I've lived at La Mirada for 3 years and believe me, it isn't because it's a good place to live. It's because rent is as cheap as the structural integrity of the apartment complex itself. My lease is up in August, but I'll be moving a month early.. Here's the straight truth about this place.

Parking
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An absolute atrocity. You are given one covered spot per apartment. Cool, huh ' Fact is, about 20% of the time when you get home- someone else will be parked in your spot. The other 80% of the time the people who park on either your left or right side do not seem to care they parked crooked enough that they are invading your spot. Either that or they park so close to you that it'd be practical to utilize a can opener just to make it inside your car. Having guests over ' Make sure they show up mid-day, otherwise they'll be parking on the street. No way in hell you'll find an uncovered spot open in the evening.

Noise
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Kids rule this complex. In my experience, the majority of these kids are let free to cause chaos and destruction without parental supervision. In fact, I am usually awakened by the sound of my next door neighbor's kid screeching down the 3rd floor walk-way on his tricycle. I've come out for a smoke to find that a cute little girl was playing house on my patio furniture. She was even kind enough to spill purple nail polish ALL over my $300 set. Also, I hope you like traditional Mexican Music, because everyone seems to think everyone else wants to hear their music. There's more to say but it'd take me all day. Just imagine the worse scenario possible, and it happens.

Grounds
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Dirty, Smelly, Dirty, and really smelly. First floor apartments located directly underneath the stairwell use the space to store trash. I absolutely LOVE the smell of rotting trash every time I ascend to my 3rd floor dungeon. NOT. Do not be surprised if after a year you can read all the gangsta graffiti. It is quite easy to be accustomed to it after having it sprawled all over the cement, stairs, and occasionally- even the walls. I've had the pleasure of watching my next door neighbor let his son spray a canvas with green spray paint outside, without masking ANYTHING off. You can see where I'm going with this... I've come home to my door knob and neighbors' door knob's painted black. I've come home to purple paint on my door. You name it, it happens.

Safety
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Outdoor lighting- well.. it's outdoors, and it lights things up.. kinda. The layout of the apartments is ok. What do I know about layouts anyways ' Now, it is normal to see a group of police cars in the parking lot at least 3 times a month. You can expect a fire at least once a year (it has happened twice in 2006, I believe). My ex-girlfriend's car got broken into in the 5 minutes we went upstairs (it was locked.). The stairs, at least by my apartment, are unstable. A few of them wobble tremendously as you walk down them. The railing is no longer attached to the wall at the top- it has remained that way for over a year. Thugs, druggies, drunks, -------s, etc are PLENTIFUL at this complex.

Construction
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I covered a bit of this in the paragraph above, but I have more goodies. Outside, the walkways on floors 1-3 are cracked badly, the paint is peeling off and is covered in liquid stains, gum, and spit. I've never seen anyone cleaning them, at least the 3rd floor. Inside, everything is cheaply made and or replaced/repaired. The coaxial cable is run through a gaping hole right above the floorboard in the living room so you can run it into different rooms. The closets are missing screws and the tracks are bent- it is common for the doors to come right off while using them. My dishwasher broke 3 times in 3 months, and after finally convincing them I needed a new one- it took them another 2 months to replace it. I've complained several times about the water damaged roof in my hallway that sags drastically and leaks when raining to no avail. It looks like plaster has just been slapped on there on multiple occasions instead of structurally repairing the roof itself. I moved into my apartment with a huge hole in the living room wall, a huge hole in the back of the kitchen cabinets, the hallway roof sagging, and a torn wall where the previous owner had a heavy duty bolt installed (I dont blame him). I've never had anyone come to remedy these problems, despite going to the office 5 times. Once again, I have a ton more to say- but it'd take all day. This paragraph was maintenance and construction combined.

Staff
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The girls in the office are usually pretty cool in my book. There are a couple new faces I've encountered that have been complete idiots and a little rude, but I dont blame them... Look where they work. The ones that have been there since I have remember me by name, they know my apartment number, and are usually completely helpful. They are easy going enough to joke around with, but caring enough to treat you with respect.

Overall
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Really consider other options. I'm not going to recommend not moving to these apartments, I'm TELLING you not to. As you can see by the other ratings, I'm not bluffing when I say- what a freakin' hell hole. These are the slums of the centralish phoenix area, and they haven't gotten any better. Guaranteed once the decent neighbors all come to their senses and out of their lease contract, this place will deteriorate even quicker once more junkies -------s drunks and gangsters move in.

Advice for those I haven't persuaded to find another living option-

When you move in, NOTE EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING THAT YOU DONT WANT TO BE BLAMED FOR WHEN YOU MOVE OUT. Take pictures and make sure they are date stamped. Give copies to the office to be placed in your file. This is HUGE because they hardly fix the apartments up for you when you move in. Bring baking soda for the fridge as it smells like complete ASS until you put some food in it. If you're moving during the winter, Bring quite a few fans, because you wont have A/C and you DEFINITELY NEED IT.
I really do wish I could spend more time writing this, but I need to get back to work. If you choose to move here, sign a 6 month lease and thank me later.

User Responses
From: lilsam1610	Date: 02/04/2008
This was the best damn thin g I have ever read. I lived there for about a year. OMG

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