I have lived here six-1/2 years now, and I will explain why at the end of this review, why I am still here. This is an updated and very long read, but is worth browsing, if you honestly want the TRUTH!

To begin, when I first was ready to move in, they called me to say the apartment was ready. I had professional movers because of the expensive furniture I have, and I have a dog (will add more about the dog at the end also). Well, when I arrived with the movers, the toilet was in the bathtub and the bathroom not ready until the next day. It took another 2 weeks to get all of it completed, but I could use the toilet and the shower during that time. There was no deductible for the inconvenience, though I complained.

The service here is, to put it simply, horrendous! Not that the service people do poor work, they do OK; it is the front office that is the issue. One has to pull teeth to get anything started/repaired from their end, and I know the service personnel feels bad when they arrive knowing the how the front office is. I have known 8 managers (the sixth started around last April 2004) since I have lived here, with each seemingly more incompetent then the one before, the fourth (Jennifer Caldwell, who left here previously dating one of the maintenance men) being absolutely the rudest and least qualified to be in her position from a people skills standpoint. She has the personality of a pit bull, and is completely unreasonable, and unapproachable. Unfortunately, she left at the end of May 2003, only to return to the horror of Lakeside Village residents in March 22, 2005; she left very soon after her arrival. The fifth manager, was simply never available, and got paid for avoiding issues, in my honest opinion. Jennifer now stands as the fourth and seventh managers in my tenure as a resident here.

The next to newest manager, and has been the case with the previous ones, made positive claims (except Jennifer) that are never met. They have signs at the complex entrance that say, "We Love Our Tenants". However, that changes once you sign the lease agreement, need service, or you have a complaint. The laundry room in my building has had a broken window in it for almost two years now (since March 2004), as well as the washers draining onto the floor between wash, rinse, and spin cycles, this has not been resovled to date of this updated review. Service simply nailed plywood over the window to help prevent the freezing of the pipes, though air easily still gets in through a large gap. The heat has to run constantly to maintain a decent temperature. Makes you wonder why they don't consider costs, and waste of energy, but more importantly, the look of the building, since this sticks out like a sore thumb (see link below for an image)!!

The storage room (which is adjacent to the laundry room) has been bolted closed, though I know the room was never picked up. It was a large, messy trash heap, as well as a fire hazard, with all the debris close to the furnace and a large gas fired water heater that supplies the building. They simply put a warning sign on the door to "not attempt to enter it" as to prevent anyone else from noticing the heap (see links below for images of this heap)! One can now enter the (trash) storage room, hence the images.

Both of these issues above were brought to the previous manager's attention, and now to the newest one (#8 and their staff), to make amends to this issue, but I doubt it will get fixed and cleaned up since I have mentioned this off and on since July 2004, only to be told it would be repaired and cleaned. HUH'' Do they not care that their property is being ruined more so each time the water drains to the floor; this should be a strong indicator of what really matters. That is; not spending money to fix and upkeep, as opposed to getting income to meet the owners insatiable demand for the "bottom line"!

The condition of the apt is getting worse, with the cabinets in the bathroom/kitchen areas generally in poor condition, i.e. the exterior peeling off, and loose/rigged components. I have in the past year (June 2003 - February 2004, along with September and November 2004) had problems with mice, that I had to take care of myself. I again (April 2005) had problems with mice.

The dishwasher (which is part of the lease agreement) only worked the first six months I lived here, it was the original dishwasher from when the place was built in the early 70s (do you think they got good use from it'''). When they said they would replace it, they would do so on the next budget (their term for "by the month"). Well this went on for another 2-1/2 years, with reasons being; budget constraints, will be replaced in week (it still did not happen), or they simply forgot. I got the new dishwasher in May of 2002 (I requested for it in Dec, 1999)! There have now been four instances (one happening often for a 6 week period in late summer 2000) where there has been no hot water. I sometimes had to go to a friend's place to shower for work, or take cold ones. After that period of 6 weeks with everyone complaining, they finally replaced the hot water heater!!! (by the way, there was no deduction for not having hot water either) This again happened in January of 2004 for over a week, and now again in November of 2005 (and it still happens off and on, though they said they fixed it)

The sliding screen door to my balcony has been warped from day one, and never has been replaced (gave up asking), and it seems that it will not be. My deck is a algae coated mess, with holes in the siding where birds and squirrels have made thier nest inside the walls of the deck area, and the left over wood pulp constantly being kicked out into a pile on the deck. I gave up cleaning it up.

