I have heard many of the complaints listed here from many of my neighbors over the last three years, and while I agree with many of them, I still like it here and I still plan on living here for quite some time.

I thought I would run through and throw in my two cents on some of the issues mentioned here...

Pool/Spa/Indoor Pool-
Main reason I moved in here. Yes, they were all out of commission for way too long during the culbhouse renovation, but they are back up now. The spa does get murky. This usually happens on cooler days when the kids hang out in there more than in the pool and I believe it just gets a bit dirty from over use. Usually not a problem, but it can be frustrating when you go out there sore from a long day and then notice the water is too gross for a soak. I do get the impression that they keep working on the filters trying to fix this, but maybe that is not what is going on with all of the maintenance on it. However, usually when I want to use the spa, it is fine.

As for the pools, they do get busy, and yes, there are a lot of kids, but this is fine. The only thing I question is the supervision of the children. I can't always pick out who is being watched by whom, and I know for sure that a lot of parents are sending kids out there unsupervised who are under 14. The management needs to keep a closer eye on this situation, and I am concerned that it is only a matter of time before I have to play lifegaurd and haul some unconscious 10 year old out of there.

Yes, last night I went out and was told that someone puked in the spa, and I shuffled home disappointed, but this can happen and such things do not seem to happen too frequently, I hope. I don't know if it was a kid or an adult who got sick, one of which I do have more patience for than with the other.

Management/Leasing Agents-
Yes, there is attitude. I have been here for a while with minimal complaints towards me, and with minimal complaints directed at them, and the agents who have been here awhile seem to understand that I am a nice, quiet sheep who follows the rules, supervises his kid, and does not rock the boat, so they treat me decently. However, newer kids working in there tend to treat me like scum. I say kids because many of them look very young, like they are just out of school working their first, real jobs.

I do understand that these kids have fairly high stress jobs, get yelled at a lot, and what not, but I think the real problem is that they are young and tend to come from upper middle class backgrounds and tend to see all of us as ghetto types (though, honestly, some tenants do bring this on themselves). They do need to work a little harder on treating tenants with respect, and just saying polite words while holding a disdainful look in the eye does not quallify as treating people with respect. Currently, it appears that they are hiring someone to come in and to supervise these kids more closely, to work in sort of a "mentor" role, so that may help with this problem a bit, but it may not.

As for the rules and inflexibility when it comes to late rents, etc., this is probably beyond their control. I am sure that the rules are set both by the corporate management company and the corporate long-distance ownership, and I am sure that these kids have no decision making powers at all when it comes to these procedures. Maybe the actual manager does, but over the years, she seems to be less and less of a presence around here.

Kids/Neighbors/Noise-
This is a large complex, and it seems that diferent parts of the complex have different issues here. Yes, there tends to be a lot of kids running around with little supervision, and if you have kids, this means you actually have to keep a closer eye on your own, but still, this summer, in my area, we seem to have a lot less kids than ususal. Unfortunately, those that do hang out tend to be a little older (pre-teens, early teens), a little rougher, and seem to be suffering from an overall lack of parental involvment growing up, or, in one case, emotional and perhaps even physical abuse (yes, we can hear you people in there screaming obscenities at your elementary school aged children, it is summer and all of your windows are open).

Still, this should not drive people away. Most of the kids here are good kids. If you are out there taking care of your own children, and some of us do, the other kids tend to be just fine and my kid has made some good friends here.

For a while, there seemed to be some issues with some of the tenants, and the frequent presence of the Gresham police was disconcerting. It seemed like a pretty seedy lot took up residence for awhile. However, there seemed to be some house cleaning by the management about a year ago. Within one month, I counted about eleven evictions in an area comprising about a third of the complex, and since then, things have mellowed out a bit.

Currently, there is a high vacancy rate here, and I hope that this is largely due to the management being a bit pickier about who they rent to, though it may also be due to the reputation this place is gaining keeping the better potential tenants away, which is sad. For a couple years, the leasing agents seemed to have a lot of pressure on them to move units, and I think this led to a lot of bad apples sneaking through the cracks. Hopefully, the management has seen the errors of these ways.

