The Pines

 

I have lived in The Pines for almost 4 years with my best friend and her dog.

We have a 2 bedroom unit and live on the third floor.

We have never once been late with rent and always pick up after our dog.

I would go as far as saying we are model tenants, 26 year old professional women trying to save money for homes of our own.

We have had both good and bad experiences here.

Overall, the experience has been more positive than negative.

Here's the breakdown:

---Maintenance calls are usually responded to within a couple days depending on how urgent the matter (ie.

our shower head broke when we tried to tighten it and it was replaced the same day VS.

our closet door which has never stayed on track despite multiple attempts to fix it...we've given up on it).

---We complained that our dishwasher wasn't rinsing the detergent out properly and after three or four complaints and maintenance checking it out, it was replaced with a brand new unit at no cost to us.

---We had six tiles and the soap holder literally FALL off the shower wall one morning and found mold behind the tiles and soaking wet greenboard and drywall.

The maintenance man took two days to fix it (one for repairing the greenboard and one for cleaning and putting the OLD tiles back on the wall, crooked and with varying grout and caulk thickness and spacing), and when I told the office that the workmanship was shoddy, they didn't seem to think it was an issue.

---We have had the ABSOLUTE worst luck with the neighbors below us (multiple different tenants).

They are loud, play music at all hours, can hear dogs running back and forth and fighting through the floor, hang out on their balcony having loud conversations well past 4am on the weekends, let their dogs outside off-leash and do not pick up their feces as required by our leases.

We've reported this behavior a number of times but it never seems like anything is done.

They also seem to have 3 different large dogs there on and off all the time which we're not exactly sure is actually allowed in the lease terms.

---The office staff is generally nice in person, but seem to have attitudes on the phone a lot.

It's hit or miss, sometimes they are very helpful, sometimes not so much.

---We had a problem getting into our locked mailbox right before Christmas and couldn't get our mail out, so we left a note for the mail carrier to leave our mail at the office.

We notified the office that our mail might be delivered there for us, they stated they had not received anything and we were given the run around as to where it would be (NOT at the post office as they told us).

They made us new keys, but neither worked.

We finally got into our mailbox after they changed the lock and we were given the LARGE stack of mail that had been sitting in their package pickup room for more than a week only after insisting someone check AGAIN to see if it was anywhere to be found.

AFTER Christmas was over and two holiday presents that were delivered during that time ended up being late, we were very frustrated.

---The indoor hallway carpet and paint was redone late last summer and was nice at first, but now it doesn't seem like they vacuum or clean the windows more than once every two or three weeks.

There is often grass, mud, dirt and trash in the hallways (maybe more an indicator of our crappy neighbors than the cleaning, really)

---A lot of the windows around the community have condensation between the panes of glass, not good for winter energy saving and heating bills.

They are drafty and tend to freeze shut in the winter, and in the summer they stick and won't open.

---The pool and fitness area are nice, don't have any complaints about them facility-wise, although they did advertise that the pool was going to be 24 hour access and then late last summer it changed with no notice or communication to the residents to a 10pm close time.

---We often have to park all the way at the end of the lot when we get home even as early as 8pm some nights.

There's a woman who lives across the lot from us who is constantly ringing other people's door buzzers to find out who is parked in her carport spot.

(I can't blame her, that would make me really mad if I had one and someone parked in it, inconveniencing me.)

---It seems like the security is better now than when my roommate and I first moved in 4 years ago.

I haven't heard of any break-ins or vandalism incidents recently.

If you have a newer model car, I'd recommend locking lug-nuts.

About four months after we moved here my roommate woke up one day to find her brand new car sitting on cinder blocks and pieces of wood, one side was sitting on the concrete balanced on just the rotor.

In the same week, two other cars had all four wheels stolen in the middle of the night.

I've noticed Pittsfield police patrolling a lot more in the last year than ever before though.

---As a thank you for renewing last summer, our carpets were professionally cleaned at no charge.

Although we are moving out of the area this summer, we received renewing incentives (carpet cleaning, free clubhouse rental, free accent wall painting, etc) again this year as well as different flexible leasing options (month to month, three month, six month, 1 year)

---I like that the clubhouse, tv/computer room, fitness room and pool have video surveillance although I'm not sure if anyone actually watches them or monitors activity on them during the after-hours.

---There are lots of community events that are very kid friendly (although we don't have any).

They have pool parties with cool prizes and moonwalks and games for kids.

They also have a kids play room attached to the fitness center so that parents can workout while still having an eye on their young children.

They also do drive-thru breakfast bags and free resident car washes by the maintenance staff occasionally.

---The vanity/sink and 2 good size closets in the larger bedroom of the 2BR style are great features.

The smaller bedroom has a walkin closet.

Makes it nice for roommates so both people get a bonus feature instead of one person getting the big room with the big closet.

---There are newly renovated units that offer accent walls, new flooring, paint, sinks and faucet hardware, countertops, and cabinets.

We are still in one of the older units, but our cabinets were painted off-white before we moved in which is a lot nicer than the old brown paint/wood-look.

I believe the renovated units also have new appliances, which would be worth it because our electric stove is very old and the burners are crooked.

It also doesn't bake evenly.

---The laundry room and it's one washer and dryer per 12 units is a gamble.

Sometimes I have no problem getting a few loads washed, but I never count on it in a pinch.

Despite the fact that most wash cycles are 24-28 minutes (and the time displays obviously) and the dryer has a 60 minute timer on it, people still leave their clothing in the machines all day.

There is also no screen on the window in the laundry room and there are usually large flies or bees in the room during the summer.

---Beware of the massive number of Canadian geese!!! While we live away from the ponds, we have a friend who lives in one of the very front buildings by the larger of the two ponds.

There are always geese on his patio overlooking the pond and on the sidewalk in front of his building leaving their waste behind.

It's not swept up very often, either.

When the geese have little ones around they are very aggressive and will hiss at and chase after dogs and people who are within 20 feet of their young.

The ducks seem to mind their own business.

---If you are up early and looking for a really cool sight, you just might catch the blue heron that hangs out at the large ponds.

It's really pretty amazing to see him fly off, there aren't many birds like that in the middle of the city usually.

For an okay place while finishing college at EMU/WCC or for young or single parents of small children, this is fine.

For a long term or permanent place to live, it's a little more iffy.

There were nicer places running great specials in the area when we moved here, the selling point for us at the time was the pet policy and the cost.

(Some of those nicer places didn't allow dogs at all, even small-medium dogs not in the Rotweiler/Pitbull/Doberman category of "aggressive" breeds were restricted).

The drawbacks here at The Pines, even then, were the fact that the tenant pays ALL utilities (gas/electric/water/sewer/trash).

It's a toss-up really, there are good things and bad things (as with all places), it depends what is important to you when you're looking for a place.

If we weren't moving due to my roommates job relocation, I'm not sure if we'd be staying here for another year or not...it would have come down to convenience of not moving vs finding a different place in the area that is okay with dogs and has reasonable rent.

Good luck, hope my review helps you!

Last updated: 6/2/2007

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates