Moving here after 4 years in a huge, historic mansion, I figured life in an apartment building would be miserable at best. I was wrong.

Richmond Hills is in itself a nice little neighborhood, consisting of a handful of 16, 24, or 36 unit buildings on a wooded ridge above a small creek. There is a nice (if small) pool, exercise area, and saunas. Plus, a community room with kitchen available for rent.

Management and maintenance live on site, and I have to say that I am impressed by both. My father is a slumlord, so I know all about bad apartment management and poor building maintenance. Here, response to a problem is just a phone call away.

The friendly office staff (not the shallow, fake-smiling, mindless bimbos one often finds at apartment communities) has been here for years, and are always a pleasure to deal with. Maintenance staff has come and gone over the years, but gets the job done. My only complaint is the new contracted snowplow service, which repeatedly left us snowbound and stranded for days at a time this past winter. Hopefully that won't be the case again next winter.

Built in the mid-70s, the buildings are starting to show their age a bit. Outdated kitchens and baths are being upgraded with new oak cabinetry as apartments are turned over. They could have gone much cheaper, but didn't.

There are a very small number of efficiency apartments (I think one per building), plus 1 and 2 bedroom units which vary in size according to the building. Some buildings have larger apartments than others. I have a large one bedroom unit which I find comfortable for myself alone. Surprising, since my previous (mansion) living room was about as big as this entire apartment, my marble walled bathroom there was as big as this living room, and my walk-in pantry and china closets were as big as my bathroom here! One adapts. Home space is what you make of it.

The apartments in front of the buildings face a street or parking lot, and most of the rear apartments have nice wooded views with a surprising amount of wildlife to view. Deer, turkey, raccoons, birds, and other wildlife are literally feet away. While I write this, I am listening to the relaxing sounds of a variety of birds, and billions of leaves softly rustling in the breeze, not 15 feet from my balcony. No road noise. No inner city distractions. My lease is up every year in the summer, and the wooded view and wildlife are my primary incentives to renew every time.

Richmond Hills can pride itself on being a quiet community with many long term tenants as well as tenants who return after living elsewhere for a while. There have been the occasional noisy or obnoxious tenants who don't understand and/or respect the rules of community living, but they tend to be gone at the end of their lease if not sooner.

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