I lived at Padre Gardens from 7/2007 to 10/2008. At first it was great, close to the trolley and freeways, my building was pretty quiet (there are 4 buildings). The apartment was of decent size and at $1115 seemed reasonable for a 1-bedroom in Mission Valley. Since my husband and I had 2 cars but only one parking sticker, we had to get a garage at $85 a month. It's probably more now.

However, in March of 2008 we received a substantial rent increase notice ($50). We were able to negotiate an increase of $10 with a 6 month lease. In August (less than 6 months later!) we received another rent increase notice which would go into effect at the end of our lease (9/30/2008). This increase was going to be about $85 (can't remember exactly how much now...). At about the same time I learned that many of my constant sinus problems since moving to San Diego (from Nor Cal) were due to living next to two freeways. Every time we would vacuum the apartment, our bagless vacuum would fill up completely with dust.

There was no way I was going to pay over $1200 a month (plus an additional $85 for parking) for a 1 bedroom apartment that was in an area with air so dirty is was making me sick. Parking is a nightmare, even with the parking sticker there was no guarantee a parking spot would be available. My husband's garage was often blocked with moving trucks (bad on many levels). As I was leaving I learned that Padre Gardens had "gone corporate" which, as far as I can tell, means that they are basically a hotel for corporations.

When I moved I was able to find a 2 bedroom in Normal Heights, just off Adams Ave, with a dishwasher, air conditioning, and TWO dedicated parking spot (mine and mine alone) for less than I was paying for my 1 bedroom at Padre Gardens. No more horrible air quality. No more living in a basically isolated area, no more praying for an open parking spot. Don't rent at Padre Gardens. You can do better. mgFDbN4-dhkSMZ7zRmVH

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/26/2008
It's not quiet, you can hear the freeway 24/7 especially if you open the window. There are loud college parties all the time. The maintenance never fixes things. I went for 2 weeks without a fridge because they kept telling me they had to 'order it' and then had no record that my fridge was out and had to 'order it'. These are the types of people that will lie right to your face. The worst kind of pathological antisocial behavior. They could care less what hardship you are going through. It's all about their profit. The cold-sored minimum wage office workers they hire are nothing less than simpleton pawns used to try to create a facade of respectibility. In fact it is obvious that an insider working for the company has written the above review. Notice how they can't help but give themselves lukewarm approval, but then fall on the parking as the mea culpa. In fact the "bad" actually mentions mostly things they try to twist into positives. Don't fall for it, this place is run by uncaring slumlords, is rat infested, noisey, they steal your deposit, and the maintenance people are incompetent and creepy.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/30/2009
Good to see that you came to your "senses" about this dump MissyRocks. I hate living here. It is sooo depressing!!! Not worth it at all. I cannot wait to be free and live in a nice home that I looked forward to seeing everyday. It's so nasty here that I just dread pulling up everyday. I keep telling myself that it will get better, but it hasn't.
From: stefiluvs08	Date: 02/13/2009
if you dont mind what is the name of the new apartment you moved in too
From: MissyRocks	Date: 02/14/2009
My new place is called Ohio Street Apartments. It's not perfect, but it is considerably better than Padre Gardens. Good location, great neighborhood, and for some reason the Vons on Adams Ave is cheaper than the Vons on Mission Gorge.

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