I am lucky, I am surrounded by quiet, stable long term neighbors, and I can only hope that they appreciate me being their neighbor as much I appeciate them. This probably has a lot to do with my continued satisfaction with the complex, overall.

Pets-
In the winter, people get pretty flaky about picking up after their dogs, which sucks. Yes, I am sure that it is unpleasant having to spend an extra thirty seconds in the rain, but that is just a part of pet ownership, if you ask me. Do it. It is not as bad in the summer, but there are definately some slackers, and there is more poo than I'd like. Generally, it is not too bad, far from disgusting in my area, but other parts of the complex may be a bit worse.

Parking-
I have never had any problems being towed or with break-ins, but my car is not so much of a target here. Guest parking is pretty lousy. I will say, when I have heard of people being towed, it usually does seem to be their own fault, though I am sure mistakes have happened, especially when Dinky's first came in. I am not sure about how the calling Dinky's for a spot deal works, I have never had to use it.

Exercise room-
After the renovation, this was open 24 hours, briefly. Its hours were limited because of vandalism issues. I do not blame the management for this. I think it is open until 10 or 11, now, and I am not sure when it opens in the morning. I think it has the same hours as the indoor pool. Really, it should be adequate for most users, I would think.

Overall-
I think it really depends where you live here. It seems as if there are good areas of the complex and not so good areas. Yes, the management can be standoffish and I think that this is understandable to a degree, though not necessarily excusable, and while I have only had to deal with the maintenance crew on minor issues, they all seem pretty cool to me. I cannot speak for their competancy on more involved issues. I have heard a lot of complaining from a lot of people about this place, but I am often left wondering if we actually live in the same complex or not, and seriously some of these people do seem like the types that would have problems no matter where they lived.

I do feel that I lucked out on my unit, so I don't have to deal with a lot of the issues that others have had to deal with, but at the same time, I also feel that we get out of life what we put into it, so I do approach some of the more negative comments, here and around the yard, with some skepicism.

If you are nice, quiet, friendly, stable, together people, please do move here. We need you! That being said, do be careful about knowing which unit you are being rented, try to see the actual apartment before signing anything, and generally just be smart about it, as you would with any major business transaction. Keep an eye on the paperwork, read it all through, keep copies... Again, all good business practices anyway.

Also, I think people do need to take a little more control of their lives here- if you see bad things, let the management know or step in and say something. We all live here and, contrary to some of the comments here, the whole place is our home and we need to treat it with respect and courtesy. My biggest complaint tends to be the lack of a community feeling around here, except, perhaps, for the "us against them" sense that does seem to take up a lot of the conversations between tenants.

Is it perfect here' Of course not. But I have lived in many different apartments over the last 20 years and delt with many different rental issues, and here I have probably had less to complain about than anywhere else I have lived, in the past dealing with everything from truly evil managers to unsanitary, run down conditions to very annoying, criminal, even, neighbors. If you are used to living in houses, apartment life is very different and it takes some getting used to, and if you are used to living in more upscale communities, then yes, there are some rough edges here, but really it seems no better or no worse than the majority of rental properties out there, and it is by no means a hell hole from what I have seen over the last three years. There are clearly a lot worse places to live around here. Beyond that, things do seem to be going in the right direction at Holly Ridge.

I would like to see the management get out of the office a little more often, take some walks around, enforce some of the rules that are on the books a bit more, and to try to get a better sense of the community they are a part of, the good parts and the bad. And I would like to see the tenants take a little more responsibility for themselves and their pets and their kids, too. But other than that, this can be a nice place to live.

