I've since moved on to Seattle and was combing through apartment ratings here when I became frustrated with the lack of at least semi-positive reviews from people who weren't obvious shills for the apartment ownership/management. I'm in a horribly managed, superficially-nice-looking place at the present time (oh believe me, I'll write about it after we leave this place), and it made me appreciate what I experienced there all the more - I've thought about doing it for a while so here it is, with the caveat that things may have changed in the past two years.

My circumstances while there: I lived in one of the smallest square footage 1-bedroom apartments around the circular courtyard from early to late 2004, pretty much without complaint, and left when my lease was up to move downtown since I don't own a car. (The complex is on a bus line, for those to whom it matters.) Beaverton is suburbia, so one shouldn't expect to live there comfortably without a car, and I can't blame them for not being near large shopping areas. The complex is located near a Fred Meyer and within walking distance of some other businesses one might expect to see in the 'burbs, so there is at least that. I can see what people mean by the parking being dangerous and the management themselves warned me (both in person when I went in to pay rent and via posted notices on residents' doors) that cars had been broken into in the dim guest parking at the edges of the property. That they cared to tell individual residents specifically about the break-ins rather than being uncaring or trying to keep it quiet evinces character to me. In every dealing I had with the office staff, they were very friendly, polite, and professional, which is a great way for management to be.

The neighborhood isn't precisely upscale but it isn't downscale, either. Going on the houses in the area it seems upper middle class. There is a stream/creek running through the entire place, and ducks swimming in both the pool (rather than being gross, it was cute - I only rarely went in the pool and the jacuzzi but they appeared fairly fine and clean when I did, even though it's packed with kids in the summer) and walking through the courtyards and property; and the creek continuing into a pond alongside walking trails through the trees.

The Portland Metro area has a low cost of living compared with others in the Pacific Northwest/West Coast; therefore the comparatively low cost of this place doesn't really make a difference in its own environment, but looking back I'm amazed by what a good value it was. I found the apartment attractively and interestingly shaped as it tapers from a wide front end to a more narrow back end, with a front and back entrance - the rear mostly-glass door opened to the courtyard and fountain. The round courtyard is full of grass, flowers, trees, and on the opposite side, a bridge over the stream next to a tower. It may have been a fake, conjured setup on the part of whatever contractor built it, but damned if it wasn't pretty and made for beautiful backyard views. Inside the apartment, the bedroom had large full-mirrored doors on the closet, and a large mirror extending across the vanity as well as a mirrored medicine cabinet.

I had only a few repair problems that I recall - one time, my washing machine portion of the stacked washer/dryer combo starting making a lot of noise and lost its balance, necessitating replacement. They were able to come by with a new one within a couple of days (though when you have a broken appliance, every hour is lengthy) and the guys tried to be clean and clean up after their footsteps with towels, but it was rainy and a tad muddy that day and the work required to move a massive unit and replace it with another didn't leave the floor entirely clean. I'm sympathetic to this and given that they tried to not make a mess and clean the floor afterward I can't fault them footprints on the carpet. Another time, the bathroom fan started making excessive noise, and within 1-2 days a guy was able to come and clean a huge amount of dust out (must've predated me) which cleared that up. I was present for both repairs and the repairmen were helpful and nice. A third problem, which I left unresolved, was the rubber covering the garbage disposal inexplicably shrinking up and cracking.

The bad: the walls are very thin, as has been mentioned, apparently due to lack of sufficient insulation. I was fortunate to have a neighbor on one side who was almost never there and a young neighbor on the other side who didn't make excessive noise. They install very cheap carpeting apparently because of something about requirements for new carpet every time an apartment has been occupied for a year...' (Dunno if this is a law with certain exceptions, as I later lived in a historic building with old but much more durable carpeting.) - it tends to get mashed and ball up.

All in all, it was a satisfactory and not-that-bad experience. I've lived in 8-10 short-term rental situations in the past 10 years as have my friends, and this property is not more deserving of complaints than other places we've been and seen.

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