We moved into Summit from a house in New Castle, DE - so my husband and I were looking for something a little larger than the generic apartment. With over 850 square feet, the two bedroom model had a decent amount of living space (kitchen was just the right size for one person to cook in, but when two people are in it, just try NOT playing the bend and wiggle out of the other one's way game!), even though the bedrooms are small. The second bedroom is actually a good size for a nursery, but all it can fit (through strategic placement so the vent wouldn't be blocked)are a twin bed, a dresser, and a desk, for an older occupant, and within our own room, we've had to play tetris to get the desk, dresser, full bed, and a bookshelf in there nicely. We weren't too happy about that.

When we first moved in, the maintainence guy (who was incredibly sweet, if rushed, btw) showed us how everything worked, and even told us a location of a nearby dry cleaners and laundromat, saying that the washer/dryer stack unit wouldn't fit more than a few pairs of pants or two towels at most, and the dryer had to be run twice. After about 2 weeks of piling up laundry, I decided to give it a try anyway - and he severely underestimated the washer size; plus, the dryer just needed the lint tray cleaned out, hehe. There are a few issues with the washer/dryer, though - it doesn't fit the fluffier or larger sized comforters, and don't even attempt to wash pillows unless they're accents; and when it's unbalanced or even one sock over its limit, it bounces like crazy. It tore up the linoleum flooring under it, and now I'm afraid we'll have to pay for it to be replaced (even though it was water damaged when we moved in, which we found was caused by the toilet handle chain being unhooked, so the toilet leaked until we fixed it.) The shower wasn't all too clean when we moved in, either. It looked like no one had thought to clean the top edge! Thankfully, I noticed before subjecting my family to someone else's body gunk and soap scum. The showerhead itself - it was a perfect ring of water, with nothing in the center, where a body would stand under it. We replaced it as soon as we were able, although we'll be taking it with us when we go; we saved the old one. Oh, and no one had thought to clean out the sink's drain, either - a whole year's worth of someone else's hair and dirty hands was trapped in there! Once again, I'm glad I thought to check!

The fire alarm (located just outside the kitchen doorway)is a bit sensitive - regardless of what I was cooking, as soon as the water would boil, or the oven would preheat, the alarm would go off. It doesn't, however, go off when I hold an incense stick directly under it. Hmm.

We moved into the apartment in November of 2007, so we were using the heating unit right away. With 3 computers and the heater running almost all the time, and with a fan running all night, we were pleased to notice that our electric bill never went above $150 (considering we lived in a very old house with oil heat previously). The air conditioner, as we've found out, boosts your electric bill up another hundred, though, so use it sparingly. The water/sewage/trash bill is capped at 20 (and with 3 adults and the occasional house guest, we've never paid more than 25, including the "handling fee"); be forewarned, there is a $10 late fee, and if you pay by check-in-the-mail, expect to be calling them once a month to complain that you've paid it already (which does fix it, don't worry). We do have to walk across the whole complex to deposit our recyclables, though, and that is bothersome.

The neighbors are generally pleasant, always smiling when we see each other in the breezeway, and have offered to help us take the groceries up to our third floor apartment. We've only had a few issues with some (across the hall blares their movies at top volume at all hours sometimes, but when you mention it to them, they stop for a good 3 or 4 weeks before forgetting again; and our neighbors directly downstairs, while very quiet themselves, have complained to me that we "walk too loud".) You can however hear when anyone walks up and down the stairs, regardless of how heavy their step it, and if someone slams their front door, the outside walls shake a bit. Occasionally, someone will blare a car stereo or bass past 10 pm, but it's usually only for a minute, and in the building next to ours, a group of teenagers used to gather for a midnight "yelling fight" (which was stopped almost immediately when we called the office to let them know, and hasn't happened since).

Recently, a neighbor put in a petition to have a second disabled parking spot put in, closer to her door; when it was painted in, she used it for all of a week - and now parks right next to it, which is not only inconsiderate of others, but also very confusing. Another tenant constantly parks half in one spot and half in another, which is irritating, but I'm sure both issues can be fixed easily with a well-written note or a pleasant word in passing. We have no other qualms with the parking; it's relatively easy to get a spot when we're up and about, and only sometimes do we have to park across the lot/street, which is only a hassle when we have groceries to bring in.

The area is incredibly safe! Only once was I even mildly worried - a group of teenagers that reminded me all too well of the Wilmington drug groups swayed into the parking lot one night, at about 7:30; and immedately, almost as if they were pre-warned, a cop car glides up, and three of the kids turn around and walk quickly back the way they had come. The other followed shortly, and I haven't seen them, or others like them, again near our complex. It looked like they were just wandering around, either way.

One major issue I've had is that people from other buildings will walk their dogs past our building, and not clean up after them. Even with complaining to the office, and them sending maintainence over pretty quickly (up to 24 hours, but never more), the tenants still haven't stopped. We just stopped walking in the grass.

The walls and carpet pick up everything - I've had a time trying to keep them clean, but the paint that's been used just smears over the smudge, and the carpet does not respond well to anything I've tried yet. Even water darkens the carpet if left to sit for 2 minutes more than it takes to get a towel and a hair dryer to dry it! We've resorted to removing all footwear in the house, and I vaccuum twice a day. I plan on steam cleaning the carpet myself before we leave, so we're not hit with an extra charge.

In general, though - this apartment complex, though priced a bit high ($1200 for rent, and $20 per pet, regardless of size, breed, or species, maximum 2), is probably one of the best places I've seen/been in/visited/lived in, and I definately recommend it. The only grievances we've ever had here are little things that were either fixed immediately, or tiny annoyances that don't happen that often. When our lease is up in November, (and our room-mate leaves us), we plan on moving into the one bedroom, but definately staying!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/16/2008
Really?! Are you kidding? This place sucks. Aside from that, who has time to write a five page review of this dump? Hair in a drain, one group of teenagers blah blah blah. To anyone reading this nonsense: obviously this person isn't with it enough to realize what a rip off $1200 is for this craphole. It isn't a movie review...it's a review on a terrible, rip off of an apartment complex. I hate to be harsh, but there were bad people living around this complex...I had stuff stolen from my apartment. It isn't safe, the office staff is HORRIBLE, and every other nice thing this poster said is probably due to the fact that they work in the rental office. That is the ONLY way someone would give those people a five on the rating scale. Don't waste your time reading this garbage. The take away is this place sucks.

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