I lived there for a year. The complex is above average for the price, given how poor apartment housing in this part of the Bay Area is. It is well maintained and managed, but I do have gripes, some of them apply generally to the area.

My apartment was next to Alma St, and there was quite a bit of noise from the traffic there, which subsided at night. But the trains on the other side of Alma run much of the night... Many apartments in this area are right next to a freeway or raildroad tracks, so there is really not that much choice. Apartments inside the Stanford Villa complex should be fine though.

Speaking about affordable, the rents are still a very bad joke if you are coming from somewhere else. The noise insulation is not so good, and the heat insulation is pathetic (probably true about just about any place in the Silicon Valley). My heating bills ran almost as much at Stanford Villa as in a townhome twice the size in a much colder climate, where the temperature went below 0F several times a winter.

When I moved out, I was charged only for the carpet cleaning, about $70. The carpet was spotless so this was to clean it before the next tenant moves in. I have never been charged for the carpet cleaning before, but apparently, this is quite customary here in the Bay Area. Prior to moving out, I received five pages of instructions on how the apartment should be cleaned if I want the deposit back. I cleaned hard, but still, having experienced better, I would expect a lot more leeway and some free cleaning, including the carpet. However, the apartment looked clean when I moved in, which is why I selected it too.

The parking is bad. Only one car per tenant is allowed. If you have visitors, they have to park illegally next to a currently closed supermarket in the Alma Plaza. The city council could not get the neighbors to agree to an expansion there, so at one point Albertsons just called it quits. It seems very difficult to get anything approved in this area, which may also be why the apartment housing is in such a sore shape.

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