I've thoroughly enjoyed living here and have divided my critique into sections, as follows:
THE BUILDING-
The building has had much work done and there now seems to be a great steady manager. The Nov 2005 posting is correct however: there was a great manager here in 2004 followed by 1 short lived manager and another who's 1st language was obviously not english (to a point of hardly being able to peice together her point). The newest manager to date, however, is great; she's very approachable and easy to talk to.
The owner is definitely not a slum lord. I've seen him around interacting with other residents and he sounds very nice--not to mention that with all the partyin that seems to go on at my place, I've never once been bothered about it. The maintenance guys are great as well. They provide friendly conversation and are always willing to help: I've brought up a slight problem in friendly chatter in the past and he stopped whatever he was about to do and fixed it at that moment (there is otherwise a minor form to fill out and they usually fix it the next day). The laundry room is large and normally very clean. The only times I've noticed it in sub-par condition is at the fault of the residents. The gym is alright and had more equipment than I expected. The pool and jacuzzi are nice as well but since it's on the bottom floor the sun doesn't have to set too far before you find yourself in a building's shadow (but there are ways around that).

THE RESIDENTS (as of date):
A great variety of people up til now. Some families, a few elderlies, some professionals, many college students and post grads. An overall good-looking population of many backgrounds; a nice level of diversity: not overwhelming, but not too small either. However, I must note that there are those who don't have as great a respect for where they live. I have noticed trash left near the trash shoot!! I also hate it when someone has left a shopping cart lying near the elevators, in the hallways, or in the stairwell (it's only 3 levels of residences so taking the stairs can sometimes be a timesaver). A 24-hour Ralphs is right next door so that sometimes (though infrequently) happens. Sometimes residents (or their visitors) also leave trash in the elevators (things like empty chip bags or soda cans), but that also happens infrequently. Doin the laundry isn't so stressful either when you're foldin sheets and towels next to a hottie, but when peoples' maid services come in, beware--some of the maids can be a little territorial with the machines (even though there are many!!).

THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
Great Neighborhood! There are little places to eat right around the corner, the SAG building is right across the street (where I once spotted Matthew McCoughne-whatever), there are 2 or 3 parks within walking distance along with the Grove. A 15-20 min walk North takes you straight to the middle of Melrose; the same walk North-East takes you to great shopping on La Brea; North-west, to great shopping and dining on Beverly; South-west to little Ethiopia. There isn't much south of the building nor south east, but in both those directions are many business focused on the entertainment industry like E!networks, Indie 103, Aaron Spelling, Variety and many entertainment/fashion PR and communications thing (definitely good lookin people there too--who have lunch at the eateries around the corner from the building...) Also Beverly Hills is a very short drive; 5-15 min during non traffic hours, 15-30 during.
There was, unfortunately, an unsolved triple murder shortly before I moved in which is actually quite a sad story believed to be involving one of the asian mafias (I was unfortunately there when the manager at the time happened to be speaking with the detective). I feel quite safe with the security guards here; they are friendly and I often see them patroling the building.

I love it here right now (there's a 24hr Ralphs and an office depot next door for heaven's sake!). I did an extensive search (Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly hills, BevHills adjacent, Brentwood, Downtown and Los Feliz) when I was looking for an apt and this was the best quality for pricing after factoring in the neighborhood and its conveniences (other buildings around can charge up to 2700! and some offer a more reasonable 1200 but no parking)

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