pros:

- when I had a problem with my garbage disposal, the maintenance man was quick to call me back, and very accommodating (I believe we met on a sunday morning).

- sufficient parking near bldg #5

- location (proximity to rt93/rt95). close to stop and shop.

--

cons:

- this place seems to draw .. let's just say, not the best crowd. I have no problem with my nice neighbors of varying ethnicities, but there are many that I do not feel comfortable around. This includes: residents that vandalize the elevators/halls, indifferent pot smokers (if you can get a buzz walking down the hall, that's a bit much), people fighting, and theft.

The previous may sound extreme, but I do not believe it is the location - it is the residents that attract such activities. I've heard there is low-income housing provided in our buildings, and sadly this does affect the quality of the residents. Their manners and irresponsible and indifferent attitude to their housing is reflected in the quality of the experience.

- Parking: I have personally experienced theft and damage to my car in the well-lit parking lot. To the credit of my neighbors, one of them scared the vandals away at 3am. Audi's, bmw's, and mercedes have seen vandalism. I have heard other reports of headlights being stolen, wheels being stolen, etc. For months at a time, I have seen cars sit in some of the lots with NO license plate and a flat tire. In the winter, the already unreasonably narrow parking spots become scarce due to THE WORST plowing I have ever seen - I blame the contractors hired to clear the parking lots, but I also blame management for not correcting their mistake. Salt is not used (restricted-salt area'), so my front-wheel-drive car with all-season tires has been stuck on slippery ground a number of times (no salt slopes poor plowing). I have been a new england resident my entire life, and have NEVER been stuck in a plowed lot before.

Security: Insecure parking aside, security varies by building. Front door security is achieved by an RFID tag (they finally replaced the flawed key system) - but the door is often propped open. There is a camera system - but the quality is terribly poor, it is not recorded, and it requires that you use their RF hookup - so I doubt anyone else looks at it either. Intercom/remote entry system: they require you have a local phone number, as it calls your phone. Since I only have a cell phone, I could not use this system, so I have to greet visitors at the door.

False advertising:

- Yes, they have tv/internet packages available. Do *not* get their custom internet or cable tv. Users report slow data speeds, lack of programming, etc. Kimball Courts is NOT an ISP, and any engineer will quickly realize that a network infrastructure maintained by an apartment complex is likely going to be sub-par.

- The "fitness center" currently consists of a few donated dumb-bells, 1 universal weight machine, 1 bike, and 1 treadmill - in a very cramped room.

- "1 minute off rt 93/95"'' (bostonapartments dot com) Close to the highway, but give it 5.

- "relax in the hot tub or by the fireplace at the clubhouse"'' wait, they have a hot tub' (I'm serious, I've never seen or heard of one, other than on their web page!) The "clubhouse" that they refer to is currently closed for renovation, has never had a fire in it that I can tell, and was used as a.) a place to store all of the packages received by residents, and b.) for internal management meetings. This has the effect of: a.) I have never had a clubhouse to use, b.) my mail is in a semi-public place, unmonitored location but locked after office hours (daylight theft'), and c.) there was one week that I was trying to pick up a package: the days that I could come during business hours to pick up the package (when I'm supposed to be at work), they were having internal meetings and I was BARRED from retrieving MY mail! Needless to say, I was frustrated.

Things I've dealt with that newcomers won't have to: construction of the towers was a very long and noisy affair; the new clubhouse and gym - if they come to fruition - will be far superior.

Other things that bother me: overflowing trash receptacles in the ground floor of the building, occasionally broken laundry machines, the lights in the parking lots preventing ham radio use, attitude of management staff, cheap building construction (even electrical: my switches have failed and needed to be replaced), occasional summertime power outages (a UPS is helpful), my air conditioning unit not circulating air to the bedroom due to poor floor layout, thermostat not functioning properly, and semi-frequent (several times a year) discoloration of the water (at least notices are posted).

Why have I been there so long' Well, it amazes me that it has been this long - I spend most of my hours away from home. I have been looking at the housing market for the last several years, anticipating a purchase, and wanted to avoid signing a new lease - else I would have found a new place a long time ago. As management begins to focus less attention on my building and more on the revenue-generating towers, quality will likely deteriorate - but by that time, I will have moved.

I wouldn't recommend them to someone new, unless they were willing to pay the ridiculous prices demanded for the new buildings, or absolutely needed to live in the area.

User Responses
From: ittec34	Date: 02/11/2007
I think its funny how you can say so poorly about Kimball.... you might want to make sure that what your saying is true. Our fitness center which just opened is huge. New machine and much more. We also have a hot tub by the pool which is seasonal duh. I dont understand why you think it is ok to say things about the people who are on the low income rent as well. that means nothing. I make enough income to move to the towers but i only am here when im not at work. Management is awesome. and we just had a ton of cars towed so i dont know where you've been but Kimball Court is not at all as bad as your making it out to be.
From: justbuy	Date: 02/12/2007
If I am not aware of something, it is because the management has not conveyed this information to me. You are correct that there is a new fitness center, located in the old clubhouse - it is an unfinished building, but certainly usable. However, I wouldn't have known about it unless I happened to walk there. That reflects poorly on management. As an aside, I would not call the new fitness center "huge". The previous "fitness center" was located in a room the size of a 1 or 2 person office. The new one is considerably larger (I could pace it off, but I don't know the square footage off-hand), but I wouldn't use the word huge - I would call it appropriately sized for the population, though I haven't been there to use it yet, so I cannot judge how crowded it is with the additional users from the towers. The unfortunate circumstances that brought me to walk there: last week, around 10pm, I realized I didn't have enough money on my laundry card to do my laundry - and I had a flight the next morning. It was too late to locate a laundromat that would be open (the only one I could find closed at 11). I walked from building to building, when I realized that the laundry card machine had been removed from the clubhouse. The door to the tower housing the rental office was locked with no one at the desk; the door to the tower housing the concierge was locked with no one at the desk (and voicemail answering the concierge number). I went back and checked my mail and both entrances to my building, but saw no notices about the laundry machines. I finally called the number for the office and was referred to the answering service, which (after a brief delay because they were not familiar with the buildings) informed me of the bad news: the machine had been moved to the rental office. I was also told that maintenance could not access the rental office outside of business hours, and that there was no way to add money to my card - essentially, I could not do laundry until the next morning, when I had to be at work early immediately before my flight. This is completely unacceptable. It is perfectly reasonable to move the laundry-card machine. It is reasonable to temporarily move it into an inaccessible location (I am going to personally inquire with management as to whether or not this is its permanent home). It is not at all reasonable to do this without advance notice. It's not just me - I had to sit in the laundry room for some time before another resident stopped by and I could explain my situation. I was able to give cash to the resident and use their card, but that was a fortunate coincidence and laundry unfortunately took several additional hours of my time. My fellow residents were sympathetic and surprised to hear about the card machine's removal - so clearly management has failed to communicate properly. I do not have anything against low-income residents. I have problems with some of the problems that seem to occur with higher frequency within or near low-income housing. Please recognize the distinction. I also do not have anything against the representatives of management that I have dealt with in the past - my sole experience with the maintenance man, my experiences with most of the receptionists/desk workers, and my experiences with the answering service have all been reasonably pleasant to excellent. Kimball Court is not Hell - or I would not be living here. This is a review site, so I am attempting to highlight points that may not be initially apparent to visitors.
From: dinkas	Date: 02/25/2007
The residents destroy this place. They are messy, inconsiderate and many of them regardless of their section 8 welfare status are downright rude. I am a hard working student/professional who doesn???t want to come home and listen to someone who 1. I don???t care about and 2. is living here on my dime because they are too lazy to get a job and claim they are ???disabled???. I had a towel stolen in the laundry room???.how sad is that???apparently their section 8 doesn???t pay all that well. For what I pay for rent I don???t need to be associated with people like this sorry! Oh, and watch your damn kids will yah.

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