User Responses
From: 1soccerstud	Date: 07/03/2007
This novel was noticeably written by one of the managers at Holly Ridge. Who in there right mind would spend hours of there day writting this...thing. Most of which is true, but it is very sad the management feels like they have to write this to save face and may rent some appartments. truth be told, the main reason I left was because the 22% rent increase after my year lease was up. My advise, If you can find another place do so!!
From: Bobyates	Date: 07/03/2007
I DONT THINK ITS MANAGEMENT I THINK ITS A TENANT WHO KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT. I have lived here 6 months and have absolutly no complants about the management my self the do what they say they going to do fpr me and within a reasonable time. If the tenents would stop tearing things up it would be like a cloud of paridice!
From: Nikieh	Date: 07/03/2007
Well lets see my husband and I have lived here for two years and we have followed the rules, and make sure that things are picked up if we take it outside. We have been known to turn in some of our old roudy neighbors for partying at 3am. But with that said, every time we have interacted with management it has felt like they are looking down on us, and to get a work order done takes pulling teeth. I have had to put numerous work orders in to get things fixed and then it is a poor quality job at most, heck I have even put in a work order in twice to get a crack in my bath tub fixed and they told me that they would send an outside company in to do it, and guess what it still hasn't been done, but I guess that they can fix that when I move out at the end of the month. And I certainly do agree that this novel had to have been written by someone in management, which is quite sad as there are a lot better things that could be being done with your time than defending this apartment complex.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/04/2007
I wrote this, and I am a tennant who just wanted to vent about many things I've heard people talking about since I've lived here. But I suspect that the only comment so far not calling me management was one of the leasing agents! Besides, I agree, they do have an unpleasant attitude. I've never had issues with maintenance, but I've only had 2 issues and they were take care of fairly quickly- however, I would be pissed if I had to deal with the delays that other people have dealt with. 22% rent increase? Ouch. I haven't been hit with one that bad, but honestly, I fear one like this.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/23/2007
Yes, this comment is a management comment... Just like the Real Estate market can fluctuate so do rentals. The cost of living goes up just like minimum wage does. For someone to just assume we one day, randomly felt like pulling numbers out of our xxx.. and uping the rent. know one thing. We do extensive market surveys to local properties for rent comparisons. We know what the current rental rate is going for and all properties stay very competitive. So when a resident gets a renewal letter, doesn't agree to the increase, gives a 30 day notice to vacate... and then finally cancels their notice because they searched for cheaper rent and all they found was Nothing!! When you ask for less you never in return get more. Oh, and by the way this is the first post done by management:)
From: blondiebarbie	Date: 09/08/2007
Response to 1soccerstud & Nikieh i worked for a management company and no one needs to save face because management has the authority to log onto this website and delete which ever comment they want. So if they left your comment up and whoever else comment up wouldnt u think they dont care? Its obviously aa whole lot more easier for tenants to find a website to complain and express their frustration on than for tenants who enjoy and love it there to say something. Its always and usually the mad ones who wanna be heard,a nd its sad that they have to come to a site just to anonymously talk ---- about the office staff and their management when they can easily walk their lazy ass to the office and say it to their face. Its just soo frustrating to see ignorant people talk about other people behind a computer screen. It doesnt get their problems resloved. I worked with a fine apartment complex and i think its fair u address an issue with the office before u blab about how they dont do anything for you.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/30/2007
blondiebarbie, your retarded, this non parcial servcie does not let managment or property owners to come in and deleate comments. Where did you come from, well I guess your name tells it all, guess the word stupid, blonde, and breasts go well rummored. FOr the prices here all do deserve and can expect promt attenction to concerns, i seen so much here and yes I still to live here but you can bet I am out of here as soon as I am able to. No amount of management feedback can help this rating you think all 70 people here are retarded, look at other feed backs on other locations you will not see as many as this place is getting, why is that, well I wounder, could it be cause theres a lot of problems and rip offs going on. Hmmmm????? WOW what an idea. Now if you like it here cause its close to your work, then fine, I know taking the bus home after all that dancing and not to menction all the dollar bills you must have to unfold is a bigger problem for you then housing. Smiles and I know this was a bit much but I been reading alot on here so, take it, lol!

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