I am over 30, professional, married, no kids. Just wanted to put that demographic out there in response to one of the posts here. For those who don't like to read much, I would not recommend living here.

I have to say, that I have mixed feelings.

Overall likes: layout of the space, proximity to Metro and restaurants, apart from the soon-to-be-changed building behind us it has been quiet, and it's great to have a dry cleaner and convenience store in the building.

Overall dislikes: the air quality in the area with construction and 395 is so bad that my wife and I have developed breathing problems, the management is "professional" but not nice and not accommodating (see comment below), and it is way overpriced for what you're getting.

Specifics:

Parking: Never had a problem parking, but it s expensive and not everyone pays. So, we ve felt frustrated that there s no enforcement yet we re paying like honest tenants.

Noise: If you re below floor five or facing the deck area, you may not like it. The building behind the Meridian is some sort of low-income housing, and I have seen people get abused, vomit off of their balcony, scream regularly from the alley to balconies at odd hours, honk horns at odd hours, and the best is, the fire alarm in the other building used to go off all the time, but I haven t heard it in some time.

Grounds: It s an apartment building in the city, enough said. The lobby looks nice, and the public areas are well cleaned.

Safety: We were robbed. A few small but valuable items. It s our fault, we left our door unlocked, but it happened. We were quite frustrated that management didn t tell others. Instead, they issued some flyer that said, A reminder that you should always know who you re letting in the building. I m sorry, that should have said, We had a robbery and here s what happened. Otherwise, I can t say it s unsafe.

Construction: Building material is cheap but acceptable. Layout is great. Appliances have been fine. But the air conditioner has been a problem. While maintenance is responsive, this is one area where they have had to come back literally 20 times in three years. This could in part be because of the air quality issue.

Maintenance: See above. And here s where I ll comment on the gym. If you like weights, it s great. If you like to watch the news when you run, forget it. The treadmills are always, and I mean always, broken. Plus, it s pretty small for such a big building and therefore usually crowded. But it s not a bad gym when it s said and done.

Staff: The doormen are nice, as is the maintenance crew. But they are by-the-book, sticklers. There is no sense of community, and the little things they do like put out crumb cake some mornings, is a weak cover for an otherwise corporately run organization. So, if you want to negotiate something that you think is fair game, forget it. I have been happy with the staff, and unhappy with the management, and because of it, we re moving.

Overall: Take the above and add to it a 30 percent increase on our rent (basically at the max) since we moved in, and I cannot recommend the Meridian. I hope Paradigm reads this because here's my comment to them: If you wanted young married professionals as your tenants, you will not get them. Because of what I've written above, you have a building full of law school students (where three cram into a one-bedroom). If that's what you wanted, you got it.

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