Maintenance has only come by three times in the almost six years I've been here to replace the heating/AC filters(it now has been 3 1/2 years since maintenance has come at all, to date); I do it myself by getting the filters from maintenance. The neighbor above me, and all before has problem with their A/C, as it would lose coolant. It would get terribly hot, since it is the top floor. Well, the summer of 2004, the condenser unit started making this wildly loud vibrating noise, as it was trying to move coolant, that just wasn't there. I complained because there was no way I could sleep. This was brought up in a face to face talk with the manager of that time, and that this seemed to be a serious problem, and a possible hazard.

Well, one fine evening, after all the time they said they would FINALLY replace it, it caught fire, and frightened the above neighbors (of whom by the way, moved because of management failure and disrespect of them!!!). Before that, I lent them one of my fans so they could at least try to stay cool when they slept. I found out, that the previous Heating-A/C company bolted, because they weren't paid their bills, and they were trying to get another contractor. It was very sad it came down to almost causing a fire, and that they had to have an emergency fix by another company. Though I do not know if they now have a regular contractor, they really now made it obvious (since I brought this issue up with the unit being a possible hazard) that safety is second to keeping money for profit that they owe to their contractors!

Again, this is a front office problem, since maintenance can only do what they are allowed, or contactors being paid promptly. It seems there are only three maintenance workers (the best one quit after 4 years of being here for a better complex) for the whole of the complex, and I think there are over 600 apartments. We no longer have free use (the term "free" being used loosely, as it was part of the rental agreement) of the exercise rooms, as they now charge for them separate from the rent. The reason; the rooms were being vandalized and cost money to fix and upkeep, so to remedy the cost, they now charge the renters for use of the exercise rooms. Pretty nifty logic; charge renters for what was use of these facilities included in the lease agreement, for the acts of vandalism!! I guess also, they had to make up losses for one management team that was here from Jan. 2001 to Nov. 2001, as they went on the lam with rental money (I heard between $100,000-$150,000).

The area is nice to see at first glance, but it gets bad once you look closely. They keep the exteriors of the buildings nicely painted; but that appearance is NOT AT ALL representative of the interiors that I have seen. Where I am is an exterior exception; it is a mudslide when it rains in the front area, and out of all the buildings I have seen, it is the worst. There have been long periods where there is no lighting at night, making it hard to see, and dangerous. In the winter, you cannot see the ice, and I have fallen quite a few times, once causing me to miss 7 days of work from an injury, this because of no lighting. Snow removal ANYWHERE, i.e entrances, streets, parking areas) was almost non-existent. I heard that the front office (as noted with another service provider here) hadn't paid the snow removal people their dues, and that was the reason for the lack of (or not at all)snow removal.

This past and particular winter (2004-2005), we had a very big icy snow storm (dumped almost a foot of snow). They plowed what parking lots they could, but pushed the snow against the vehicles. The road was not cleared, and many cars became stuck near where I am, making it hard to get in and out, I was stuck for two days. Some cars became so packed in, that other cars hit them trying to get around, because they could not move. One car looked almost totaled from over three days of people sliding into it. The road, where the cars could drive, was literally 4 inches of ice, with a little snow on it. Since that storm, there has been two snowfalls of 5" and 4" of snow respectively; there was ABSOLUTELY NO SNOW REMOVAL AT ALL each time!

There also was a period of no exterior lighting (if it can be called lighting at all!) that lasted for over six months, and it still does not work properly today. The turnover rate of renters in the past 3-1/2 years has been incredible (average stay rate in the past year has been 3 to 6 months). All due to the management as I have these people who move tell me this; it is hard to make good friends. Cars speed through the area, and there are times when squealing tires is the theme of the day (or night), and there a children living here! Loud car music is also on the rise, and it is utterly terrible!

Four years ago, a registered sex offender moved in, and management did not notify the residents in any way. They were confronted by worried residents, and their excuse was that they are not required to notify residents (apparently that is by law). In addition, a person cannot get out of their lease for this! (From what I understand, you can check with the KY state police website to search for sex offenders in the area to where you are moving!) Over the past 3 years, --------- have been moving into the complex in droves. Do not get me wrong, I am not a bigot, but I see no recent diversity moving here, but rather, all diversity moving out. However, in that period, the crime and vandalism has gone up! Again, it is not a Hispanic thing, but rather a front office problem with discretion in accepting any "possible" renters, no matter what to maintain the bottom line. Numerous cars have been keyed, broken into, and stolen also.

In all honesty, when I describe what I see and hear, it is mainly around where I live, as the complex is large, and I cannot really comment on the areas further in front of me, but I suspect much of the same, except it does look nicer and with better exterior upkeep. As I noted at the top why I still live here, I will explain. It is because I have a large older dog, and it is close to where I work. There are no other places that will take me with the dog I have, it hence becomes a necessity, and I will not give up my dog. However, I would not at any level, recommend for anyone to move here from my experience here to date. It would take very drastic measures and a serious management conduct change with renters and service to make me think any other way.

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