apartmentratings.com seems almost guaranteed to depress you, what with all the negativity heaped on each and every apartment complex that's listed here...but with that in mind, I'm happy to at least jump into the positive pool and report that, after 28 months of living at Camden, I'm still alive. And those 28 months: not bad.

I should note: Is it possible for the reviews that rank Camden as 5.0 and mention the "friendly office staff" to be taken seriously' They are so obviously written by said "friendly office staff" that it's laughable. Anyway...

Safety first, right' My wife and I always felt safe walking the grounds of this community, both during the day and at night. We played tennis at night; no issues with safety. Most areas all well-lit, although walking or bike-riding down Camden's main strip requires a lot of car-dodging...there aren't sidewalks.

Cars never seemed overly fast here; they were, however, very prevalent, as one might expect from such a large community. Parking was never an issue, although I can see how it might be in some other buildings. Cars bumping extremely loud music was sometimes an issue, but it's the rare apartment community that doesn't have the resident bass-thumper.

Next big thing: Apartment itself. 28 months: Not one roach. Not one lizard. The only bug problem I ever had involved ants; once every 4 or so months, they would swarm the apartment door (although strangely never go inside), but be gone within a few hours. Strangest thing. Hornet's nest at one point, but maintenance took care of that.

I should point out here that maintenance was extremely good at Camden. First off, I didn't need them much, which was a testament to at least decent appliances and plumbing. When I did need them (a broken air conditioner), they responded within 15 minutes and spent 2 hours, nonstop, fixing the problem. But here's to a good place: Toilet never broke, fridge never broke, stove never broke, water never broke, lock never broke, power rarely halted (and only for normal reasons). I don't know if I got lucky, but that place worked. And when it didn't, there was someone fixing it.

Other good things: The pool...crowded on weekends, but at least swimmable. The grounds...not the world's prettiest, but well-kept. Tennis courts...lit at night.

There are, of course, the negatives, and I'll start with the sprinklers: The sprinklers, inexplicably, were set to come on near my apartment at 10.00pm. Not only did this mean I had no way of getting home without getting wet, but most of the water appeared to make its way to the parking lot anyway, making such excessive watering unnecessary. The fitness center: Poorly lit and kinda run-down. Not a place I ever wanted to work out. Laundry: Expensive and logistically difficult, especially if your laundry card doesn't have money on it. Valet trash: Nice touch, but the trash can is too small. My patio: Not sure if this is universal, but mine was run-down and had nails sticking out of the wood.

I think my patio kinda sums up Camden Lakes: It's workable. It's there. It's going to function well...as well as a patio can. But it's not a particularly nice place; it's not a place you're going to fall in love with and want to show off to your friends as the greatest apartment ever. I moved in as a bachelor and found it adequate; I moved out as a married man to get more space and something more upscale and have yet to look back. I certainly did not hate my Camden Lakes experience (and in fact found the office staff rather pleasant, particularly Marisol), and would indeed recommend living there. It's not as bad as this forum makes it sound.

User Responses
From: boyd4447	Date: 01/08/2008
Finally someone that tells it like it is. Thank you. I completely agree with your post. Especially Marisol. I moved out in July, not because of anything bad with the apartment, but because my office relocated to Brandon and I didn't want to commute. I actually transfered to another Camden property and couldn't be happier. Marisol is still helping me too. I accidentally had a package delivered to my old address there and Marisol and John went above and beyond what I expected to get it back for me. Not the best apartments in the world, but they serve their purpose well.

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