Day Two Hundred and Thirty-Two: Gated Community

These days in Lawrence it seems like you can't throw a rock - or a wadded-up rental contract - without hitting a different apartment complex.

Every day a new one is sprouting up, and with all of the competition this creates in the student-housing market, every place has a gimmick.

For some it's a new pool. For others it's lofted ceilings. Or a 24-hour weight room. Or a complimentary weekend breakfast.

But my favorite has to be the "gated community."

Guaranteed to be as effective at keeping the weirdos out as a George Lucas Fan Club, these iron-girded apartment complexes are rarely secure.

Pass by a closed entry gate in town and I can probably name a half-dozen entry codes that will open it, leftovers from residents who moved out five years earlier.

Of course, half of the gates in town are simply left open, either for blatant convenience to apartment burglars or because they are somehow jammed and stuck that way.

So, here's to you, Gated Community, for keeping the streets of Lawrence safe. (After all, if the criminals are busy robbing your apartments, they're not out wandering the streets!)