I had to move to Charlotte for work on short notice last June and Uptown Gardens was the only apartment complex that could accommodate me. Since then, my stay has been overall very nice. However, having seen some other one-BR apartments in the area, I can say that there are other complexes with far more amenities to offer for the price.
Pros:
Management is super attentive. Lauren, Jason, Charles and Brent have been nothing but fabulous throughout my stay with everything from maintenance requests to answering questions.
Proximity to Uptown. Everything you need is within walking distance. Time Warner Cable Arena is about a 15-20 minute walk. College Street restaurants and bars are about 10 minutes. The Knights and Panthers Stadiums are even closer, right down Graham Street.
Spacious apartments. I have more space in my apartment than I have furniture to put in it.
Quiet. Compared to some newer complexes with a lot of younger residents, it's relatively quiet most of the time.
Cons:
Amenities. There is only a small gym and a small pool that gets very crowded on weekends.
Safety. Some of the apartments back up to an abandoned lot and the complex gates are always open. Nothing has ever happened to me but I have seen many a drunk person or transient person wandering around in the abandoned lot at night.
THE TRAIN! There's a CSX railroad line that runs about 100 yards behind the complex. Trains come chugging through all hours of the day and night and they BLAST their horns. Sometimes for an entire two-minute span. You eventually get used to it, but I wish someone had told me about this before I signed my lease.
Construction. In the 10 months I've been here, all but three weeks have featured some kind of construction -- whether it was the clubhouse or renovating the apartments above, below and next to mine. After a while it gets frustrating to constantly dodge equipment and listen to banging and jackhammering all day long.