I've lived here for 2 years, and on the whole I like the apartment. The apartments look nice, have good appliances, are relatively quiet, etc. What has somewhat ruined my experience here is that for the past 2 years this apartment complex has internet provided by 3rd parties. The matter what they tell you there is no option for internet (including DSL or Cable) that isn't through the current company (MDU Communications). On average I'm getting speeds that are 4x a dialup modem best case scenario. They have claimed over the past few years that they've taken measures to improve the speed of the internet, but the fact that simple web browsing has tremendous delays, no ability to stream any media files (even watching a video on youtube is an ordeal), is simply unacceptable. I would say the performance of the internet which you will pay $30-40 a month for is equivalent to what most major cities had in the early to mid 90's. Its actually frusturating if you are trying to do any work from home and have to download a file. If you are considering moving here, I would make sure that you don't plan on using the internet for anything, and don't mind what essentially amounts to a dialup connection.

The television service is nice if you are solely using the randomly included 50 channels, which are previous reviewers have stated are prone to being randomly not working (such as ESPN dying during a BCS Football game and having tech support tell me that the National Championship is probably blacked out in NJ -- HA!). The basic TV service is provided by simply plugging a Coax cable from the wall into your TV with no cable box. If you have a high definition TV and want to take some advantage of it you must sign up for service with DirecTV. This would be fine, but for two problems. The first is that this essentially cancels out the free TV benefit since you pay for everything if you have to sign up with DirecTV (again they weren't honest about this with me when I moved in 2 years ago). Secondly, and more importantly, if you want High Definition access DirecTV has a policy that requires you to sign a 2 year service contract. This building has no exemption from this, even though they seem to naively think they do. I have called and called and called and ultimately was not willing to sign a 2 year contract for TV on a yearly rental apartment. The office staff will do nothing to assist you with this. Ultimately my plasma TV has sat in the living room for 2 years to be solely used for DVD's and very pixelated television from the wall outlet.

The other amenities are fine. The gym is nice, the pool is nice for the few months a year its open, and the office is nice as well. Maintenance is prompt, for most things. The other issue is that your electric bill will be tremendous. I regularly pay in the range of $120-200 depending on the season for a 1 bedroom. I don't particularly think my usage is outrageous. I have the thermostat set at 72 pretty much year round and often turn the AC/Heat off in the spring or fall entirely. In the winter there must be considerable heat leakage by the very thin windows since my winter bills are always more than my summer bills. The price of these apartments is honestly a bit ridiculous though. I realized that when I moved in, but these apartments are fast approaching the price of a similar apartment in NYC. While the apartments maybe larger than those in NYC, there is certainly not the same level of convenience or prestige. Every year your rent will increase, never fail, the matter what they tell you. Its approximately 5-10% rent increases per year (the first year they raised mine 8%, the second year they were attempting a 5% raise). Oh, and the move in fee in lieu of a security deposit is around a $800-$1,000 non-refundable fee. I'd rather pay a security deposit and get it back than to essentially toss away that money. The funny thing is they claim its used for cleaning the apartment, yet when I moved into mine there was food crusted on the dishwasher handle, and the bathroom wasn't quite fully clean either (slightly gross -- though they dealt with it the same day).

Staff turnover is regular. I think in 2 years, there have been at least 4 managers if not more with full staff changes. This means anything promised to you by the previous manager is long forgotten when managers change. The staff is constantly learning the ropes here, and therefore change happens at the same speed as evolution.

Overall, I was happy with the quality of the apartment and gym, but in this day and age with the requirement to use the internet for work, for research, etc. I would not choose this complex because their attitude towards the internet is, "The use of the internet is an amenity, not a right, even though you pay a monthly fee for it, and therefore you should be happy with the service we provide. Think of it as a bonus, since we don't even have to have internet." If you have the choice, spend a bit less money, and gain a bit more freedom from a management company that locks down all amenities to their internal providers. Eventually if you live her long enough, you too will get tired of the ultimate lack of common features (descent internet, descent TV) that you were probably used to before moving here.

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