apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I live on the 15th Floor in a secured building - so I feel relatively safe from intruders....
...and the front door has a new electronic lock with a keypad so I don't have to concern myself w/ keys.

My biggest concern is for fire - the folks next door are major packrats and I could just imagine a fire sweeping through the floor from their apartments (Yes, they have 2)

When I used to live in apartments/duplexes around Baltimore, I would walk around the building a few times in the first weeks sniffing the air. Meth labs smell like cat urine, so they are fairly easy to, uh, sniff out. I never found one in any of my buildings, but when I managed a coffee shop in another city, I helped to bust some apartment dwellers in the building behind my business for operating a meth lab. Citizens strike back!!

meth labs smell like cat urine, really? because that makes me think twice about the couple of houses I thought were just crazy cat people houses in my city...

Uh oh. Meth labs can be toxic for the entire building. Make sure the lab was properly cleaned up, and you haven't been feeling ill.

Where do you live?

People are starting to develop illnesses from lingering chemical contamination after moving into residences that formerly served as meth labs.

If you think you're living in the same building as a lab, remember that it can affect your health, too. Report any suspicious activity, and if a lab is discovered, look into what it takes to thoroughly clean the building.

How to recognize a meth lab

Wow, meth labs and police were a part of my week too!! In fact, was wondering if there is a serious epidemic in my community.

A few days ago, a bounty hunter came around looking for my next door neighbor. The man apparently jumped bail on charges of running a meth lab. The house is a rental, and 2 tenants ago someone there died of an overdose (heroine, I think), and the man across the street sometimes goes on a meth binge.

I live in a quaint little community. Small town, historic homes, friendly neighbors. For a while I thought that insulated me from this stuff. I'm no longer so naive.

Thanks for the security tips. I should probably take a few more precautions myself.

It sounds like you should move. Our neighborhood is an up and coming area of Providence, RI. It's pretty safe. It's not the East Side, but it's the next best thing. I feel safe walking my dog late at night. Most of the buildings are historic and owner occupied. Or landlord lives in the neighborhood, and there are a lot of young families and a park. We still get flashing lights going by from time to time, and once there was a shooting in a known gang house, but the cops are really on top of things here and we have a very active neighborhood association.

Before this place we rented a cape house in a family neighborhood that had new locks on all the doors, and it was broken into while we were in Australia. Our landlord had told us the neighborhood was so safe that he left the house unlocked for four months while he was away. Obviously he had nothing worth stealing.

I can't imagine living like that...!

Wait, I actually *can*. We lived in the States when I was young, and although it was the '70s (and so there were no hovering helicopters), it was pretty much like that. A friend of ours was robbed and stabbed to death on Christmas Eve one year for $7. The neighborhood druggist, who was so sweet and kind, was killed in an armed robbery. Growing up, I was afraid, and taught to stay indoors, taught not to walk down the street. That feeling stayed with me my entire childhood, even after we moved.

When I was in grade 3, we moved to Canada, and what a difference... it felt safe to walk down the street in the evening, and you weren't afraid of burglars.

No crime like that here in Switzerland either.

Wow, where in LA do you live?

I live on a side street that is very close to the downtown area and the neighborhood is populated with students. It's generally quiet but there are usually people walking around, even late at night. There's a university police station a couple of blocks away too, so there are always patrol cars around.

Despite all this, people tend to get mugged fairly regularly at the end of my street so I try not to walk around by myself after dark. I'm not worried about break-ins; I live on the third floor and the potential burglar would have to get through the (locked) building front door, bypass every other apartment, and then get through my own heavy door with a deadbolt. There are no fire escapes or balconies from which anyone could climb into the windows either.

Unfortunately it does not matter where you live anymore. They have found housewives in the suburbs running math labs out of their kitchens, no kidding! And yes, it does smell like cat urine. On a walk around our complex, we smelled such a smell coming from over the wall and sure enough the police were there a few days later banging down doors. Now this is a middle class area, but some of the homes behind us are being rented out. That is another thing to keep an eye out for, renters. Not all of us take as much pride in a rented home as a purchased home and unfortunately, most people who rent out their homes don't do a criminal background check....

Oh, and I avoid renting apartments on the first floor of buildings or at the garden level. It just seems safer to have the windows be less accessible from the street.

"In fact, was wondering if there is a serious epidemic in my community."

Please - There's a serious meth epidemic in our Country!

When the personal ads include references to "PnP", "to the PoinT" and "ParTying" - What do you think they mean?

i'm sorry to laugh at your typo, cliokitty... "They have found housewives in the suburbs running math labs out of their kitchens, no kidding!"

i know you meant meth and not math, but i just pictured a soccer mom in an apron holding kids hostage and making them do hours of algebra while wearing lab coats!

yeah, i need to get out more.

LOL also to the "math labs" typo - those arithmetic lessons don't belong in my neighborhood!!!!!

@bebsf: I've never heard of the "PnP" and "ParTying" references you're talking about. What *do* they mean?

really, you've got to get out of Brentwood.

One of our favourite karaoke bars turned out to have a meth lab in it. All I could ever smell was musty mouldy carpet - was that the lab, or just an excellent cover. It was totally gross, btw, I am secretly glad it was shut down and my friends don't ask me there anymore. Ick.

We're pretty lucky, I guess. About a month ago, my bf accidentally left our front door wide open when we left to pick people up from the airport. We were gone for over two hours, and everything was fine. Scared the bejebus out of me, though, walking up and seeing our door gaping open like that.

Brentwood has really gone down hill since OJ moved away.