After coming home from work today, I heard two gunshots. I thought I was mistaken, until I heard multiple sirens. I left to meet my girlfriend for dinner a few minutes later. This gated community had the police officers blocked out (they don't have access'''), but a few police had came inside through the sidewalk gate (the electronic locks have been broken for years.) I saw a police officer carrying a military-grade M-16 down one street, two more with pistols, and another officer on the bordering street with a shotgun. All entrances/exits had been blocked. For $1145 a month, this gated community has started to feel more like a prison each day. Also, police do not patrol this complex at all, ever.

Aside from this drama, the pools are not kept clean, except for the one at the office which they show potential residents. The hot tubs hardly ever work; the pumps just circulate cold water. The exercise gym is a joke, as the equipment is dated and often non-functioning. The entrance gates break all of the time and they'll give a gate access card to anyone with $20, except for the police who have no access. They don't deactivate lost or stolen cards, either. It's anyone's guess who has access to this place, and if you don't have a card, just pull aside and wait at the gate; any one of the friendly neighbors will be happy to let you in. No questions asked.

The cable service is with Ygnition, which resells Dish Network service for twice the price. Expect to pay $120 tax for digital cable (no movie channels) and basic digital cable (with DSL speeds.) When it rains hard, the "cable" goes out with a message saying that the satellite lost signal.

The cockroaches are a problem most of the time. They're not EVERYWHERE, but you'll find them dead in your kitchen cabinets on a weekly basis. You can call the office to have someone spray, but you're better off taking care of it yourself.

Overall, more money is spent luring in new residents than tending to current ones. The beautiful landscaping and water fountains are the oak veneer on the balsa wood interiors. Take your house payment elsewhere.

User Responses
From: 45646any	Date: 12/16/2006
the money is kinda high. But anywhere you live with a gate. Police or ambulance access is a standard code. its florida fire code. A place would be shut down in a second if that was the case. some people dont have any clue. and an m-16 yeah im sure!
From: jweis	Date: 12/18/2006
Don't be to sure - usually tenents don't lie - what would they have to gain. And yes the police were at the Arbors on that date.
From: getoutaDAarbors	Date: 01/10/2007
I thought this was written by someone who is actually intelligent. From my experiences, you speak the truth.
From: hoehoe1234	Date: 03/08/2007
It is my understanding that this episode did not even occur on The Arbors property. Unfortunately, you can not anticipate where criminals are going to run! I have a friend who works for the Maitland PD and yes by law ALL apartment communities have an emergency code and key access, including The Arbors.
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/28/2007
I don't know what to think about this review. Crime can happen anywhere, so I'm not really worried about that. I do wonder about the pools being dirty...? I just got a tour of this property yesterday & you're right, she did only show me the pool by the office, from the 2nd story hallway...so I don't know. I did enjoy the floorplan & the apartment overall. I live in a 390sq ft apt right now that is $710.00 per mo. and they are increasing my rent if I renew my lease. The only thing they have here is a small but fairly clean pool, and wireless internet throughout the property that never works, and I refuse to go outside at night alone. There have been robberies at gunpoint, shootings etc. I get occassional roaches and ants just like a lot of places in the area, it's disgusting but it happens. My friends have the same issues in their apartments. I'm not really worried, I think that I'd be upgrading if I move to The Arbors.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/03/2007
I work within orange county in the area of maitland, and I was just in the complex running tags lil over an hour ago. I was also employeed in 11/2006 and dont recall any murders, agg. batteries or physical altercations with firearms. The fact that you are complaning about police officers surrounding your complex for your safety does confuse me as well. We have access codes to each complex, including arbors. When you see a police car parked with the lights set in the ON position outside the gate, hes not trying to get in, hes set up on a perimeter. Its a tactic we use to contain a suspect. If he sees lights, typically he wont DRIVE towards that location in fear that we have his vehicle description...hence, that individual wont drive out the gate if he knows he was guilty of the offense. Subsequently, that keeps him on foot, helicopters and k9 units can track a person on foot, they cant in a vehicle.... Your rent problem, or your roach problem..thats another issue..but dont ridicule police for doing a job and using tactics that you clearly have no knowledge....and like the last individual said...crime can happen anywhere, especially when you have those jokers from eatonville running from the police weekly.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/10/2007
Just be happy that the police are taking the necessary precautions to ensure your safety from dumb a-- criminals. Things can be a lot worse. Im actually writing this from Afghanistan where I am constantly shot at with AK-47's, RPG's(Rocket Propelled Grenades), and seen my share of roadside bombs. Like everyone else said, police have access to apartment communities and crime can happen anywhere. Don't knock on police officers, I am one in my civilian career and its people like this that wrote the review that under appreciate us and what we go through to ensure the public's safety.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/24/2008
I live in the Arbors for 2 years and found the neighborhood to be very safe; on occasion the police would come by, but again crime can ahppen anywhere. I will have to agree about the management being more interested in new renters than taking care of the current tennants. We had issue with the folks upstairs not being very considerate about noise and hours the rugby match upstairs was being played. The office basically did nothing about it and when we threatened to move their response was "could you be out in 45 days". I generally enjoyed my time there and was very satisfied with the look of the neighborhood and my apartment. If you have a lot of roaches there is a good chance you aren't paying real close attention to detail when you clean. In addition; to complain about roaches would be the same as complaining about lizards. We live in Florida and that just comes with the territory. Other than management and the cable service I would have to say that The Arbors is a nice place to live espcially for what you pay.

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