I've lived here since 2007 so I've seen a lot of change over the years! First let me hit a few of the good...
I've lived here since 2007 so I've seen a lot of change over the years! First let me hit a few of the good things:
1. Super convenient - nearby are Walmart, Safeway, CVS, QT, Circle K, Arby's, BK, McDonald's, Wendy's, Panda Exp, Subway, Starbucks, Fuddruckers, Taco Bell, Red Robin, Sonic, Popeye's, Oregano's and even more food joints. There's also a Costco and one of those car wash/oil change megaplex things. AND access to the I-10 AND the 60 less than 3 miles away.
2. Nice grills, gym, decent pool (not Olympic but it's clean and usable), onsite laundry and 'business office' with computers - and a clubhouse which has a pool table -honestly the clubhouse is not really the kind you'd rent out for a party or anything but I'm not sure how important that is for most people...
3. Enough parking so you don't have to park on the street, ever.
4. In the 11 years I've been here I've seen a handful of police related calls. Put hundreds of people from everywhere together and incidents will happen but I've seen less of that here than anywhere else. My car has never been broken in to, and the grounds are well lit.
Now, let me give you the low down that might speak to a few of the issues I've seen other reviewers mention: Friendliness of office staff - seriously I have never had them be rude to me. That's probably because I've worked customer service and I realize that every apt staff has more to do than they can handle so I'm patient and nice. That's my big secret. I stand in line a little longer or sometimes even have to come back the next day..but when I have a really big issue and raise my voice a bit they know it's out of character and they help me out...(and in the course of 11 years everyone will have something happen!)
Stuff breaking down - well yeah...talk to a home owner, stuff breaks. Take care of your apt as much as you can; don't treat it like a rental car (in fact don't treat your rental cars like a rental either will ya?!? It's wasteful.) Want it fixed? Go to the office and be nice; being a tenant doesn't give you the right to treat the employees like minions.
Bugs - I've lived all over the US, most recently in New Orleans, the roach capital of the US, so I feel qualified to talk about this. First I live on the top floor, honestly that helps a lot. But I've seen two cockroaches and one silverfish since 2007 (that's 11 years!) Here's the deal; don't leave dirty dishes or half full beverages around, and if you have a pet clean it's litter box or pick up it's poo and take it to the dumpster. It's really that simple.
Speaking of dog owner who let their dogs go everywhere and don't clean it up...that irritates me a lot! The apt complex has put pet trash cans with plastic bag dispensers all over and there's also a couple dog parks and somehow people are still so lazy they let their dogs go and don't clean it up - even though they're 20' from the can...I don't know how that's the apartment's fault..they've got the lawn service out there several times a week!
It's probably a little unfair of me to say this but I seriously think some folks must be used to living with their parents and being catered to... It's like they think since they're paying everything should be taken care of without any effort on their part and it should be done instantly. People like this are the same ones who don't pick up after their dogs or clean up after themselves after using the grills...can't say I'm sad when they move out ;)
If that sounds harsh, please feel free to skip living here - if you're one of the good ones who don't think all that's unreasonable - welcome, it's a great place!