When I moved here, there was a 4-6 week waiting list (I was 14th on the list), but recently there have been postings for open apartments by residence staff. Turnover has increased, the waitlist is gone and I fear the place has peaked.

First, the good. Maintenance seems to be comprised of well-meaning, capable people. They are quick to respond and leave a note when finished. I will say that when they replaced the roof and windows in the past 2 years, we did have issues with safety and quality (light fixtures fell, as did shelves). But since this was a contractor, I wouldn't blame maintenance.

The place feels very safe. Again, the proximity of the police and being located at the end of a street makes this one of the safest patches of PG County.

There is a Metro bus stop within a 5 minute walk, as well as one for the University of Maryland and a local high school. The Greenbelt Metro is 2 miles away - a walk in the summer, a cab ride in the winter (metro bus does not run to the area on Sunday or after 9 p.m.).

There is a pool, recycling and laundry facilities, all of which are well-maintained.

Gas is included in rent, so this makes for some surprisingly pleasant utility bills 2/3 of the year.

The Bad:

The other 1/3 of the year, the bills can be really high. The A/C is old, units seem to leak often and is very loud. Prepare for approximately $200 bills in the summer, unless you are gone all day and don't mind having to cool the place off when you return.

Parking - well documented on here. It's fine if your spot is located near your building and your apt. only needs one car. Otherwise, there is a significant shortage and they just eliminated 6 visitor spots to make room for maintenance storage.

Related, the place has some steep hills, so when it's snowy and icy, there are always patches of black ice. When you combine that with the parking issue, prepare to slip, slide and fall. You too will fall, everyone does.

Poor kitchen ventilation - so some try to compensate by opening their doors, which make the halls smell.

Plumbing is lacking - it's just old.

Most importantly, the new manager is terrible. This too has been well-documented. He's young, acts entitled and has the personality of wood. I've heard numerous stories (not just on here, but from current and past residents) of his attitude and experienced a couple myself. He'd rather you move out than to fix a problem, and if it requires bending a rule, then he seems afraid that someone is checking his homework at night.

This seems to be the most logical reason for the skyrocketing turnover. The facilities are what they were (new windows are nice, place is kept well), for better or worse. The university, police department, nearby park and lake, crime, etc., have not changed for the worse. However, as long as the manager drives down morale trying to prove himself, he's only really proving himself. The previous manager understood she was working for the residents and would try to help them.

I really hope they can replace him (perhaps with one of the other staff members who are nice, if they are all still here) and fix the problem. I really liked living here, but as occupancy declines, I fear the other items will get worse (more crime with vacated buildings, etc.). Already, several exterior lights are not being replaced when burned out, a harbinger of things to come. I think the previous manager lived here, so perhaps this guy doesn't'

Over my full time here, I'd recommend Lakeside North. However, my rankings reflect the current state of affairs, since I'd base a recommendation on the present and future, not how it was in 2004.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/14/2007
I second everything in this post/review. I have been living here only a little over a year, but a friend has lived here for over two years and wishes the previous (nice, super-competent) manager had never left. After everything I've heard about this new manager, I feel the same way. I haven't had any super-negative experiences with him myself but I and my friend suspect that I get some sort of preferential treatment because he thinks I'm cute. The downstairs neighbors are moving out, and his treatment of them (they are nice people, not prone to exaggeration, and it sounds like the manager seriously had it in for them for no apparent reason according to their accounting of several incidents) was definitely one of their deciding factors. If you live here, or are considering living here, you probably don't want to talk to the manager unless you are absolutely required to. The other resident service employees are pretty nice. I hope Southern Management gets enough complaints and replaces the manager with someone more competent. At first I just thought he was a little green and I was willing to give him some time to learn the ropes and learn some customer service tricks of the trade (like smiling or using a multi-tonal voice, for instance), but it appears as though it is not changing for the better. At least they finally fired the one maintenance guy who always showed up drunk/stoned/etc. and was rude and didn't do his job. He was then quickly hired by Springhill Lake, I hear. :) If anyone can help me out: Can you recommend a building in this complex that does NOT have a roach problem? (I've heard that different buildings have problems with different bugs. I don't mind other bugs, just roaches, ugh!) Because mine does. It's pretty gross. :(
From: shesheandd	Date: 01/22/2008
I would like to know about the roach and mice problem too. My husband and I need to find a place quickly, and we are quite interested in this place but not if there are roaches and mice.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/27/2008
I lived in 428, never saw a roach or a mouse in there.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/04/2008
I live in 422. No roaches. No mice. Centipedes. Bats.

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