Honestly,

The grounds are well maintained and beautiful, the apartments are decent and are well priced like most of Alameda. The gym is good enough (9 weight machines, 10 or so cardio), pretty nice for an apartment complex gym. Hardly anyone goes either so there is no problem working out at your pace and having enough equipment. They allow pets which is a plus and they have adequate parking. I've seen the elevator down once and it was fixed in a few days so that was no problem, besides the buildings are only 3 floors so unless you're moving you're being lazy if you're complaining. Overall, it is pretty nice so far. My only complaints are that the pool/jacuzzi is disgusting and needs to be redone, especially before summer. The management staff is very subpar, although they are over-worked so it's not totally their fault, however, they are EXTREMELY slow on requests for maintenance and painting. Overall, I would recommend this apartment complex, especially if they re-did the pool area and hired more staff so they could actually respond to requests...one resident had to wait a year. :[ But, if you're looking for a nice place in Alameda and have lots of patience than it's a good place to live.

User Responses
From: lashell	Date: 06/06/2006
If you decide to move here expect to have your rent increased every renewal or every other renewal. I have been here for three years, signed 3 different leases. My rent has been increased two out of the three times. Not only that my car has been vandalized while parked in the assigned parking. Just be aware of these things before making Ballena your home. The overall community is okay. It is otherwise safe and decent to live in.

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