Simply put, this is the review to read because Im going to give you the truth. First, Ive read through all reviews posted here and theres a little truth posted in all of them. But, only a little!
The reason I am writing this review is because I did read the reviews posted here before I moved in and I do feel they are misleading. Just look at the shear number of reviews. Pinnacle has more reviews than any other complex and more than half are positive. No other complex in San Diego has this many positive reviews. What does this tell you' That is right! The people in the office spend most of their time surfing the internet and occasionally find time to write a review (at least those that can write). This makes perfects sense. Why would a resident write a great review of someplace where they are currently living' Who would even waste the time' If the residents danced around spouting how much love they have for this place, this would only signal to the management to raise the rent. Now that would be stupid. So trust me, the favorable reviews posted here certainly originate from the people who work in the office. Seriously, did you read the one posted on 6/13/2005. Nicest Place in San Diego. The only negative comment was about the residents themselves. Obviously that fine reviewer missed Torrey Villas just down the road. Well that is another story.
And yes, there are a lot of negative reviews that do appear to be written for the most part by one or two people with a serious vendetta against the management. This place is not that bad to reside and it is not that great either. Overall, I score it a below average. The apartments are about average for this area; however the management ranks VERY BELOW AVERAGE. So read on and Ill take you through point-by-point, so you can make a clear rational choice.
Why do people live here' Only one answer to that question, LOCATION! This is in the Torrey Pines School district for which Newsweek rated as one of the best in the country. Well, blah, blah, blah . . . who cares' This just means there is a significant number of young noisy (and not so bright) kids running around during the daylight hours. Who else lives here, you ask' Well, it is close to UCSD. This means not only do you get the young kids during the day, but you get the idiot students late into the evening. If you visit, ask the management if they permit 5 or more students to live in a single apartment. They will give you some nice politically correct answer, but lots of complexes screen students by requesting proof of income or the money up front. This management does not care they only want the rent check on the first day of the month. It becomes your problem when your neighborhood unit becomes a dormitory (Ill come back to this later on). There is also a small number of military after all, this is San Diego. And truthfully, I wish they all lived here. The remaining residents tend to be young professional types which tend not to be too bad.
The worst part is clearly the college students. It is not as bad as some of the complexes in the UTC area, but hey, if they move in next to you youll be hating life. And you are not going anywhere once they lock you into that lease. Because of the design of the buildings, the little courtyards for each building act like a megaphone. So if people are out socializing on their balcony, you are going to hear throughout your building. The building across from me has a mini-dormitory with 3 or 4 college students residing there. They are good for two or three social events per week. Also, with the advent of the cellular phone, it is surprising how these people will not confine their conversations to their home, but feel a need to have them under my window. It is people like these that make living here a VERY MISERABLE EXPERIENCE! Calling and complaining to the management has completely no effect since there is yet another party just a few days later and they tend to be getting bigger each week. This has been occurring for several months.
How about the complex itself' Well its located just south of a horse ranch. So, if your nose is functioning correctly, you do not want to live close to the entrance. Some days the smell is just not tolerable. I do not understand why anyone would even consider living near there. Trust me; they are not going to show you any apartments down there. You will only see their model apartment and nothing else.
Once you get past the horse ranch, you go through a gate or what use to be a gate. It was electronic, but someone in a very big SUV ran through it. I suspect one of UCSDs finest, but that just my own personal bias. After that landmark, welcome to the five speed bumps from hell. Yes, I understand the need for speed bumps. No one wants those college kids to run over one of the pesky little kids. These are very large speed bumps, and if you live on the south end, your daily commute consists of 5 bumps in the complex and 2 through horse country. Now if you have a big gas guzzling SUV, this would be your idea of off-roading. But for those of us with the midsize and down you are screwed. It is bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump and bump twice a day.
By the way, the power-lines that closed the merge several years ago run right past the southern units. If you like a nice steady hum at night, this place is just right for you. And speaking of the merge, if this is a move north for you, the merge will become part of your daily routine. Traffic from the 56 to I-5 is simply painful, but it is not likely to be better any place else nearby.
The complex is approximately 350 units once again, not that big for as many reviews as it has received. There are about 15 buildings, each with 23 units containing 7 different floor plans. If you do rent here, carefully consider your floor plan. I like to think of them as two types. Those over a garage and those that are not over a garage. If you live over a garage, you not only live over your garage, but several of your neighbors garages as well. When one of those garage doors go up, it shakes and rattles your home. So be prepared to wake up in the morning when the soccer mom is taking the kids to school and when college student comes back from an evening at the bar. If you have a garage, I guarantee there will come a time when you get stranded because inevitably people will park in front of it leaving you no option but to honk your horn relentlessly. Not to mention, this means they will be parking under your window. On countless occasions, I have seen people running out of their homes pleading for people to move their automobiles. Trying to get someone towed just takes way too long for it to be an effective deterrent.
Parking is a major concern. Sixteen of the 23 units in a building have a garage. Each of the other units receives assigned parking. There is a plethora of open parking, yet when after about 8 pm, GOOD LUCK if you or a guest needs a spot. As mentioned there are a number of students packed in like dormitory living and they all have a car. Also, about 20% of the units are 3 bedrooms and needless to say, you do NOT get three parking spots. It is also apparent that a couple of the mini-dormitories have turned their garage into an extra bedroom. And there are those people who use their garage as storage; then park in the open spots. Needless to say, there is a significant shortage of spots in the evening.
As mentioned in multiple other reviews, they do pick-up the trash around 9 am on Saturday morning. It is loud and annoying, but I would rather have that noise in the morning, then listening to my neighbors party at 2 am. Unfortunately, I have both.
And as mentioned in other reviews, the office staff is just painful. My two main points are that they fail to act on complaints and when it comes to renewing your lease, they will stick it to you. They certainly realize that moving costs money, so you can expect a hefty increase in your rent when you attempt to renew. Most people I have talked to say it is around $100. It is very difficult to compare one unit to the next because they do not charge the same amount for anything around here. They claim one unit may have a better view than the next, but the truth is when your renewal comes due. If you are looking in August or September, you will pay the maximum. This is when the students return to school and it is there best months to lease just ask. If you want a great rate, lease between November and January; you will see over a $100 difference! Mostly the staff will just tell you rates are soaring because of the condo conversions. Truth is there have been a significant number of conversions in the area, but they are not selling and will rent month-to-month. Not a bad deal.
And how about those dogs' In general, most people manage to keep their dogs quiet at night, but in the morning and during the day, they can be quite loud. I do think most people pick-up after their dogs and most of the dogs seem friendly. You do need to watch out for the little dogs being walked by small children. Usually these kids have no control over their animal and it can be a problem. Also many people have breeds which are not permitted here, such as rottweilers and such, but they do not seem to be mean. You really can not expect the management to be able to sort out the different breeds.
Unlike some of the other reviews, I find the maintenance staff to be first rate. They tend to respond within a day. They also have implemented a web-based system to submit work requests. This appears to work remarkably well. I am a big fan of this system.
As for the units themselves, the layouts are not that bad. I believe every unit has a washer/dryer, microwave and dishwasher all of which appear quite new. The main drawback is clearly the carpet. Management declares the carpet life expectancy to be 7-to-8 years. Yeah, right! I am reasonably certain that complex is not even that old, so no new carpeting has probably been installed. It is a fairly light neutral color that does not hold up well. My advice is CLEARLY CHECK THE UNIT YOU ARE GOING TO RENT BEFORE SIGNING A LEASE OR MOVING IN! I regret this deeply.
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