If you want to live in a brand-new apartment building with granite countertops, more bathrooms than bedrooms, and a parking lot outside your front door, this is NOT the place for you.

But if you love having plants growing outside your door, being able to let your kids or dogs run around outside, a fast commute to downtown, and a life that doesn't require getting in a car--it's hard to think of a better place to rent.

Yes, the kitchens are tiny--I think the kitchens are the same size in the 3 bedroom townhouses as in the 1 bedroom apartments. The dishwasher is so small we've never bothered to use it. The kitchen appliances are basic (nothing fancy), but quite functional. However, we have our own washer and dryer in our basement--some units do have them.

As for building age and maintenance: Our apartment was renovated just before we moved in, the windows are all in good shape, etc. We have wood floors throughout--parquet on the first floor--no worries about spills or stains. The buildings are 1930s construction, with all the accompanying assets and flaws. The ceilings are slightly higher than in newer places. The units appear to have been built well originally, but the renovations since then have been done on the cheap. The walls are real plaster, not drywall, but there's no insulation in the outside walls, and so our heating bill was high in cold months. The sound insulation between units is not bad--we can only hear our neighbors from the basements and when they use the stairs. All of our maintenance requests have been answered VERY promptly. We asked to read the lead testing results on the property before we signed the lease--there is no lead paint on building interiors, only on the exteriors of the white buildings, which were repainted after those results were found.

In contrast to other online reviews, we have not had any problems with our payments not being credited to our account, or with any additional fees. However, we do NOT pay rent online (because we read those reviews, and heard about the problems with the online payments).

This is a reasonably well maintained rental complex one block from the metro that has enough space for a family and comes with our own back yard. That's what we were looking for. If you are looking for a luxury highrise, it won't be a good fit for you.

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