Let me mention some good stuff first: The brand new, gorgeous Malden YMCA is 1 block up the street. Everything is walkable--Stop & Shop, CVS, Blockbuster, pizza/Italian/Chinese/Applebee's, ice cream parlor, Dunkin', bowling, post office, park, playground, T & commuter rail, 3 quite nice restaurants... all of those are within a 5-minute walk of the building.

There are new benches outside in the private plaza area, and many residents like to sit and chat there.

Until a couple of months ago, we had a different building manager, Dianne. As the other reviews mentioned, she could be kind of tough, but she was a nice person. She knew all the tenant's names, and their kids' names. She even kept the baby pictures on a board in her office and had candies for the kids.

But now we have a new building manager, Sara. Lots of reviews have talked about this. It's a disaster. She is seriously one of the rudest people I've ever encountered in a professional setting--let alone in residential management. One of my neighbors is convinced she must have been a corrections officer in the past. I have no idea if she completely lacks manners or if she just refuses to display them around anyone who lives here. It's pretty clear that she hates us. I can't imagine she'll be here long, so don't be too scared off. :-)

This is a very friendly building where lots of the neighbors sit and talk, and you will see the tenants with kids, whose kids are playing together. And lately, *everyone* is talking about Sara, and *nobody* seems to have had any kind of encounter with her that could be described as positive.

It has only been a few weeks since she arrived, and she has already eliminated visitor parking, even though some of the longer residents have visitor parking in their leases, and despite the fact that this neighborhood is ineligible for Malden resident parking stickers *and* all of the local lots and garages tow cars left overnight. So it's a big deal to eliminate visitor parking. But Sara did it by giving everyone about 2 days' notice, via a note stuffed under our doors. She didn't even bother to write it in complete sentences. It was full of mysterious rules, like "Homemakers will no longer be allowed to park in the garage." So either she hates stay-at-home moms or she doesn't know what homemakers are. One way or the other, you can start to get the picture...

She also does really ill-planned things like leaving a note outside our doors after 8:00 PM informing us that there will be no water the following morning. How many people do you think found that note on their way out to work the next morning--furious, frustrated, and unbathed! Our old manager, Dianne, always announced these things up to a week in advance, and posted extra notices in the elevators, at the security desk, and above the mailboxes.

Maintenance has always tended to be slow here, which I think lies with the manager, and not with the maintenance staff. When maintenance comes to your unit, they are super professional and nice. Same goes for outside contractors who occasionally have to come in for something or other. Since Sara came though, you have to go in the office and beg to get your maintenance request attended to.

Some people have said the lobby/interior are not well maintained. I think that's not correct. They just don't have new furniture. But they are clean and orderly. The aquarium, for example, is always crystal clear, and the floors definitely get cleaned every weekday.

Also, some posters have said the security staff doesn't make you feel safe, or something like that. Honestly, I'm not sure what they mean. True, there are no muscle men on the security staff. But everyone for the past several years on security has been very, very nice. There are definitely some residents who come from countries where they lived a wealthy lifestyle with servants. Maybe they think the front desk security should come and fix their kitchen drain, or whatever, after hours. It's just a culture clash. The security staff is definitely friendly and polite by New England standards.

Apartments are pretty soundproof from each other. You might hear water running in another apartment, but you won't hear anyone's TV or conversation.

You do hear downtown noise if your windows are open--especially from midnight until 2 a.m. from Hugh O'Neil's Pub down the street. Unfortunately, those patrons are very loud, very drunk, and there are frequent fights on Fri/Sat nights, often with the police responding. This is a bigger issue on the front-facing side of the building.

Laundry machines were replaces a couple years ago--front loading, high efficiency. One laundry room per floor. I wish it were in-unit, but it usually works out okay.

Closet space is quite decent. Closet doors are crummy and tend to get unhinged.

Heat/AC is strong, but you can't pick which you get. 6/15-9/15 is A/C. The rest of the year it's heat. Most years, April to mid-June can be quite stuffy in the apartments. You can turn the heat off, of course, but you can't get any cool air.

A few times, there have been pest issues. Those have been dealt with aggressively. Compared to my old apartment in the Fenway, it is nothing!

The indoor pool is usually a nice temperature. The gym is popular with a lot of residents. If you're health-conscious, it's great! There's even a sauna in each dressing room (men/women), although I never notice anyone using it.

The community room is pretty late-'80s, but it's big enough, and it's pretty convenient for birthday parties or other get-togethers. It has a complete galley kitchen.

