I moved into Longhorn Landing in August 2005. I still live here and I will tell you why. Longhorn Landing is inexpensive, I only have a part-time job and if I were to live on West Campus it would consume my entire paycheck. I don t have a car, and the property is the last stop on the North Riverside, the first AND last stop on the Crossing Place route, and the Capital Metro #26 picks up directly in front of the property in Phase 1. Also the E-Bus picks up right there on Crossing Place for those of you who like to go downtown and not have to drunk-drive home. I literally don t have to walk more than 2 minutes to go to a bus stop. The bus ride to UT only takes about 10-20 minutes depending on traffic and only about 10 minutes to ACC Riverside (I have gone to both schools). This is something no other property in the East Riverside area can boast. Also Blockbuster is just a few minutes of a walk and H-E-B takes me a bit longer, but it s easily doable.
Now as I previously noted the price is a major factor in me staying. $399 for a room in a four bedroom is an absolute steal in Austin. I moved from a college town in Minnesota which by no means has the same property value as Austin and paid about the same for an apartment that was unfurnished and I had to pay gas and electricity separately. Here the apartments are both furnished and all bills paid. There is a washer and dryer in the apartment and you never appreciate that luxury until you don t have it. Going to laundromats sucks! I share a bathroom with my roommate and neither of us have ever complained about that fact. I knew my roommate aforehand and I think that makes a big difference. I did try the whole roommate matching deal and got a guy and a girl I like and am still really good friends with the guy, but I did end up with one lousy roommate once as well. I couldn t stand him, but being mature and responsible I learned how to deal with it and communicate to him the things that bothered me. Now I ve read a lot of reviews on here and a lot of people complaining about the roommates they ve ended up with. You have to keep in mind that apartment complexes have to abide by Fair Housing laws, meaning they cannot discriminate against who applies to live somewhere. Even if it s some punk with 2000 piercings in his left cheek with a shirt that reads I eat babies this place still has to let them apply. They can only deny them if their credit doesn t check out or if they have a criminal background. Though this place is targeted towards students that doesn t stop non-students from applying. In order to make it strictly for students an apartment complex must have a direct affiliation with an educational institution, Longhorn Landing does not. Nor do most places around here. Maybe if they took the money they spent on that car they are giving away on a scholarship that would suffice, but I don t know all the legalities of the manner, nor will I claim to. So again, I think this is a great place for the price, but I highly recommend coming with your own roommates. If not you are taking a chance of living with someone you don t like and I really don t see that being the fault of the establishment, it s a decision you made.
Cons: Now just so you don t get those fools who assume every positive word is a conspiracy of employees writing reviews I will state some of the things I don t like. That stupid rentcollector site is a piece of crap. It charges an outrageous $6.99 fee to pay with a credit card and it isn t even guaranteed to work. When I first moved here you could pay every month in the office with a credit card. It s 2008, you can pay for a .99 cent hamburger with a card these days, why not $400 of rent. I understand that credit card companies charge a fee for every transaction, but why not just pass that on to us and let me pay in the office with my card. There is a MoneyBox super close and it only costs a quarter to get a money order, but that means I have to have $400 of cash on me to get it and I don t like having that much cash out at any time. A lot of complaints about crime too, but this is Austin, and there is crime everywhere. If you lock your doors and take your valuables out of your car there shouldn t be a problem. The only time one of my friends had something taken from their car was when it was one of those jeeps with windows, so she pretty much was asking for it. Some guys took my roommate s laptop when I was next door, but that was easily preventable if I had only locked the door. I don t like the irresponsible kids who blare their music, or litter the grounds, or the people who are too young to realize they shouldn t have a pet yet and leave them locked up on the balcony or let them poop everywhere and don t clean up for themselves. But these things are to be expected when leaving amongst my peers, it s the same everywhere I ve been. It baffles me how lazy people can be about taking out the trash. I know people complain about getting fined $5 for a bag of trash by the office, but around West Campus that charge was $100 at one place. I read it on a sign of a friend s place I was visiting.
I think a lot of these residents are young and used to Mommy and Daddy doing everything for them and have not yet realized how to properly rectify a negative situation. I don t understand all the complaints about the staff. I haven t had a problem with anyone in there. When I wanted to talk about an issue I asked who the right manager was to talk about it and simply waited for them to talk to them. I fully understand that they have work they have to do throughout the day and they may not be immediately ready for me as soon as I walk in the door. And complaints about people in reception are uncalled for. I thought it was common knowledge that the first person you talk to at a place is not going to be the person to solve your problem. It s called a chain of command. Again I think you attribute this misunderstanding to the fact that many of these residents have never had to deal with solving their own problems. Also the complaints of communication by putting notifications on people s door are stupid. That IS the best way to communicate. Apartment complexes are not supposed to go through your mailboxes and I think there would be a lot more complaints if they did it that way. Therefore, if one wanted to receive notifications by mail, Longhorn Landing would have to pay .41 cents for each stamp to mail it to residents. So they should pay you $4000 to tell you they are hosting a pool party with FREE food and music' I think not. Also you need to be a responsible adult and read what you are signing and ask for copies of your lease afterwards. They don t make up these policies, they are written in the lease they use which is the standard Texas Apartment Association lease used almost everywhere in Texas. Those things they give you after not paying your rent are not evictions, they are notice to vacates, meaning take your stuff and go if you don t plan on paying your rent.
