Being new to the Sacramento area, I was looking for an apartment close to downtown. From the exterior, Larkspur Woods caught my eye. From the first impression, it's definitely an impressive development compared to others in the area, and for its price. A two-bedroom/two-baths on the second floor went for $1,200 a month, including a garage, with no deposit. My move-in costs were well below the first month's rent with all their promotions. From the outside, the complex looked clean and well-maintained. The location is great - nestled between the 5 and 80, and 10 minutes to downtown, but the immediate area is still developing. Major stores are within minutes.

Within the first week, I discovered my apartment was already infested with mice. Management was polite and seemed genuinely concerned, but it took a couple of weeks for the mice to get cleared out. On other problems, maintenance was quite slow to respond. Definitely, there shouldn't have been a pest problem when a new tenant moves in. Apparently, due to the new construction in the area, mice have migrated to the surrounding housing developments, and this problem is not isolated to Larkspur.

There was a lot of turnover in the management staff, but their service seemed to improve over time. Maintenance also became quicker - I think there's been a push by the management corporation to improve their customer service.

Aside from your garage (every unit comes with a garage - the first floor apartments have their garages connected to their apartments), parking within the gated community is very limited (you are lucky to find a place anywhere in the community after 7 PM). There is ample street parking outside the complex. One thing I've noticed is how aggressively people drive within the entrance, and management will need to address this.

The main gate tends to break down every two weeks or so - but is usually fixed within a couple of days. High speed internet and cable TV were made recently available. There's a small gym and a pool which tend to be well maintained, and a large park within the complex. It would be nice if Larkspur held some community functions to foster a sense of neighborhood.

After my experience with the mice I seriously considered moving out, but after surveying alternate locations, I decided that Larkspur was probably better than most other places that I saw. I ended up moving from here after purchasing a home.

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