Summary: Apart from the manager, Pleasant Plaza is actually a pleasant place to live.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/13/2009
With so many problems you mentioned about manager, how can you recommand this apartment to anyone. The problems mentioned are much larger & worse than the positives. You would think that you will hardly meet manager in your routine stay, but you will need to see her every now and then AND it will be a nightmare dealing with her. Also, it is very wrong to comment on people from other countries. Have you ever traveled to those other countires to know what these people are talking about? You people stay in one building and think this is the whole world. You need to get out and see what is the reality. This security person does not have muscles but has very very bad attitude. She has insulted so many residants and the guests of residants in front of other public so many times. No one is expecting her to clear the drain and stuff, she is only expected to be courteous and respectful in her tone. GUYS, READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW CAREFULLY BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISION. THERE ARE LOT OF ISSUES RIGHTLY HIGHLIGHTED. BUT I AM SURPRISED HOW CAN SOMEONE RECOMMAND THIS BUILDING IN SPITE OF THESE PROBLEMS. DONT ASSUME THAT MANAGEMENT WILL CHANGE THE MANAGER. UNTILL SHE IS THERE, DONT THINK OF MOVING IN THIS BUILDING.
From: MaldenCenter	Date: 07/13/2009
First, as everyone agrees, the office manager is a nightmare to deal with. Second, I didn't tell anyone to live here; I just wrote my own opinion. For me, having good closet space, great neighbors (despite the jerks described below), lots of kids, a warm, indoor pool, and excellent neighborhood convenience are bigger positives than the negative of the awful manager. By the way, there are 2 female security guards right now. Who are you talking about? Can you not tell them apart? Personally, I have never heard either of them, or the other guard, be rude to anyone. But I have seen plenty of residents who expect their own guests to be specially exempt from building rules. I've seen residents berate and insult the guards after the guards refused to let guests enter if no resident had buzzed them in. I saw one male resident screaming in the face of a young, female guard about 3-years ago. She was crying and shaking when the resident finally went back upstairs. But if the guards were more leniant, then some other residents would complain. It's never going to be perfect. As for my "clear the drain" comment, that really happened. One night, I was at the front desk when a tenant came and insisted that the guard come help her clear her kitchen drain, which she had gotten all plugged up with carrots. She was not willing to do what any normal person would do--stick her own hand in, pull out the carrots, drain the water, and wait for maintenance to restart her disposal in the morning. As far as she was concerned, that's what security was there for, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. So the guard went and cleaned her drain (because the guard was not rude, but rather, was incredibly helpful and accommodating, far beyond what was required). I have also seen a resident force the guard to apologize (in front of everyone in the lobby) to her 4-year-old son for walking the boy back to the community room during his party, and reminding the kids not to run around the lobby screaming. The guard was so humiliated, but didn't argue with the tenant. Personally, I wanted to smack the tenant myself, and I felt so bad for the guard. These 3 examples I just mentioned--in each case the tenant happened not to be American. It is just silly and ignorant to think that non-Americans are somehow particularly enlightened and well-behaved just because they aren't American, or that the rest of the world has cornered the market on manners. And, yes, I can also tell "bad tenant" stories about American residents. But you obviously have a low opinion of them already, so I won't bother with more. As for your personal attack, in fact I am not from this country. This is the 3rd continent I've lived in. Almost nobody in this building is from the U.S., anyway, so why would you even make that assumption about me? Regardless, someone who actually uses that tired old expression "you people," as you did, really lacks credibility in accusing anyone else of narrow-mindedness, provincialism, or whatever. There is nothing wrong with talking about cultural particulars. Cultures and people are all different, and oftentimes those differences translate to different expectations, which can easily cause confusion or disagreements. Perhaps in your culture it is not acceptable to notice or mention the cultural differences between people (or maybe that's just you), and so you got really offended by my comment. But my comment wasn't a preconception anyway, it was reporting what other tenants had told me about themselves. New Summary: Apart from the manager and a few snobby tenants, Pleasant Plaza is actually a pleasant place to live.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/31/2009
did anyone understand that sara is the same person who ran half her tenants out of malden gardens so she can move and she did her family into the building now from what i understand she is planning to move her people in the plaza every one thought that diane was touch i disagree the only time she was stern was when you could not be bothered with following the rules if you spent some time talking with her you would of known she was a very helpful and kind manager and that she gave a darn about people which we can not see or say the same about sara i do here that many families are moving out because of her just like in malden gardens the only people left there are people who don't care and are never home i also heard that a lot of the building when to the office and asked rick if diane they could please bring her back i know they let her go because she was sick which was a ranchy thing to do to a employee who kept the building running nice

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