This is a great place to live. The layout of the complex and the floor plan of my upstairs 3 BR unit are wonderful. I have rented in a number of places and been a homeowner 3x, and I am very satisfied with the Preserve at Grande Oaks. The staff have always been friendly and maintenance is good.

I love the landscaping, as well as the complete fitness center (where nearly everything is working all the time - better than some commercial gyms) & pool layout. You can get a free pass to the sister property down the road that has a new rec area with individual LCD TV's on the cardio machines if that's important (Preserve has modern units with common TV's) - but their landscaping is not quite as nice (buildings are very similar in design).

The 9 ft ceiling is very nice. LR is big enough for huge flat screen, surround speakers, sofa & love seat (dual recliners) and a huge grandfather clock on the side, without feeling cramped. Kitchen is very nice in size for an apartment - comparable to the houses I've owned - and its layout is easy to use; a walk-thru design. Granite serving area (not full counter top) is a nice touch. Master tub is huge with a wrap-around shower curtain such that a big / tall person like me never bangs elbows while taking a shower.

The slightly angular floor plan is pleasing to the eyes and good with the home theater acoustics - but does not cause problems with furniture. Closets are huge - both master and middle BR's have walk-in closets (I use 3rd as office). The laundry room has space for not only my front loaders with pedestals, but built in shelves (on wall) with room for additional utility shelves plus plenty of space for vacuum cleaner and such. The front door has a coat closet that extends under the stairs (which are FOUR FEET WIDE with a huge landing - great for moving in) and I was able to add both plastic utility shelves and 2 of those waist-high snap-together cabinets from Lowes and still get full use out of the coat hanger area.

There are gas grills as well. The ponds are nice - we get geese and turtles sun themselves near the outlet of the lower of 3 ponds - as a place to stroll by. I am at the back where it is very quiet (no road noise) and the unit is very quiet. I hope I haven't bothered the folks below - I ** never ** hear sound through any walls so I've kind of assumed the sound proofing is good going down, too.

Insulation for the building (utility cost) seems really good. I hardly used the heat during the winter, although being on the south / west side with a brick wall makes for some cooling costs.

The location is convenient for shopping (just a few lights) and good access to Ft Bragg (near Reilly Rd and thus the Reilly [82d-SOCOM] entrance) and it's easy to get to the All-American Freeway to use the main gate (XVIII, Pope Butner Rd entrance & JSOC). It may look, on the map, like the folks downtown coming up 87/210/24 have it easier, but this location is much better in travel time. Only the Friday PM shopping traffic, as well as weekends, is a problem ... but then you're close to shopping, so that comes with the territory.

As far as crime goes, ignore the raters who haven't read the local paper, The Fayetteville Observer, which publishes crime maps weekly. Simply put, the crime in Fayetteville is all along the main roads, period, not other side streets. That means that ALL the apartment complexes are more at risk than single family homes inside the winding road developments. The apartment complexes are not located deep inside housing developments (zoning). Crime in Cumberland County is directly related to how close you are to a main road - that is the overwhelming factor. I've studied this a bit and it's true week to week, month to month. There is good security, but hide the dash top GPS, since the problems are generally related to obvious smash & grabs. Crime seems to be, in all fairness, fairly low.

Finally, parking. This varies by area / building. Some just seem to have a lot of 2 car households (possibly 3). Mine was always "busy" until a recent Ft Bragg rotation had the complex put up a sign out front about vacancies for the 1st time. Now there are moving trucks all over the place moving people in, so parking will get busy again. Actually there is lots of parking. From what I see, in my area there are a number of 2nd cars (often pickups that are very fuel thirsty) that are rarely moved, and the economy models are routinely parked here and there (moved / used). Just a building or two away there are always a lot of empty spaces. It could be the other buildings have 1 BR units and thus single people instead of couples - I do not know for sure. Parking is not a problem, in that the worst case has meant ** walking 8 spaces to one side of my door, ** not a hundred yards. Usually a busy night has me parking 4 spaces to one side. That is hardly a parking problem.

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