I'll start with the pros. First of all, the location is great. Downtown AH has been built up and you can walk to anything. Woodfield is only about 10-15 minutes away. The Metra is across the street. My experiences with the maintenance crew and office staff have been great for the most part. They do a good job of keeping the building clean (at least on my floor). They also have a strict noise policy, where if a tenant gets three complaints, he or she is out. The neighborhood is nice too. For families there are schools and parks within walking distance. There is also a farmer's market on Saturdays from May through October. All the tenants I've met seem pretty nice.

On the downside, you control the heat only. They turn off the air conditioning on October 1 and not back on again until May or June. This means that on those days when it's sweltering out of season, you're stuck. This was something they did NOT disclose before or after we moved in. The buildings are old and so are the appliances. Our dishwasher runs like crap, it takes 2 1/2 hours to dry a load of laundry in the cheap stackable washer/dryer, and the fridge is really small, so if you like to cook this could be a problem. There's also a weird flourescent light in the kitchen, but none over the stove or counter so you can barely see what you're doing. The tub is about as deep as a broiler pan, and the doors are made from that cheap sawdust material. There's also about an inch gap between the floor and the bottom of the door, so you can hear every noise in the hallway, and if there's ever a fire, you'll be dead of smoke inhalation before the flames get there. The apartments are small, too. Our 2B/2BA is less than 1000 SF. Right now we're paying less than $1300 due to a rent special, but I guarantee they will jack the rent at lease renewal time.

Another negative is paper thin walls between units. Thankfully the units above and below have concrete between them, so I have yet to hear anyone thundering around above me. But next door is another story. Televisions, radios and sometimes conversations can be overheard without any effort.

Parking is in an outside structure which, depending on the building you live in, is attached by a pedestrian bridge. The problem is that the garage belongs to the city, so you have to pay extra for monthly parking passes which fail to stick to the windows like they're supposed to. We've already gotten a ticket because the decal rolled up and fell off. People speed through the structure at about 20 mph (posted is 10 mph) and because the corners are so tight, I'm counting the time before I'm hit head on by some Starbucks-slurping Yuppie in a Hummer.

The management company recently sent out a survey so hopefully they will implement some changes and updates.

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