Since beginning my studies in Tampa, I've lived in three different neighborhoods around USF and this is by far the best environment I've studied and lived in. The complex is surrounded by woods on three sides, with only one other apartment complex across the street. This cuts down on lots of the potential problems other places faced - while your complex may be good, you could never gurantee the complex next door wouldn't turn into a crime dump. Since Camden is in the woods, its insulated. As long as you're satisfied with Camden you should be happy.

You can see proof of this by the daily passing of runners, joggers, dog walkers, and to a certain degree yes kids - but these are the kids of teachers & professionals, they're not rowdy or living in squalor. They gather to board the school bus that stops right at the gate. The place is safe enough that parents trust their kids to be outside, and to me that speaks volumes.

If you like the feel of the wilderness next door, this might be the only place in Tampa where you get it. While not for everybody, seeing lizards and baby frogs jumping about after a summer shower brings a grin to my face. The porches are screened and the wildlife is effectively kept out. You may see others, wading birds, ducks, a red tailed hawk frequents the area, and once I saw a shadowy critter snuffling around at night, maybe a possum. You can actually see the stars at night.

The staff is excellent and dedicated toward helping you. I had move-in difficulties, everyone does, and I think it was due to help from the staff that greatly speeded up getting all my utilities on. If a problem is urgent, like the air conditioner breaking, they respond within a day, then call the next day to gauge your satisfaction. Staff will sign for UPS packages and hold them in secure storage at the office for you. They are also very accomodating to special needs, and help you locate the best apartment price available in their community.


Drawbacks

Not too many. About the only time you truly can't find parking is late at night, so if you have a job that ends at 2 am the place may not be for you. If you like to use the air conditioner constantly, it can be noisy at times. Walls insulate sound but it is possible to hear water in the pipes from a neighbor's shower, though it is infrequent. The most difficult from a student's perspective is you are not leasing individual bedrooms. This means if two students are living in a 2bd/2ba, and the other fails to pay up, you're still responsible. This was the reason I ultimately moved after 8 months - I couldn't keep a dependable roommate around, and the one bedroom apartments were beyond my budget. However at a higher salary I'd definitely have stayed.

The place has good maintenance, staff, grounds, its safe, pet and kid friendly, quiet, and if you compare the amount of floor space to what other similar priced complexes are offering - you are getting a big apartment for a very affordable price.

I agree with MrCrittyMagoo that sometimes dumpsters get overfull but that's a responsibility of the residents, and the complex does fine those that they catch handling trash inappropriately.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/11/2007
Bogus. Written by staff member. This place sucks. The staff are devious liars, the renters are trash, there are kids running around at all hours. No parking. Stay away!
From: crimsonclover14	Date: 08/12/2007
I don't think this is bogus at all. I love living here so far and am impressed by the way the place is handled. I live in a building next door to the welcome center, right by a pool. Kids swim in it, sometimes late, sometimes all day. Makes sense to me. I never hear outside people inside my apartment. I never hear anything outside my apartment, usually not even any neighbors. I've only seen one apartment in my vicinity where the people have some junk visible, but it is their porch; if they keep their crap on it, I don't feel like it affects me. Most people's places are tidy. Parking has been okay every day except one day last week, when I had to park one building over (big deal). Also, the management has been kind enough so far to 1) call us before we signed our lease and let us know they'd found a cheaper rent rate 2) arrange for us to get our keys when we unexpectedly had to arrive in town after their office had closed on move-in day 3) let us use an office computer to pay our rent online because we didn't have Internet yet. I call each of those things going above and beyond. Lastly, we had three maintenance issues, including a minorly cracked window pane. Each one was fixed within two days of reporting them. I like this place already. And I do not work here :)

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