In the past three years, I have lived in approximately three different apartment complexes. I've stayed at Oakwood for a little more than a year. I will try to give a somewhat fair review.

Okay, so down the list:

1. Regarding parking. I paid less than a hundred dollars more for a garage spot, but my friend parks in the guest parking daily. The spots fill up at dinnertime, when people come home with their extra cars or friends are over. The complex is gated and is next to BART, so there is street parking as needed. It's probably a little bit tougher the later it is, but my friend hasn't had any trouble finding one space left inside the complex, or a space outside the complex.

2. Noise level: I can hear people above me walking. I think there are children or people with heavy steps walking around. If anything (drawers, doors, etc.) is slammed, I can hear it. I think this is pretty normal for any complex and any house as well. When I was living with my parents, they would sometimes complain if I was walking around upstairs while they were downstairs sleeping. So I guess I can't expect much more from an apartment complex. Most of the time, I don't think much of it, because people stop walking when they go to sleep. I did have the misfortune of having a professional with late hours live above me for a short time. I would hear drawers slamming at 11 PM and midnight during the weekdays. If I listen carefully, I can hear the washing machine or dryer of the apartment adjacent to mine. But this is more like background noise and not enough to bother me. Actually, when I dry my own clothes at 11 PM, it annoys me, since I'm sensitive and can hear my clothes tumbling. No one has complained yet about me showering at midnight, and I can't hear my neighbors? showers, so I guess the bathroom is well insulated.

The biggest question I get from people is whether BART made a lot of noise. To be honest, I lived on the side away from the BART tracks, so what I hear is probably more muted than what the side facing BART is hearing. In any case, I'm at work during the day and keep fairly normal hours. I don't really hear BART, and if I do, it's just background noise to me. I think most people don't even notice it while they're occupied with their normal activities.

Actually, the biggest noise factor would be children playing in the pool at 9 or 10 PM. If I'm sleeping early, this wakes me up. Walnut Creek can get hot in the summers...so hot that people don't want to swim until the evenings and nights.

3. Grounds: The place is well kept, but this could be due to the fact that the buildings are new. The pools seem okay, as there are people swimming there. I have never used it, personally. I hear it's heated. My pet peeve is that I seem to get a lot of mosquito bites in the evenings during hot summers. But this could be from anywhere. (There isn't too much wind in Walnut Creek. Especially not like in Oakland or Richmond.) There is the occasional fly in the summer. Don't leave your doors open. (But then, in the heat, why would you')

4. Safety: In general, Walnut Creek is pretty safe anyway. The complex is gated and closed after 6 PM. Residents and guests can enter via remote, keys, or dialing in. The other way to enter is to follow a car in, jiggle the doorknob of the gate, or hop the fence. Point is, if someone wants to enter, it's not too difficult. The gate is a deterrent. After all, it's not as easy for a random hoodlum to walk around aimlessly in a gated complex as it is for him/her to walk through open grounds. This place is very safe, but one is still responsible for being aware of his/her surroundings. The lighting here is okay--just your normal golden lanterns that are almost always lit.

5. A lot of the new buildings and plazas in Walnut Creek have that stucco Toon-town look. I personally like it, since it reminds me of desert abodes. Some people don't like the Toon-town look. You can see the color scheme on www.oakwood.com. I actually hate shingles and Sears siding, but that's just me.

The interiors are nice. I believe they're the same as Pinnacle City Center in Hayward. White-colored appliances. Built in microwave. Nice floor plans, mostly. The interior entry way has a small square section of Pergo flooring. There is carpeting and linoleum in the rest of the apartment.

This place is sunny. The trees haven't grown very large. I like sunshine, but others may not.

6. Maintenance will replace an outdoor hall light soon after it's been reported. They also fix leaky faucets and doors that don't quite shut all the way. I had two occasions when I needed some maintenance done, and within a business day of logging my request, the maintenance was completed. I think they have two maintenance guys and I guess that they handle all the requests that come in whatever order they come.

7. Usually when I visit the leasing office of an apartment complex, the leasing consultants are generally nice. After all, they are supposed to be luring people in and extolling the virtues of that particular complex. I have seen many reviews where renters complain that the sales folks are superficially nice but the management sucks or the maintenance never happens. Oakwood's sales consultants are friendly and try to be helpful if they can. Now realize that I haven't had major problems happen, so I don't know how the office staff would react in that event. I suppose that's left to other reviewers to post.

8. Okay, so where do my gripes come in' The biggest thing is price. This place is probably the second most expensive place in Walnut Creek. I checked the new Ivy Hill Apartments downtown when it opened and discovered that it was more expensive than Oakwood. That said, I should mention that Oakwood is expensive for several reasons:

- This place is new.
- This place is aesthetically nice.
- This place has all the amenities that are rarely found in other apartments: A full size washer and dryer inside the apartment (not a stackable one outside.) and air conditioning and heater, microwave, fridge, dishwasher all included. I was able to rent a garage with my apartment, so it was nice to be able to keep my car somewhat clean and out of sight.

Cons:

- Again, pricey.
- Slightly small apartments, but comfortable. I can always go bigger, but I guess I'm picky about the cleanliness and newness of my accommodations.

Overall, you get what you pay for, but nothing is perfect. In general, this complex seems best suited for professionals with expensive tastes or a need for safety. There are a lot of nice apartment complexes nearby, so it comes down to what kind of amenities one wants and the kind of neighborhood one wants to live in. Walnut Creek is a great little town, albeit a bit far from everything. Fortunately, BART goes to the other cities, and there are a lot of people working in S.F. but live here.

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