I lived in the 3500 building, which was completed in late 1999. These apartments are some of the highest-priced in town, but you can see the difference right away when you drive up. The grounds are pretty well-groomed, however the design of this building is somewhat silly. A U-shaped building doesn?t make sense unless there is a grass area or pool in the middle, but here there is only a brick pad with some concrete tables and benches. There could be WAY more grass here, but it is ND and it might be hard to upkeep with all the weather chaos.



Every apartment in North Dakota should have an underground garage. It?s worth it - you save in car maintenance and don?t have to scrape ice and wait for your heater to warm up (usually starts happening about the time you get to work anyway). The only caveat is if you have a three-bedroom apartment (as we do) and three cars to boot, there are only two spaces in the garage. You?ll have to rotate or figure something else out.



I think this apartment complex is the VERY LAST place in Grand Forks to get plowed after a big storm. Tell your boss you?ll make it in by about Spring.



Aside from the common areas on each floor and the lobby, the rest of the interior is nothing spectacular. I think the worst part of the interior design are the thin walls. Be careful if you sleep next to one of the stairwells!



The people living here are generally courteous. There is a mix of young families, senior citizens, upperclassmen college students, and military folk. There is not much of a clash, but the college students tend to run up the stairs in gaggles at about 1:30 AM coming back from the bars. When it warms up and school is in session, there will be parties, but generally they are not too loud. Most of the students are aviation students from UND and have to watch themselves concerning alcohol.



The units themselves are very nice and spacious. I?m still undecided on the kitchen/dining/living room. It?s nice if you?ve got roommates (a la College dorms)because you can retreat to your rooms, but if you?re a family and have to be social it might seem as if you?re all on top of each other constantly. And what the HECK is that double-door thing going from the living room to the small bedroom in the middle' No point for that unless you like to torment that roommate.



In-unit wansher and dryers - VERY NICE



At first we had a common satellite feed, but that SUCKED. You had no choice on your channels, and remember there are a lot of senior citizens here, so we were stuck with 5 home shopping channels and no WB. How am I supposed to watch COPS' They remedied this in February of 2003 with Midco Cable, but this brought about a change in the internet connections as well. We used to have a dedicated T1 - man that was sweet, but now we?re stuck with more expensive (and slower) cable internet. Oh well, better than dial-up.



Closets are WEAK - they are just open areas within the room and are at weird angles - give me an old-fashioned sliding door to this mess!



Bathrooms are nice - especially if you have the master suite (it?s got it?s own with a shower). The shower doors fall off, but I could probably get them fixed if I called maintenance, which is pretty good around here.



There is a balcony to every unit, those on the inside of the U-shaped building are fairly pointless for catching rays or getting a good view, but I?ve got other things to do anyway.



Other small things:

It?s nice to have fire sprinklers.

The refrigerator in my unit sounds like a spaceship taking off (or landing, depending on the individual)

Garbage disposal and dishwasher are nice

Windows leak a little - but it?s ND and I don?t think anyone can keep that poisonously frigid air out.

Central heat and air are GREAT for the nasty summer air and cold-butt winter

Not many bugs AT ALL unless you leave your screen-door on the balcony open. Then the mosquitoes will leave you dry in about 2 hours.



Okay, the price is pretty steep for this town. $870 a month will cover rent, heat, and water. Depending on the renter, you?ll have to cover electric, cable, internet, and phone (in all about an extra $140 a month). In a larger city, you?d pay at LEAST $1250 for the same unit I?m in minus utils, so I can?t complain too much. However, the year-long lease agreements kinda suck, especially when you?re a student (as I am) and your situation changes rapidly.



Anyway, I can?t think of any way to be more long-winded, so I?ll leave you with an overall rating of GREAT. It?s much better than a smoky non air-conditioned bachelorville. If you?ve got the resources - there is no better place in town.

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