I lived in Davis for 6 years. As far as I am concerned, Portage Bay Apartments was the best apartment complex I have ever stayed in, at least in Davis. With Tandem Properties and Jon Berkeley Management having a huge monopoly in Davis, and all they have to really show off is expensive rents and small apartments, it can be easily said the Portage Bay was the best. I lived at Portage Bay for 2.5 years. Jacque, the manager, was even nice enough to let me rent a townhouse out for the last 4 months of my undergraduate career, which is practically unheard of in Davis. Portage Bay also was great because it was right on Unitrans K and D lines. Not to mention it was for the most part quiet, with exception to the few parties happening across the street at Arlington Farms. Perhaps that's why they had a token cop in that area to patrol.

Parking also was vast with the back parking lot surrounding the complex or parking on the street next to the complex and across the way. Parking at most other places require a permit or a tag and can only park in front of another apartment as a guest for a limited amount of time. Not to mention they cleaned the laundry rooms every single morning, I know because I consistently lived near a laundry room.

The only thing that would have been nice is if there had been a shopping center in the Lake Blvd. shopping plaza. Over the years it was Ray's Food Place and that other weird place that sold sundry items that were more or less worthless. It'd be great if there was a Food 4 Less or a Lucky's there or even another Nugget. The Nugget probably would complement the demographic around the location.

Around Portage Bay, there are Stonegate Apartments, which is mostly undergraduates, Arlington Farms which seems to cater to a certain type of student..., and the Trees, which are pretty nice if you get something larger than a 1 bedroom. The Trees, in my opinion, are not very flexible on parking. So if you had friends that live there, your best option would be park on the street. Behind Portage Bay is a park with a outdoor roller hockey rink, a tennis court and a futbol/baseball field and a decent size playground. In front of Portage Bay is a walkway that connects to bikepath which connects to the bikepath/natural trail that runs the length of Russel Blvd. in both the east and west directions.

At least for me, Portage Bay was a pleasant experience. My first year there I stayed in a single bedroom apartment. My only point of criticism would be that in college town, young professionals should probably consider living more towards Sacramento or Vacaville. College students pride themselves on their individuality, i.e. the ability to be noisy without realizing the feelings of their neighbors. It is to be expected, I guess. Also if you are going to be crass about Jacque, you need to reconsider your comments. I figure she was less than pleasant with you because you probably defaulted upon your rent payments or didn't follow the rules of your lease or the complex for that matter. As for cockroaches, never saw them. IF you see cockroaches, it probably means that the tenant themselves needs to clean their apartment more. You might realize that a lot of college students sometimes have more money for going out "to play" instead of cleaning supplies. The one thing that there is a lot of on the complex grounds are cats. Tons and tons of cats. Get used to it. That's all I have to say. I'll reiterate, best complex in Davis.

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