So in closing, do I recommend this place' Yes. It has worked fine for me and I know it would for others. I think when you read these reviews you have to keep in mind that people come on here to complain. People who have a pleasant or satisfactory stay don t get online to share that info with everyone. It s usually people that have a problem (which I believe is usually due to something they have done and don t like the results). Ballpark, a neighboring property and what I believe to be the best in the area, only has a 43% approval rating, which is absurd. So come with an open mind and a maturity to try to solve your own problems. This is a fun place to live, they have pool parties and other fun things going on and you can meet a lot of cool people. I love the basketball courts and the people I've met through pick up games. The volleyball is often active and it is a good environment to cook out or lay out at the pool. I like it here.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/13/2008
This is an awfully long response for someone who just thinks it's "fine" and stayed "for the price." Who care how good the price is if the place sucks? It's gross, there are bugs, the office never, ever, EVER helps with problems in a timely manner, security is a joke.... This reviewer has given the complex higher ratings for everything than it actually deserves. And the other property it mentioned, Ballpark, is owned by the same leasing company (Aspen Square)!! I have been there and it is no better than LL. On top of that, it's really a joke to say that ANY complex on south riverside, on pleasant valley or wickersham or oltorf, is "The best in the area." THEY ARE ALL AWFUL. It wouldn't be hard to be the best in the area with that kind of competition. KEEP THIS IN MIND, PEOPLE: The office doesn't even list an emergency number when you get the recording. Press 1 for current resident services - I guarantee you it will go to voicemail 99% of the time, you will not talk to a real person, and good luck getting someone to call you back. Press 2 for leasing- well of course they answer here, they want as many new residents as possible. But then when they find out you're a resident they transfer you to the same old voicemail. There's no number on the recording for if you have an emergency maintenance request! So tell me, if your apartment is flooding at midnight, like mine was the first week I lived there, and there's water coming through the ceiling and walls- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO? That's right- wait until morning, to go down there, having to take off work, to tell someone that the apartment was flooding all night. Hope you're stuff doesn't get ruined. And of course, they refused to reimburse me for the towels and bath stuff that got ruined from getting wet (because, if you didn't know, their bathroom cabinets are unfinished and the bottom of them is just the regular floor). This place sucks. No two ways about it.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/28/2008
This is a useful review as everyone else seems to be spoiled kids who don't understand that a $400 apartment has its downsides. Not everyone can afford $800 a month to have their own apartment, or even $600 to have a room in West Campus. It's better than a dorm.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/01/2008
Lots of people like smoking crack too! atx512 doesn't work for them, but has the scoop regarding what management company owns what? atx512 also know the name of the pest control company utilized by the property. atx512 is not very bright, perhaps he/she needs to get past their freshman year? Longhorn Landing is a shite hole and I will tell anyone listening all about my miserable experiences there.
From: atx512	Date: 08/03/2008
Well "Anonymous" I'm happy you take pleasure in your crack-smoking. The knowledge of the management company of Ballpark did not come from the Longhorn Landing Employee Handbook, but in fact from the Ballpark's website. It took a good 30 seconds of detective work for me to uncover that clue. And weird, I admitted to having Absolute Pest Control come to my apartment and I know the name of the company?! Crazy. Maybe I should smoke more of your crack and forget. I don't know what made you conclude I was not a bright freshman (I actually don't understand that barb "I need to get past my freshmen year?), but then again your intelligence is apparent through your grudge against this apartment complex. ???Resentment or grudges do no harm to the person against whom you hold these feelings but every day and every night of your life, they are eating at you??? - Norman Vincent Peale. I must have picked that up in Freshmen English. Also I appreciate the reply from 7/28, that was the purpose of my review. I am not a spoiled rich kid and I wanted to give my opinion for others like me.
From: Junglizt	Date: 10/23/2008
LMAO...how obvious can you people be?? Seriously...like I said before..an obvious manipulation to coerce leasing contracts out of gullible kids. Its sad really. If the complex is so wonderful, why should you have to sell yourself so desperately?? It makes it look like your either really fed up with people in general and maybe you shouldnt work in service industries, or your so angry with your life the best you can do is get on a blogsite and vent in an "anonymous" way. Whatever..its obvious what your doing and it would be better if you stop. Its making the complex look very unprofessional. And, fyi...since the complex markets to students, remember a portion of those students are psychology, communications, and sociology majors, and see straight through this type of gimmick.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates