I am rewriting this review to be a little more objective. To be fair, most of my complaints with Brookdale Village are not things that the management can do anything about. Wendy, Brandy and especially Christine have been good to us. But since my daughter was born (02/02/05) I have noticed things that have really frustrated me about living here.

1)Location. If you work in the loop, and are new to the Chicago area, you may want to consider not living in Naperville. It takes my wife, on average, 45 minutes to 2 hours to get home. The train is no different. It’s hard on her because we have a young baby. This is not something the property can do anything about.

2)Noise. This place is noisy. Every night, without exception, since 01/01/2006 I have been awaken by neighbors taking their dog out and talking in a volume inconsiderate to other residents. The walls are thin enough to hear your neighbors opening and closing doors, taking showers, and playing music. As I am typing this, one of my neighbors has decided to start his car (which does not have a muffler, it sounds like), and “rev” up the engine. If my baby was sleeping, she would not be now. There is a tornado siren about 100 yards away from the property. I realize that there is one in every town, and they serve an important purpose, but not every building in every town is this close to it; and we were not informed of its proximity. Every time it goes off, my baby wakes up crying. There is a loud factory across the street as well as train tracks. But my biggest complaint is that this place is designed so poorly, that when the heater/air conditioner kicks in, one has to double the volume on the television or speak up quite loudly to be heard. Again, these are issues that the current management can not do anything about.

3)Neighbors. Unfortunately, affordable housing means that every type of person can afford it. I have neighbors that allow their dogs to roam free and do not pick up after them so that my child can not play outside in the grass. I have a neighbor that has abandoned their car with expired out-of-state plates in the parking lot nearest to my building so that on bad days my wife can not park close. Younger neighbors that drive in or leave with their stereo blaring at an inappropriate level are a problem here. I have a neighbor that has fired their paint gun at the garbage area. My next door neighbor has allowed their child to run from one room to the other screaming, and slamming doors at 2 in the morning. Above I mentioned the neighbor that lets their dog out at all hours of the night and talks to it at an inconsiderate volume. There is only so much that management can do about this. Apartment living is always like this.

4)Age of the village. The current management has inherited these issues and have worked hard to fix any maintenance problem I have had. They are quite good at it, actually. For example, they have replaced the dishwasher twice. However, the age of the building is such that they can not keep up. My bedroom has a crack going down the wall due to heat/cold expansion. The carpet is frayed near the fireplace. There is an issue year round with ants and other bugs, and I pride myself in having a clean home. When I flush the downstairs toilet, the pipes vibrate loudly. The tiles in the upstairs bathroom are dark with years of use, the kitchen is very drafty in the winter. The electrical outlets on the exterior walls allow cold air to come in. My roof has leaked (which was fixed).

Again, I feel compelled to say that the management is doing the best they can, and that my complaints are not things that they can do anything about. My advice to you is to check the place out yourself and ask questions. In summary, if you are young and have some money, this might be the place for you. But if you have a young family and want things a little more quiet, look elsewhere. For the money we pay we do get a fair value, but if you can afford more, rent a house.

User Responses
From: mochalove	Date: 12/23/2005
Air raid siren? It is called a tornado siren check and it happens every month in every town. Hopefully there isn't an "air raid siren" in the town you move to.
From: rbrohammer	Date: 12/29/2005
(the author)...sure it happens in every town, but not every house has to be 50ft away.

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