There has not been a review here in ages, so here is my honest take, in ten key points.

Get ready people:

1)St. J. is affordable. The powers that be did raise rent two months ago with minimal notice (mere days notice). Apparently this is SOP. MGMT did not realize I did not get a COL raise this year.

2)Awesome view. I face the west hills and love the sunsets. Best part of the St. J. experience.

3)Perfect location, well maybe not- "Do you have any part of a dollar or xtra change'" See #7.

4)It is quiet, except for the couple across the hall who constantly have visitors in and out of their tiny studio.. hmmmm. And they are always there. The door slams every time someone leaves. Sometimes I'll go home for lunch and I will see people leaving and entering and wonder why the MGMT does not notice this. Drugs anyone' And the couple next to me- man- there are skin crawling female screams on a twice a week basis that do not pierce the thick walls- it comes right through the thin windows.. For months I thought it was coming from outside, until I walked onto the floor's hallway and heard the screams all the way to the elevator.

5)The maintenance guy is strange and appears to battling some internal angst. Is always nervous, has the shakes, never makes eye contact, and I once saw him in the underground garage late (12:30 a.m.) on a Saturday night "working"- aimlessly dragging stuff around that was left by "mover outers" near the dumpster. He fixed my toilet once (it was leaking; St. J uses high pressure toilets that are very loud and now I actually need 2 flushes to get the job done). There was a fire alarm that went off (at 4:30 a.m.) this past winter and the poor guy was a wreck. I had to reassure him that everything would be ok.

6)St. J allows 'companion dogs' for those 'in need' but regular folks can only have a cat. Hey, I like dogs too... and need a companion. There is this one guy who talks crazilevily to his poodle companion dog in the lobby and this makes me sad. I hope he moves soon.

7)I close my windows at night, every night, even on sultry days in the summer, due to the Safeway hangers on. All night long, screams, cursing and crazy laughter- this isn't the old "psycho safeway" we are talking about. Can't imagine that hell. I am unsure why Safeway does nothing about this. The place rakes in millions(!) of dollars (look it up) every year but when I go in there for a $3 frozen pizza I am inundated by requests for money on the way in and out the door. Guilt trips are unkind- especially when I live paycheck to paycheck. God forbid I spulrge and am caught carrying a six pack of beer out the door- the demands are all out: "Can I get a beer!!', "Ohh come on!" Street people camp out around the building, particularly the church next door. I have never experienced a church that reeks like urine before- even when living in New York. It's too bad too as St. James the church has been around way before any of us.

8)Kitty corner to St. J is the awesome jewel that is the Eliot Tower. My dream place if Safeway somehow disappeared. Amazing juxtaposition with the working class St. J and those freaks camped out at Safeway and the wealthy Eliot residents.

9)The MGMT at St. J. crew are cool. There is a new guy who replaced "the woman in black", an assistant manager who wore the same black outfit literally every single day for the year plus I have lived at St. J. It was like a superhero costume but hot days in July made the outfit seem out of place. The head manager is very cool and she always knows your name and actually lives in the building. Very brave. During the fire alarm she was taking care of business, big time.

10)Inspections. Since this is a 'rent controlled', 'subsidized building', the residents are subjected to annual inspections by the state of Oregon. Anytime one renews their lease, it's inspection time. There was one yesterday, actually. Every apartment I have ever lived in did the inspection as you were moving out. It is disconcerting to have strangers enter your place while away at work, judge your level of cleanliness, look in your fridge and closet, try on your underwear...

So, those are my 10 thoughts on St. James apartments in Portland, Oregon.

User Responses
From: akatheeggman	Date: 11/01/2009
what's the deal with parking? is there a lot or garage associated with St. James?
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/23/2009
Great funny review and right on. One point, those dogs are not just companion, some have 2 and nothing wrong with the person besides they don't want to work. question above half empty underground Parking but you pay for it. if they dropped the price people could park. nothing on the street.

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