I have lived in Forest Ridge for 2 years now. I would recommend living here to anyone (and have...my fiance's younger sister is moving in with her friends in the fall).
But what I recommend is to know the ins and outs of the lease and what you are getting yourself into.
The 1st year we moved into the newer, one-bedroom apartment-only segment of Forest Ridge. But the affordability drew collage-aged tenants, and therefore a lot more noise/parties. Also, I did experience the issue parking at these newer apartments (where there are no visitor spots and you are only allowed 1 car per unit ... not per tenant). I did decide to move to another apartment (in the larger, 2-bedroom, older Forest Ridge area) because of this parking issue.
During this move, Hallmark employees were understanding and accommodating.
Now, having lived in the 2-bedroom for a year, I would recommend it highly. It is the quietest apartment complex I have been in, the construction on this end is great, the appliances work very well, and the design is well-thought out. We have a lot of space to live comfortably. And the price is extremely affordable still.
So if you do not might more noise, maybe a mid lower-quality construction, and limited parking -- the one bedrooms would probably be an OK fit. But I personally recommend the 2 bdrm apartments in the older lot. Affordable, quiet, further from campus, right off the highway for easy access, and very nice neighbors.
That's my 2 cents!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/23/2008
Yes - Brenda has yelled at me many of times. Every person in that office is rude and hateful. They do not care about anyone - they just want to be the meanest to everyone. Brenda MADE me pay her $100 because someones car got towed and it was "my fault." They are the worst people I have ever met in my life. I am so glad I moved from there - it was hell the whole it. I would not live there - the apts. are nice - but they are very very very cheaply built. The walls are paper thin, the police come out about 2 times a week or lound music, drunk people, ect., and Hallmark dosen't care. They dont even have a maintenance staff - there is no "on call maintenance" or "emergeny maintenance" - Brenda told me that herself! I agree with the person above - do not add this stress to your life. I hate Brenda and her staff - and so will you.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/31/2009
I am one of the owners and am on site every week making sure things are right and keeping up with the work orders we receive from our management company Hallmark. Hallmark is a good company managing property all over Bloomington very successfully. I agree with a statement made in another review that the ones that are posting hate statements are tenants who were not living up to their end of the contract. We take care of our tenants, with smiles on our faces, in a timely fashion, making most repairs within a day. Over the last three years we have had over 150 tenants and they are all very important to us and Hallmark. O yes, the parking issue. He signed a lease for one car then parked three cars and cannot understand why Hallmark was on his case! He caused a problem for everyone then he had the Gall to call and have another tenant towed when he had 3 cars, MAN! This is new construction that has to conform to the city code which states parking shall be 1 spot per bedroom. We may not like this city code but the city calls the shots. The parking issue has been eliminated by the use of stickers.
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/05/2009
I have not lived at Forest Ridge, but I was considering moving there. However, after seeing these reviews, I have changed my mind. It is not the tenants negative comments that have swayed my decision because there will always be complaints about maintenance or noise. It is the responses from management that are really bothersome. In several comments, the management responds calling the tenant a "nut" or saying the tenant is trying to run a smear campaign. This is not only immature and unnecessary, but says to me that whoever is responding is extremely unprofessional. There are also suspicious rave reviews and comments on 3/17 that seem so odd and out of place that I question if they were written by the same unprofessional individual. It is one thing to be diplomatic and patient while correcting inaccuracies or providing a balanced perspective and another to bitterly respond to negative reviews with name-calling. Not impressive to potential future residents.
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/22/2009
I was thinking of moving here as well, but after reading the reviews I totally agree with the person above the manger response are very unprofessional and I don't need this type of problem added to my life. Thank God for reviews:-)!!!
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/09/2009
I'm moving in this fall (I'm actually the fiance's sister mentioned above), and, as far as I can tell, the apartments are very nice in and of themselves: great location, well-made, well-designed. The staff I've met so far have been friendly and nice. I hear the parking issue was a mess, but at least with the 2 and 3-bedroom units it's not a problem, and, from what I've been told, not much maintenance is needed for these apartments anyway (they are relatively new and seem to be in good shape). I guess I'll find out this fall if the management is still as helpful as they were when we signed the lease, and I will post again on how it goes!
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/12/2009
Wow, that is really bad management to talk bad about a previous resident like that. You say you care about your residents but it dosen't really sound like it. I would want my landlord saying that about me. Whoever wrote that should be fired. I'm sure it wasn't like resident fault either, sounds like the "managner" is making excuses.

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