I've lived at Kensington for a year and recently resigned my lease. I live in one of the one bedrooms and have loved it. You can customize your floor finishes (light pergo wood floors, carpet or tile) and they will let you paint what ever you want (a rareity on the apartment scene). They recently replaced all of the bulbs in the light fixtures with CFLs at no charge so we won't have to change a lightbulb for the rest of our lease. I have NEVER had a problem getting in touch with the management, and they sent someone out to fix my toilet 2 hrs after I put in the request over the phone. There are lovely deep set porches where everyone keeps plants and there are lots of young families that live in my building. I have lived in many apartments, and you are not going to ever find one without a few problems. Our water temperature is an issue sometimes in the kitchen, but has never bothered us enough to even call in about it. There is plenty of shaded parking, and a bus route less than a block away that takes you straight to campus and downtown. The landscaping is the best i've seen for an apartment complex...anywhere. We were angered by the managments attempt to change the terms of the lease to include paying for gas and trash, but they went to great lengths to make ammends once it had all be straightened out including refunding us the money we had paid for gas with out us even asking. I find the rent to be VERY reasonable for the location (I was paying $500 to SHARE a bedroom at another apartment, and we pay $650 for the whole apartment here). They do complimentary pest control and we have never had a roach or an ant anywhere in our apartment. Reading these other reviews, it seems like the only people that have chosen to post were the ones that had a specific incedent that pissed them off...I would say that the majority of residents really enjoy this place.

User Responses
From: kensingtonblows	Date: 07/30/2008
We DON'T still live there, actually. Neither do our former neighbors [who passed the petition]; They could actually afford to pay the exorbitant early move-out fee, and they fled shortly after the illegal strong-arming, which by the way, was not remedied until enough tenants called the Austin Tenants' Council and threatened legal action. Our lease ends tomorrow and we actually moved out a month ago. I am not insinuating that you are ignorant. However, being underinformed (different than ignorant, look it up) and signing the lease addendum only empowers and encourages unethical and illegal actions on the part of Ranier Management. Best of luck with your residence. I'm glad to hear that your bill is only a 'measly' $18 more than it should be. $18 is not a measly amount to some residents, especially those on a fixed income, like many of the residents at Kensington.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/30/2008
Move then. We signed the ammendment for other reasons. We knew it was illegal for them to change the terms and went to the office to discuss it with them. Because all of us are on the SAME utilities, it was virtually impossible for them to cleanly make a transition with half of the people starting new leases and paying their share, and people mid-way through their leases not having to pay. I genuinely believe that they are trying to be conservation-conscious. It is also a measly 18 bucks a month extra, and I think people made a MUCH bigger deal about it than was necessary. I do not appreciate insinuations that I am ignorant. I am not. I am glad that the tenant community is so active at Kensington, it is another great feature about the complex, but I also respect that the management had quick reaction time to a messy situation (which I acknowledge was their fault). It is a huge complex, and streamlining anything is going to cause some waves no matter how they choose to do it. One conflict in 2 years with the management does not seem to be a deal breaker. The people, location and grounds (you know, the things that actually effect my quality of life on a daily basis) matter more to me. You must still live here for a reason.

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