Westchester At Cherry Lane

May 1980
President Jimmy Carter’s hostage rescue attempt had recently failed in Iran. I had a new job, a 1976 Honda CB360T motorcycle and a full head of hair. I also had a one bedroom basement apartment at the Laurel Apartments for $220 dollars month. That price included all my utilities plus as much steam heat as I could stand from a stuck valve.

The Laurel Apartments were built in 1949 before anyone needed air conditioning. The steam valve stopped working correctly sometime during the Korean War. But Tippy’s Taco was across the street and there was a pretty girl named Joanne living two floors up.

April 2007
The new Westchester at Cherry Lane complex is open for leasing. This is the new Archstone-Smith property at 14720 Fourth Street. I played a very small part in approving this redevelopment project during my single term on the city council in 2004.

Leasing consultant Tia Snead showed me around. Tia took me to see a one bedroom apartment with a nice sized kitchen, a full size washer and dryer, a full bath that is bigger than my cubicle at work, a walk-in dressing room/closet, a breakfast bar, a balcony overlooking a huge pool and a second story loft office wired with Verizon’s fiber optic internet service.


Their parking garage lets you drive up to your third floor apartment and park within a few feet, making grocery toting a snap. It’s not open yet, but Tia explained that there will also be a complete gym, internet café and big screen theatre room. If you lease soon, you can have all of this for about $1800 a month. Utilities are extra.

My advice is to sign a lease soon. You never know how a new apartment will change your life. I married that pretty girl upstairs. She is still with me even though I don’t have much hair or the motorcycle.