I am fully aware that these review sites are notorious with leasing managers posing as current residents and writing rave reviews about their complex. So, in the hopes of doing what I feel is right, I'm here to give an "honest" opinion about this complex.
Let me start off with the positives because there are definitely positive characteristics about this complex.
1. The individual apt units have very nice upgrades. Mine has cherry oak kitchen cabinets. I know some other units have stainless steel appliances. OOOOoooo!
2. The apt community has very well maintained landscapes and has many great amenities (i.e. swimming pool, gym - a bit out-dated and small, but fully functional, and even a jogging trail).
3. The community also throws random activities/events for their residents. I've yet to attend any, but I've heard pretty good things about them.
4. For the money, I think the complex is a decent bargain.
Ok... now the negatives (if I weren't to write any negatives... this surely could not be an honest review of the complex, could it').
1. Parking in this complex is RIDICULOUS. When I first moved in, it was impossible to find parking space on weekends. They have separate designated parking spaces for residents, but too bad anyone parks in those areas. To management's credit, they have tried to crack down on visitors parking in resident lots by booting such cars in the hopes of discouraging visitors from doing so in the future. Well, here's the PROBLEM... the "boot guy" comes over on Monday mornings to do this... MONDAY FREAKIN MORNING... when nearly 80% of resident parking lots are empty long after all those visitors who had parked in the resident lots have gone back to their homes or to work. I've talked to management about this and their response was "hmmmm... that's actually a really great point". If it was such a great point, why do I still see the "boot guy" only on Monday mornings'!
2. The community is well gated. HOWEVER, the gate has been broken at least 5 times in the last month or so with visitors trying to follow a resident in. The problem is there is no separate entrance for visitors. Sometimes a resident may buzz a visitor in, but then they are cut off by someone else and they are forced to back up and call the resident again. It's a huge nightmare sometime with everyone trying to get through the gate.
3. Did I say the community is very well maintained' Well, a bit over compulsive at it, if you ask me. There is never a single leaf in the parking lot because the management has a guy who comes over nearly every day with a leaf blower at the crack of dawn (this is even after all the leafs fell off the trees). I saw the guy one morning while I was going to work and he was literally walking around the parking lot with the leaf blower at full blast looking for something and anything to blow at. I suppose it's better than a dirty parking lot, but if it's not that bad, then I really don't want to be awoken at the crack of dawn with the loud noise of a leaf blower.
4. Personally, I love dogs. I grew up with a dog all my life and I hope you love dogs too if you want to move into this apartment community because EVERYONE has a dog (or at least it seems like it). What's the problem with this you might wonder' The barking...! My neighbor has this Maltese... I'm more of a Lab Retriever kind of a person. Anyway, what annoys me with this dog is that it YELPS (not bark) ALL THE TIME whenever someone walks by the hallway that connects their apartment with mine or someone knocks on their door. It's a rare occasion when I can come home after a stressful day at work that I don't hear that dog YELP. Even if it is a natural reaction from the dog's perspective, the frustrating thing is that the owners do nothing to keep their dog quiet. And so the dog would YELP on and on and on until it tires itself out... so pretty much all day and night. I've complained to management about this problem... (read comment #5).
5. Management is really good at "pretending" to care about their residents. Actually they really do care about you... AS LONG AS YOU HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. I've complained to management about the above dog, and their reply was "we walked by and heard nothing. we actually heard dog barking elsewhere, but they are moving soon, so quit complaining". I ain't deaf. I know where the noise is coming from. Just because they can't hear it that ONE time they walked by my apt, doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist.
Anyway, overall, it's not a bad complex. Any complex has their good and bad sides to it. I just wanted to share my experience with this complex and make your own decisions concerning living here.
My slightly biased recommendation: If you are a dog lover and noise really isn't an issue, it's a great place to live. If you are looking for peace and quiet, there may be other complexes that are better suited for you.

User Responses
From: dukiegul	Date: 02/05/2009
Re: Negative #3 & #4: That all depends on the placement of your unit. The complex is huge. I have never once heard someone with a leaf blower, day or night. My neighbor as well has a dog that barks as I walk past (fortunately the dog doesn't yelp), but that happens. In the house I grew up in (which was a stand alone house with a yard separating neighbors), I could hear the neighbors dogs barking constantly. That's something that's not too easy to escape and I don't really think you can fault the apartment complex for it. You'll be hard pressed to find a complex or neighborhood where there are no pet owners. Re: Negative #5: Maybe you approach the people at the front office badly. I have had a few maintenance issues since I've livd here (almost 2 yrs, from when it was a Gables). I've never had to wait more than 24 hrs to get a problem fixed. I've complained about general complex issues before and have seen changes. Maybe because you complained about something out of their control they weren't as quick to give you a resolution. (a barking dog - what do you expect them to do? Make the owner give away the dog? Evict the residents?) I do agree with complaints #1 & #2, though again, I think the parking issue is dependent on where in the complex you live. The gate gets broken way more often than I like, but they management is always quick to fix it.

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