The Willows is your basic late-1970s sort of complex named after trees -- The Oaks, The Pines, The Willows. There is some effort to maintain the outward appearance of the place. A coat of paint and a noisy lawn maintainance crew (complete with leaf blower to coat your car in dirt and pollen) are not enough to hide some irksome problems, however.

First, let me say that I've killed two rats since I've been here. In honesty, they lived outside, having burrowed under my ground-floor patio. I set traps. I was told they were there because people put bird-feeders on their patios and balconies. Some name-badge guys came by and looked at the holes. But I was the one that killed them, which is disgusting enough. Yet I was doubly disgusted by the attitude of blaming the residents and doing nothing about the problem.

Pretty much everything advertised as an amenity is a sham. There is a tennis court, but it has a perpetual mud slime over it. There is a car wash, but it is a water hose which is invariably unreachable since maintainance trucks are parked there. There is an on-site laundry, but you need to know which dryers actually work and which just heat up your clothes (but leave them wet). There is a security gate, but even during the occasional months that it works it's actually a safety hazard; the keypad is placed in the exit lane.

The complex allows large dogs. Management relies upon the residents to pick up after their dogs -- and I'm sure some do. But many dog owners do not. I've gotten several notes on my door reminding me to clean up after my dog. I don't have a dog. I've also gotten notes on my door informing me that certain bathing suits are inappropriate, that at any time over a period of several weeks plumbers will be in my apartment, that any time over several weeks I will have to park away from my apartment. I've gotten notes for other people's late fees, and notes advising me which delivery food I should choose. Apparently someone just walks around at night passing out notes, some possibly important, some probably destined to be litter. I don't wear inappropriate swimwear. And I no longer read the notes. But I hope whoever is passing them out at night is stepping in dog poop.

The complex recently had a "fixture" upgrade. Low-flow toilets and showerheads. This is a cost-cutting measure, an unintended environmentally friendly one -- there are no recycling containers, just a big, perpetually over-flowing, dumpster/compactor. I've had plumbers cut a big hole in my closet, plumbers cut holes in the bathroom and living room, plumbers in an out, off an on, pretty much since I've been here. I'm glad they're investing in the property, but my pipes are loose (caulk doesn't actually hold fixtures in place), my garbage disposal doesn't work, and dirt and paint flecks were caulked over. So the investment in the property was obviously done through the lowest bidder.

There was an excellent move-in special when I arrived. My deposit was less than $100. When I went to renew my lease, there was a special then, too -- my rent was only slightly increasing. That happens. BUT the literature on the table that listed the rents for new move-ins stated my apartment size was actually going for less than what I had been paying. I guess that sort of sums it up. The Willows wants you to move in, but they do little to encourage you to stay. I've been here a year and a half, and only one of my neighbors has stayed that long. He, of course, has a large dog. The others, dog-less, were smarter than me.

This has nothing to do with the apartments or the management, but you should also be aware that the complex is right next to I-40. It lies between the interstate and a nice little cul-de-sac neighborhood (I'm afraid we're bringing their property values down). So it's noisy here. And the little 200-yard entrance street becomes a drag strip after people clear the gate. The complex is also adjacent to Kingston Pike, which means that going anywhere in Knoxville means going through some of the worst managed traffic I've ever seen (worse than Miami or Los Angeles even) at peak hours and on weekends (the only real mall for several counties is a couple of miles from here, though no decent grocery stores are).

Unless you have a large dog (or a Rat Terrier), you can find a better place to live than The Willows, especially for the cost. Good luck!

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