I must say, first off, the size of the apartment for the price I leased it for, you really can't beat it. I have a 2/2, 970 sq. ft. for $615/mo thanks to a two months free rent promotion at the time. That being said, getting a good deal on rent and being able to actually stretch out in one's apartment came with some trade-offs, most of which I didn't learn until after living here for a few months.

First, make sure you tour the exact apartment you are going to be leasing before you sign the lease don't let them give you some crap that you can't see it or it's not ready, it's kind of your right as a potential renter to examine the goods. They show you a model or an apartment they know is nicer than the others (not sure which), and you think that's what you're getting... you're not, don't fool yourself. I say this because this apartment was built in 1983 and I swear it still has the original dishwasher and range in it, you can tell by the squeeks and the mineral buildup in the dishwasher and the fact that there's no clock or timer or self-cleaning on the range, they really take the "if it isn't broke don't fix it" concept way too far. And had maintenance here the day after I moved in fixing half a dozen different problems that should have been handled before the apartment was ever "ready" for renting, I mean, leaving a cabinet door with one broken hinge so that it's hanging diagonally, you'd have thought someone with common sense would just fix it before I moved in, it's just a hinge. Finally got a new garbage disposal after the previous one had a hole in it from corosion or some piece of metal flying around at high speed and leaked water all over the underside of the sink every time you ran the dishwasher.

Second, be wary of trusting anyone, in the past month alone there have been two notices on my door, one for someone being shot and another for an armed robbery. On top of that, if you walk away from your car even for a second, like with groceries, and leave it unlocked don't expect your iPod or even your phone charger (which is completely ridiculous, I mean, really' A phone charger' You'll get what, $5 for it, is it even worth it' But I digress.) to be there when you get back, I'm just saying. It happened to me the day I moved in, nice house warming gift I suppose.

Maintenance is pretty good and timely and generally things stay fixed, but just be prepared to be calling them a lot because there will be quite a few problems that you'll encounter, unless you're just lucky and I imagine there have to be some that are because if I'm cursed with maintenance issues, that means that someone must be living the high life.

Don't get a downstairs apartment, just don't do it. I don't know why anyone would get a downstairs apartment anyway unless you physically cannot climb stairs, especially here. Luckily for me, I knew this already. But I feel sorry for our downstairs neighbors because no matter how softly you walk, they can hear you because the floors are paper thin, heaven forbid you have two playful kittens that sleep during the day and play at night. Until they invent levitation, you're at the mercy of your upstairs neighbor.

Also, if you're a light sleeper, you should invest in some undereye cream because you're going to have bags under your eyes and won't be sleeping much. This is a haven for roudy, drunk, completely inconsiderate college kids who think that being noisy at 3 in the morning on a Tuesday night is acceptable, actually, 3AM any night is not acceptable. It's really not hard to take it inside. Sure, we all have the freedom to do what we want, but when you're in the parking lot throwing bottles all over the ground or on your porch carrying on while being hammered, then yeah, you should have the cops called on you, some of us actually have jobs to go to in the morning, not that some of them would understand that concept, I'm just saying.

Overall, if you carry a gun and work the nightshift, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about, but for the rest of us who don't, it really gets annoying (at times scary) after about a month. My one recommendation if you're going to be living here, never go anywhere alone after dark, not that it's a great idea anyways, but here you risk being shot or held up a knifepoint if you do because for one the lighting sucks.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/30/2009
Having lived here now for 1 1/2 years I have to agree with all this. The rent isn't as high as most so you do have to sacrifice luxuries, but safety should not be a sacrifice and that's what it has become here. It is only getting worse. I won't renew at the end of this lease.

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