For what it's worth, this complex isn't really as bad as the other reviews make it seem. There seems to be a bias on these review sites where people are more apt to review if they hate the place than if they love it. Full disclosure: I don't work for the company, am not part of any office or maintenance staff, don't get any compensation for my review, etc.

I've been here since late March or early April of 2005 when it was called Kingdale Oaks. I found them in the Apartment Guide (the free magazine thing outside some stores). A brief drive-by gave me a little re-assurance, with the elementary school across the street and the San Jose City College campus directly behind it. My girlfriend doesn't drive, so the location was prime for us since she was transferring to a junior college anyway. The neighborhood fairly decent to the West, though the duplex to the East is a little slummy. At least there's a fence between.

While I wanted a small studio, they only had a large studio left on the 3rd floor of the very rear building. I have a stairwell on one side of me, so that helps with noise. It was in pretty good condition, with freshly cleaned carpets and good lighting. The refrigerator was brand new, I think, and is relatively cold and quiet. I'm not a big fan of the electrical wall heaters and no air conditioning, but it's better than an ugly window A/C and heat unit. They keep us warm in the winter, though we just usually sweat it out in the summer. TIP: To keep it cooler in the summer mornings, I applied a 70% window tint film to the sliding glass door and bedroom window - it gives us about 2-3 extra hours in the morning that we can keep the slider closed and is practically unnoticeable from ground level.

The residents, however, aren't always as great. Last summer, I'd leave the slider open at nights to cool everything down. I'd be laying in bed and be struck with the overwhelming stench of somebody smoking weed. I've seen people sneak around the "corner" to smoke it, with it wafting straight up into my windows. Once or twice I was awoken by my downstairs neighbor and his boyfriend, being rather noisy late at night with the doors and windows open, if you catch my drift. The neighbor next to me used to blare mariachi music, which through a wall sounds like one long, repeating rhythm section with no vocals. In the summer, the larger, heated pool turns into one luke-warm mass of human bodies crammed together. The small one doesn't fare much better, with pre-teens constantly throwing the pool furniture into the pool and trying to play on it underwater. Very annoying.

The landscaping is very well-kept. The grass is mowed quite regularly and leaf-blowers are a fairly common sound, especially the first dry day after rain. The speed bumps are a bit aggressive in their height, however, and I fear I'll prematurely wear out my shocks and struts if I go over them at any decent speed. Parking is ample for the first vehicle - all apartments are assigned one free covered carport space. We don't have a second car, but there's usually closer, uncovered spaces available before 5pm or so on weekdays, less so on weekends.

I also liked the place because it was gated. My gate clicker has stood up well, still on its first battery (dying slowly) after a little over 2 years. When I get a chance, I'll have them install a new battery, free of course. In the past, the gate was only functional about half the time - at first I thought it just kept breaking, but I started thinking it was a couple of the residents disabling it by removing its chain from the gear. Its been functional for at least a month now without breaking or being disconnected, so I'm much happier. However, half the time when I come home at night, there's somebody at the gate who doesn't belong there waiting for somebody to let them in with the clicker. Quite annoying, as they're soaking up the evening parking.

Going back to parking, there were previously a lot of people who kept parking in the loading/crosshatch area next to the handicap space and leaving their cars there for hours at night. The tow trucks have gotten very aggressive with that space lately, towing them on-sight if the car is unattended. More often now, they're sitting in the car with the running lights on, but that's still better. I tried parking there once about a year ago and seeing how long the tow trucks would take (watching off my balcony to jump in when they showed up), and the truck tried to get car before I could even get up the stairs! Probably luck, but still quite reassuring. Somewhat bittersweet, I guess, since I locked my keys inside my apartment while tying to get downstairs in time. Backfired on my. :\

The office staff seem polite. Andrew, who has been there since I moved in, is especially helpful, while Shelly (who I think is gone) was a bit less polite, in my opinion. The manager has changed twice since I've been here (first the ultra-cool Omar, then an older lady who I think was fired shortly after, and now a shorter lady in the leasing office who takes my monthly cheques with a smile. At least I get a smile, I guess.

