The Good:

The apartments are a nice size
The appliances/plumbing work well (so far!)
The grounds (except for the pool, which has turned into a murky lagoon in the past week) are really beautiful
Pets are allowed
Public transportation is close
The price is lower than comparable places in Alameda

The Bad:

Parking is far, far away
The complex can be noisy
Elevators are frequently not working
Management has been rude and unresponsive at times (with the exception of Robert)
Pool issues (see above)
Pot smoke in the halls, pot smoke wafting in through the windows, pot smoke in the elevators. . .

The Ugly:

Residents let their BIG dogs pee against OPP patios and poop on the stairs (now, I know I was just praising the pet policy . . .)

The garbage areas are too small, smelly and don't offer recycling

There is a registered child sex offender in my building (go on familywatchdog for info)and LOTS of schools nearby



Overall, it's okay here as long as you like to walk long distances, jump over the smears from hastily cleaned piles of dog doo, and can keep an eye on your kids 24/7. I think many of the bad reviews come from the fact that Summer House is marketed as luxury apartments and it is not. Management is inadequate wherever you go, so it's up to the residents to cultivate their own garden.

User Responses
From: relief	Date: 09/10/2008
Fair analysis; however those apartments are not reasonable compared to other similar apartments. Ballena Bay has much nicer apartments, better scenery, and the rent is cheaper. While Garden Court does not have the amount of ground space, the apartments are much larger, the pool is maintained, there is covered parking, and some of the apartments (downstairs) have backyards.

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