not only did the detector not have batteries in it, but it wasn’t even plugged into the ceiling for it to work in the first place. Had there been a fire, I would never have known and could have died.

The A/C unit broke two days into the lease during a time where it was over 100 degrees everyday for almost 2 weeks. I called and asked someone to please come help me fix it, but I was told that I “had to be patient because other people are having the issue as well.” Multiple days went by where I literally sat in a puddle of my own sweat every night tossing and turning because it was 85 degrees in my apartment. After calling and complaining a third time, they finally put an A/C machine in my window, which barely did anything for me. The apartment went from 85 degrees to 80 degrees.

The floor was absolutely filthy when I first moved in. The floor was so dirty that when I would walk barefoot on the wood, my feet would become literally pitch black because of how much dirt was on the floor. I had to do 2-3 instances of mopping, using multiple rags, before the floor was able to be walked on without shoes. It was disgusting.

The door to the apartment never actually locked properly. Despite my 3-4 instances of putting in a work order for the door to be replaced or at the very least have the lock changed on the door post, nothing was ever done. I was told that they would need to have someone come out and fix it in October of 2024, but no one ever came to fix it. I would always have to use a chair to prop against the door at night. Recently, there were gunshots fired on the property, and homeless people very often walk around the property. I am lucky that I did not have anyone try to harm me or break into my apartment to hurt myself or steal my belongings. When the door was finally “fixed” someone just drilled another hole into the rotten door post and told me that I would just have to shimmy the handle upwards to make it fit into the space. It never actually worked and the door never locked properly. Also: no one ever came to fix the door like I was told would happen.

Now, I am being charged $400 (among other random fees for cleaning) after moving out to replace a dresser that I barely used. It sat in the closet in the corner, and I only ever used the first 2-3 drawers, and was in good condition when I left.

You are a number and your problems do not...

The Connection is the last place I would choose to live at again in Lawrence. For already being a college student, living here is just added stress and a financial burden.

When I moved into my room at The Connection at the start of my 12 month lease, the room was in an extremely poor state. Bird excrement covered the patio (likely about a couple years’ worth), black dust and grime were all over my blinds and fan, and about every single piece of furniture I was provided with was defective (drawers barely opened, kitchen chairs and table were wobbly, end table had finish peeling off, etc.). Upset with the condition of the room that I had received it in, I contacted The Connection in hopes of reimbursement or compensation, but with no response. I was able to clean the room myself, but for them to say that they had sanitized the room in advance was certainly not true.

There were several problems with the room throughout the lease, too. The heat/cooling distribution through the room was very incompetent: one side of the room was always hotter and one side was always freezing. Another electrical problem was that I couldn’t have my Keurig running without a fuse blowing. Also, my roommates and I couldn’t cook a meal on the stove or in the oven without the smoke alarm going off, as it was incredibly sensitive.

About the noise: This room was also right next to the basketball court. The Connection has set hours for the court, but they don’t enforce them, so I would wake up to people playing basketball and shouting at 3 AM on several occasions. The acoustics in the complex are terrible. If you live next to the basketball court, you will hear people outside clear as day, no matter what time of day it is. You’ll also inevitably hear your neighbors next door, because the walls are paper thin.

The staff at The Connection has been terrible. Many of them didn’t wear their masks at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic whenever I went to the leasing office or when one of them needed to come to our room. Whenever we had a maintenance request or a complaint, we’d get little to no response. If I went to the office with a question, often the person working at the desk was brand new and had no idea what they were doing. When it came time for me to sublease my apartment and get out of there, I had to go in on multiple occasions to ensure that the sublease was working out, as they canceled the guy’s application to sublease from me the first time. Not to mention, they wouldn’t let me sublease at any time: they would only let me sublease for the summer starting on May 1, so I had to move out before the end of the school year and scrambled to find a new place. I was able to sublease, but the cost of $350 to sublease was ridiculous (it’s basically another month of rent). They will charge you and grab your money in whatever way they can.

Unlike some others, I was fortunately able to get my security deposit back at the end of my lease. I had to push the people in the front office and make sure that I was getting it back when I was moving out, but I got it back. It shouldn’t have to be a struggle to get a security deposit back, especially when you’re likely leaving the room in better condition than you received it in.

This all being said, please don’t live here. While the location is decent, the staff’s practice here seems to be largely unethical and living here during school was added stress. A student shouldn’t have to fight with the place they live while they’re already dealing with school and work. I would highly discourage living at The Connection at Lawrence. There are far better places in Lawrence for...

Note: I have moved out more than 2 years ago. This was my review shortly after move out.

The Good: My unit was furnished. Sofas, a dining table with chairs, a coffee tables, a writing desk with a chair, and a wardrobe. Not very new, but better than nothing. The rent was for a bedroom, a private bathroom, and a common area shared among roommates. To me, the price to living area ratio was fairly reasonable. The common area was pretty spacious, and I have lived in a tiny studio in another city with twice the monthly rent. All utilities (minus electricity) were included. Internet can be upgraded through Midco and you only pay the difference. Very close to nearby business plazas (Walmart, Target, post office, Best Buy, UPS Store, some fast food restaurants)

The Bad: The electricity bill seemed very high, about $150+ monthly on average for the entire unit. It may have to do with the appliances and AC not being energy efficient. Also, only one person could register the account and have to collect the payments from everyone else. Speaking of the appliances and AC, they seemed ancient. I have seen better ones. I rarely open windows but my unit was constantly dusty for no reason. I have to frequently vacuum all surfaces and the AC vent -- lots of black, soft dust cumulated on the metal vent cover and the AC filter. Edit: After living elsewhere I realized that the dust were the fibers from the tumble dryer in the utility closet which was near the AC. I'm not sure if that was normal, but watch out if you have allergies or other respiratory disease. My bedroom was very small, and due to the design and furniture placement, there was not a lot of space to put my own stuff without sacrificing walking space. There were no visible recycling bins on-premise. Either they did not exist, or they were hidden somewhere, comparing to the abundance of solid waste bins. I had to take the bottles and papers elsewhere.

The Ugly When I moved in, the walls and the carpet of my bedroom were not repaired. I did not report this to the landlord and these damages came back and bit me when I moved out. Do make sure to report take pictures and other evidence when you move in if things are not functioning. The building I lived in got struck by lightning twice during the summer. Several of my electronics were wasted and I had to contact Midco to replace the fried router. Not sure if the building has any rods installed so be careful. The internet setup was weird. I had to use a portal to add devices' MAC addresses (up to 10) before connecting to the internet, and there was only one ethernet port in each bedroom -- none in the living room. The tenant Wi-Fi was not password-protected. AirPlay and other device discovery does not work on their Wi-Fi, but sometimes you can discover device that are not yours. You may want to set up your own Wi-Fi for security. The walls did not have good insulation, and I could hear things from neighbors, corridor and outside. So be aware of the potential noise. FedEx and USPS deliveries would be sent to the leasing office for pick up, UPS and Amazon would leave things at your door. Pickups were mostly fine but there were a few times I had to press the front desk to look a bit closer to find my packages. No package thefts has happened to me but the corridors were not monitored. If you have any valuables coming in, I recommend holding them at a courier...