As for safety, I feel secure walking around at night. While the residents strike me as largely discourteous, I don't fear being attacked. Last I checked Megan's Law, there was a registered sex offender in another building, but I suppose that's not a bad number for a complex of roughly 800 apartments. Haven't checked recently. My car has never been broken into - not sure if it's because I never leave anything of value in it anywhere or because of something else. A passenger forgot to lock my door once though, and in the morning I came out to find my CD visor on the passenger seat with nothing missing or out of place. It was a kind of "hey, just letting you know you left your door unlocked, but I didn't want to lock you out in case it's like the for a reason" type of hint... I think. That made me feel pretty good - just wish I could thank whoever it was. In fact, the other night, I came home at 8pm or so and my neighbor had a very nice mountain bike next to his front door in the hallway. When I left the next morning, it was still there.

My rent has gone up twice since I moved in. It started at $775 and went up the 13th month and starting next month. I'm still paying slightly less than new people with a 12-month lease. Each time it's been about 6.8%, which I'm assuming is some kind of fair housing or local ordinance. Haven't really asked.

The only thing I can't say either way to is the maintenance. I don't like anybody in my apartment while I'm not home, not even visiting family members. They've fixed my cabinet once (looked like previous resident got it wet and loaded it up with weight, making it sag in the middle). My patio was rotting one two of the boards, which they replaced fairly promptly - under my watchful eye - and put in a new dual-pane sliding glass door and window. PG&E came once to install compact fluorescent lightbulbs, a low-flow shower head and install weatherstripping on my front door, all for free (and 20% off my bill for being a poor college student... COOL!).

Laundry is a pain, however. There's only so many washers and dryers, so doing all my laundry at once is out of the question. About half the time, one of the machines eats my money or somebody opens my dryer without restarting it afterwards, so I come back to still-wet clothes. I find it easier to just take it down the street to the place at Bascom & Fruitdale or the one down the street on Leigh.

No, this place isn't the best place in town to live, not by far. But for those of us who can't afford Santana Row lofts, this place gives a relatively good experience for your dollar. Friends of mine pay slightly-lower rates other places in town and have to put up with decrepit buildings and horrible neighbors. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I think I've made out fairly well here. I'll probably leave as soon as I finish my degree to Campbell or somewhere farther out and bear the commute. uWDgQKY3Vkv8FKIsB8Ax

User Responses
From: tcreebb	Date: 11/24/2008
Might that be Apt. K755? I was in there in the early '80s for close to 5 years, and the sagging, water-stained cabinet floor in the kitchen was like that back then. I was also blamed because the ceiling downstairs was caving in and I was told it was because my bathtub was leaking and I hadn't reported it. When I said I didn't know about it, the manager acted like I was dumb for not seeing the water on the floor. There was no water on the floor. The problem was cracked caulking on the top edge of the bathtub. The maintenance staff re-caulked it 2 or 3 times and it kept cracking so the manager finally told me to let it go. Okay, but don't blame me next time the downstairs ceiling falls through! Also, my walk-in closet smelled musty and had stains of water-damage while I was there.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/30/2008
The original review was fair regarding College Park. However, it is no longer relevant now that the place is the Grove. Andrew was great! I wish they would have kept him on when they changed management. The problem with the Grove is that they do a lot of small things that slowly add up over time to be extremely irritating. They take forever doing repairs or maintenance and require multiple reminders, they tow people's car without cause, they "accidently" leave your door open after they do maintenance, the girls in the office apologize but don't actually do anything to fix the problem, etc. The Grove is an awful place to live. I still live here, but hopefully not for much longer.
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/18/2008
okay here's the deal if you have no balls and are used to living in poor conditions you'll do what this guy did and settle or be okay that you have to do your laundry offsite cause the one onsite is gross and a long walk (yet you pay for it in rent) you'll be okay to buy window panes and strips and crap but that's if you're an idiot. now if you like to live respectfully and decently you'll not settle for one in million complexes that this city has to offer. go somewhere else trust me

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