By MICHAEL T. BURKHART
Courier-Post Staff

Lee Gerhart likes living at the Mount Laurel Crossing Apartments. The luxury complex on Larchmont Boulevard suits the lifestyle of the 29-year-old account manager for a Princeton medical company.

He travels a lot and when he's home, there's no lawn to mow and no gutters to clean. There also is a gym and a community center for him to use.

"When you're young and single and in business traveling, renting is mandatory," said Gerhart. "It's 100 percent convenience."

While the township saw another big rise in single family homes in the 1990s, the number of rental properties increased by almost 34 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Although traditionally attracting young renters, apartments and town houses are also places where empty nesters can move and still remain in the township, Mayor Peter McCaffrey said.

"Any town needs a mixture," said Township Manager Patricia Halbe, herself a renter.

The 296-unit Mount Laurel Crossing complex, which opened two years ago, is a chief reason for rocketing rentals here, officials said.

Many of the tenants it attracts include young professionals like Gerhart and his fiancee, Pamela Naidus.

Gerhart had an apartment in Princeton, near his base as an account manager for LipoScience Medical Devices, but became tired of the urban environment.

Naidus, a representative for Reliant Pharmaceuticals, was ready to sign a lease in Lawrenceville, but liked the closet space at Mount Laurel Crossing better.

Gerhart met Naidus in the fitness center in October 2000, when he asked her to hand him the television's remote control. They plan to marry in November and buy a house afterward.

For now, though, the conveniences and free time their apartments afford them, suit them fine.

Today and Tomorrow stories:

• Watch video of a Purim carnival at Adath Emanu-El in Mount Laurel - RealVideo | QuickTime
  
• Blockbuster growth slows
  A second wave of development rolled through western Burlington County in the 1990s, as it did a decade earlier, bringing office parks and sprawling residential developments to land where farms once stood.
• A renaissance surrounds Jews in Mount Laurel
  Ten years ago, the sole synagogue in the township was an empty shell on Hartford Road, the remnant of a small Jewish community that had largely died out by 1970.

• What do you think will be different in Mount Laurel in 2010?
  Balkus, Mount Laurel, service company manager:think it's going to be much more populated. I think they stopped building a lot of new homes now.''

• Build out ahead: No room for home boom
  Defined by growth for more than 30 years, Mount Laurel will see an end to its residential construction boom by 2010 if not sooner, township planners said.

• Minorities drawn to township
  Senegal native William Diouf, 26, prays with white people and minority priests at St. John Neumann Church in Mount Laurel.

• Mt. Laurel preparing for annual Vol' Fair
  The township is preparing to host Volunteer Fair 2002, an annual event here.

• Revamped in '91, Mt. Laurel's library is refining its services
  If you're not a frequent patron of the Mount Laurel Public Library, you'd be surprised at what you're missing.

• Growth surrounds Family Y
  Can you say, Hot? John Worley can.

• Huge increases in students, classrooms beginning to wane
  The search is on for a new superintendent to shepherd the Mount Laurel school district into the future.

• Renters attracted to twp.
  Lee Gerhart likes living at the Mount Laurel Crossing Apartments. The luxury complex on Larchmont Boulevard suits the lifestyle of the 29-year-old account manager for a Princeton medical company.

• Active seniors keep pace
  They're in the express lane at Super G, holding a daily newspaper and a loaf of bread. They crowd into St. John Neumann Roman Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday morning, filling the pews. They're on the links at Ramblewood; doing aerobics at the gym; baby-sitting grandkids, or whacking a tennis ball down the baseline.

• Profile: Mount Laurel