Well this was my first apartment in Portland, having moved from the midwest. It was ok, but the architect was an absolute moron.

Moron thing #1- build a "loading dock" so small that a midsize pickup truck can not enter, but have a huge 2 semi truck-sized door for the parking garage. Got a U-Haul' park it in the resident's spots, it will not fir in the loading spot.

Moron thing #2- the door locks are inconsistent- one electronic door locks you out of the garage (by elevator #2), the other locks you in (by the lobby). Do they think bad guys won't just walk through the unlocked one'

Moron thing #3- the world's slowest elevator. Not kidding, I have ridden elevators in Cairo, London, Managua, Grenada and Boston that were all faster than this. Bring a book.

Moron thing #4- for some reason, the hallway is air conditioned, but the rooms are not. The hallway has no windows or external walls to soak up heat, so the only possible reason to A/C the hall is because the tennant rooms are really friggin' HOT! Result: dozens of people leave their rooms open with fans to blow the air in from the hall.

Moron thing #5 (last one, I promise)- storage cages that are smaller than anything anyone could possibly want to store. Rent a storage cage for that extra tennis shoe of yours. They are around 3.5 feet high, 2.5 feet wide. Ulseless for the type of things apartment dwelers tend to want to store (furniture, matresses, bikes, canoes, etc).

Now, I liked this place, it was really nice. The architect was an idiot, but the place is beutiful. Art deco designed, earth toned pain in the halls, real wood trim on everything, nice new construction. The neighborhood is amazing, very trendy (the other apartments in the area rent for twice what Lovejoy Stations do, and are often smaller). There are new parks, the streetcar is cool, the first thursday is fun, etc. The view was great too, until construction on the place nextdoor started.

The staff was a pain in the ass when it came to paperwork though (all the forms you fill out seemed to get lost each week, and I eventually just stopped answering their frantic phone calls and notes slid under my door begging me to fill them all out for the tenth time). The ever-present smell of uncleaned litterboxes permeated the fourth floor, and the staff did nothing despite complaints. Elevators stank of cat and dog (I hope it was cat and dog) piss, so the long time you spent in the elevator became a piss sauna. Take the stairs, the exercize is nice and they stink less. Basically, learn to live with piss.

Office hours are rarely kept well, if you have to pick up a FEDEX delivery and the office is supposed to close at six, be there no later than five if you want to get your box.

If you take a date home, take her/him through the front door, the lobby is wayyyyy col and looks like a much more expensive place than it is. If the date starts at your place, take the streetcar to 23rd for dinner.

If you get a place facing the courtyard, just expect it to be loud (it is a giant accoustic funnel, I guess I should have listed this under the architectural moron things area).

The gym is nice, and has cable TV.

They do not let you on the roof, no matter how hard you beg.

They do send people by fast to fix things in your apartment if they break, but things in the common areas (such as the electric doors) are often maintained by contractors. These are very lazy contractors.

Fire alarms happen. Often. Ignore them.

I do not recommend eating breakfast at the starbucks across the street. Go another block or two down to Peet's coffe, the coffee is not as good but the baked goods rock. x-2PE3sjUIIeetAHoKOk

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