I lived in a 1 bedroom on the 11th floor for 9 years and moved out right before the major renovations began (only because the time was right to buy a condo at 700 Ocean). At that time there were numerous long-term tenants (10 or more years, a few more than 20 years!) and I had great neighbors. The rents were still reasonable for ocean-front property (just over $1,000 for 1 bdrm, which was probably lower than average since I had been in the same unit so long) but have more than doubled in the last 2 years and in my opinion are outrageously high now. You could buy a 2-bdrm $400K condo down the street on Ocean Blvd for about what it costs to rent a small 1-bdrm unit at 1900 Ocean these days! The best features of the building are the location and the spectacular views (city, ocean, harbor, Queen Mary, 4th of July fireworks, etc). "Must see to believe", as they say. Also, there is a bike path on the beach that runs the entire length of the beach thru the city--great place to cycle, walk, or roller blade. My major complaints were the heat (no A/C so units on West and East side of building get very hot during the summer and don?t get good cross ventilation; the only units with A/C are the 18th floor penthouses, which are spectacular if you have $4-5 grand a month to spend on rent!) and several plumbing problems (kitchen flooded from leaking water heater in 12th floor unit, bathroom flooded from leaking toilet above, repeated water shutoffs due to repairs to roof-top water tank, etc). But given that the building was constructed in the mid 1960?s, this kind of stuff happens. I lived here during the ?94 Northridge quake and the building swayed significantly but did exactly what it was designed to do...move around a lot with only minor cosmetic damage. All the 1-bdrm units and many of the 2-bdrm units only have 1 parking space so that is a challenge if you have more than 1 vehicle, and there is no guest parking. Parking is in numbered assigned spaces in a 4-level parking garage underneath the building or in a small uncovered lot at street level. Move in and out is VERY convenient; truck can be backed into the loading dock and stuff rolled directly into the large freight elevator, which has doors on both sides (loading dock on one side and and opening up to the hallways on the residential floors of the building on the other side). Walls between units are not well sound-proofed, so noise levels are "hit or miss" depending on who lives next to you. And yes, there is traffic noise because the building is located on Ocean Blvd (which is a busy street), but keep in mind that although the building is ocean-front, this section of Long Beach is definitely an urban area, not a quiet suburb. That?s part of what makes it interesting. Laundry facilities were located on one of the garage levels and consisted of approximately 15 washers and dryers...it was a decent facility but sometimes got busy because the building has so many units. I heard some units had washers and dryers installed during the renovations over the last couple of years. Regarding some comments in the other reviews: I never in 9 years had to wait 10 minutes for an elevator; sometimes there was a wait for a couple of minutes if someone was moving in/out or if there was an elevator under repair, but definitely not 10 minutes. Also, regarding the --- Pride Parade which occurs each year on a Sunday in late May, Ocean Blvd is not "shut down for an entire day" with everyone "trapped in the building" as another reviewer put it; the parade lasts approximately 2-3 hours (during which the street is obviously closed to traffic) and the street is re-opened for traffic very quickly afterwards. A few hours before the start of the parade, the street is closed to through-traffic but generally vehicle access in/out is still allowed for residents until just before the parade starts; you just have to ask nicely :) Long Beach is host to many events that involve street closures and impact traffic in various areas, including Grand Prix downtown, the marathon, New Year?s Eve events downtown (sometimes!), movie filmings, the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade, etc. All these events bring REVENUE to the city and make it an interesting place to live.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates