I currently live in Hidden Valley and have been here since 2008. I must say that it is not as bad honestly as what some of the reviews make it seem, but it's not by far as good as some of the reviews hype it up to be either. It's more good than bad to be fair though. There is a nice wooded area which is secluded from the inner city by far, but it is nice and quiet at least at the time of this writing. Of course you get some people who act ridiculous wherever you go but this is not as bad as the last place that I lived at here in Grand Rapids. The management team is all brand new as of the beginning of this year and the way that they run things around here is not so good with the new management team that's in the office, but to be realistic they are not doing a horrible job either. I just feel that the management people are brand new to this type of work and that it's going to take some time to have them be suitable for the job which is with any job that you're brand new at, it takes time to get better at what you do for a living. If you have allergies, seasonal or especially pollen allergies this is not the place for you. I knew I had allergies but while living here my allergies had me feeling like I had the flu when it was merely just an allergic reaction to the pollen that's flying around everywhere around here and in this immediate section of town, it's almost like it's snowing pollen no exaggeration. Parking is not all that good, just a basic car port with a few apartments having the option to have a garage but not sure of the full details on that either since I have a townhome and not an apartment, but for sure the townhomes only have a basic carport in front of them with one additional space of your own which is a little nice to have your own parking space rather than trying to fight for a parking space in a parking lot like at most complexes. As far as there being rats and mice and all the other additional tenants that people refer to, I've never seen a single mouse, rat, or any other type of animal or bug that isn't common in my townhouse not one time nor have I thought I saw one either. The best that it gets is spiders which they're everywhere, and sometimes mosquitoes will sneak into your house and the occasional pesky fly as well. If you keep your apartment or townhouse clean then there wouldn't be any of those sorts of animals/bugs in your home. The price of the townhouses isn't all that bad if you think about it: you pay less than $800 per month with a move-in special or when you renew your lease early and you get about 1,700 square feet of space which is the largest size townhouse in the entire city of Grand Rapids. No, it may not be the best quality but I would have to say that it's the best value dollar for dollar. There are some children that walk around or ride their bikes around here and are unnecessarily bad and disobedient, but you get that everywhere you go anywhere in the world, not because of the children being bad because they don't want to listen. It's the parents that don't care about their children and let them run around freely and don't care what happens to them just to give them a break is all they're worried about. Garbage fires are not here, if they were it's a little bit far-fetched for me to believe. The most that I've seen is the Kent County Sheriff come out here and arrest somebody for doing something they weren't supposed to be doing in the first place most likely. The most that I've heard is the usual arguing and yelling between couples out here. Other than that, there have not been any gunshots since I've been here either. There have been people letting off fireworks earlier than the 4th of July just because they get excited to let them off. If there are gunshots it's most likely somebody out in the woods shooting at a deer or another type of animal of their choosing since there is quite a bit of woods surrounding this complex. The maintenance men don't get a chance to get out to fix things too quickly because there are only 2 guys working and there are over 200 units here so people who complain about the maintenance not doing their job are either despiteful, unappreciative, or just don't figure how many requests get sent in to the maintenance men each and every day with there being over 200 units for them to get to and only being 2 guys on duty to take care of all maintenance requests. I say just get whatever you need from the office and fix things yourself because a lot of the basic things only require common sense and a simple tool and sometimes not even that to get the work taken care of a lot quicker. I understand that my review is quite long but I just wanted to clarify as best possible about things that have been said that are either misleading or just plain lies to try to sway people from moving here. My only suggestion to anybody is if you move into an apartment community you're going to run into problems anywhere you move so if you want to eliminate these problems fix your credit scores and get a house and pick out the area you would like to live in so that you don't have to deal with the negatives that come with the positives of an apartment/townhouse. I hope that this review is helpful to any of those who have the patience and time to read my hour long review. Good day

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/11/2009
Live there a little longer than a year then write a review..... give me a break. You lived there since 2008! lol... you dont know the first thing about what goes on there or what has taken place there. since 2001 they have gone through numerous management people and haiving two maintenance guys shows you htat hte management team there now cant run it either. ! guy per hundred units.... that sounds like a great management team. Mice were almost any everyday occurance there with us. My dogs caught them running through our living room. I had a two bedroom and b/c of maintenance and their busy schedules, the leak in the ceiling right over the bed kept me from using my second bed room. So i didnt pay the extra rent and they tried to evict me.. yeah b/c they are incompitant in everything they do there. The best thing for Hidden Valley is some gasoline and a match... end of story
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/12/2009
Sounds to me like you ARE managment who is trying to write a review to minimize the REAL state of things in this area. I personally know from experience that their are many infestations of bugs, cockroaches and such running through the area. What you said about the maintenance is most likely true, they are overworked! However, it just shows that the OWNER does not really care. Two maintenance men per 100 units is unacceptable. It is ALSO unacceptable that ANY tenant should have to fix the problem themselves....THAT is the perk from living in a rental. As for the children, crime and such that is also true. The truth is that the management keeps changing because the management team wants to do "good" however the OWNER is just too cheap and does not provide the monetary means to provide enough maintenace men, tools, or supplies to properly fix things. In most units the carpet is old and has had many "accidents" on it from previous pets. Their are many units with mold issues, the windows are not properly sealed nor are they of any quality and many people have to seal the windows with plastic and drapery to make it through the winter. The ONLY good thing about this area is the square footage, however you will pay for this convenience by higher electric to cool it (because of the poor insulation) higher electric to heat it, mold issues, health issues, infestations, an unsafe and uncontrolled outside area, and a management and maintenance staff that are overworked and their hands tied. As for the burning it down as suggested in a previous response...I think if the owner thought they could get away with it they would.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/27/2009
This is the worse place I have ever lived at. It was fake reviews like yours that inclined me to make this terrible mistake. Please, do everyone a favor and do not encourage them to move into this filthy & unhealthy place, managed by the most un ethical people.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/28/2009
Well, to clear up the thought of me being management I will certainly tell you that I am not management by all means and am in the process of leaving Hidden Valley as I type this. I have to take back even the slightest positive thing that I said about them because in all honesty these townhouses suck big time. Everything is ran into the ground and you have to either fix something on your own or wait until you move out for them to do anything with it and that isn't much either they just rig it to where somebody can barely live in it and then the place ends up falling apart not long after that. I know for a fact that the only problem that I had was a problem with moths and a few occasional ants but I never got the problem with roaches or rats but I'm quite sure there are a ton of them out there especially with the way things are going as of lately. I mean for God's sake, there was a woman that falsely reported to the police that she got raped and caused the news stations to come out and everything. What did the maintenance and office management team do about it? Absolutely nothing and then they have the nerve to tell you to make sure to keep a closer eye on your children and who approaches your doors. That's very encouraging for me to feel safe (not). I am packing up and leaving far far away from Hidden Valley and as a matter of fact they should keep it just the way it is from society with the name it fits how it should be quite well this run-down so-called hole in the wall 40 dollar motel quality piece of trash townhouse/apartment community should remain hidden. Period.

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