I've been here at the Ridge for just under 2 years now. Overall I've been pretty happy with my apartment, with a few reservations. My 2-bedroom apartment is one of the upgraded ones (fake wood floors carpet, crown moulding, new appliances, nice fireplace). It looks great, though the renovations are obviously done on a limited budget (e.g. sloppy painting). My in-unit ventilation fan and condenser (located in the bathroom ceiling) was noisy and leaky, but they did finally replace it with a decent new unit after repeated temporary repairs-- make sure you check this out if you are renting here. My major beef is with the old windows and doors-- the sealing and insulation is VERY poor, so your electric bills will be high, and if you're facing the street you will get some irritating late night noise from the odd motorcycle, garbage truck, and tractor trailer.

A few other notes:

Excellent location:

Stops for the UT shuttle and the crosstown and downtown bus routes are across the street. Far West is very well situated-- minutes by car from North Austin shopping or downtown, and it's close enough to downtown that one can take surface streets if traffic has clogged Mopac (the main north/south highway). The neighborhood is very pleasant-- lots of trees, grocery store plaza down the street, nice people, always safe. Not uncommon to see deer walking around here at night. That being said, I should point out that my car was stolen from right in front of my complex. I think this was an uncommon "targetted" theft, but since it's not a gated community I wouldn't leave stuff in my car and I would use an anti-theft device to be safe.

Complex:

Lots of quiet folks here (lots of UT grad. students and postdocs in the area). I've never had problems with the neighbours, but on the other hand I haven't made any friends here (not the most social of places, if you might be looking for that). The grounds are attractive and reasonably well-kept, with nice pools, gas grill, landscaping, 2 laundry rooms, and a great basketball and tennis court. The exercise room is pretty crappy, however. LOTS of parking-- you'll never have a problem finding free parking for visitors. I did have some major insect problems (centipede infestation), but after repeated complaints they hired a new pest control service and I have had no problems to report since. The office staff have been friendly and attentive in my experience. Repairs are done promptly, though they don't always get it right the first time (e.g. my ventilation problems).

Summary:

I think the prices here are higher than average for the area, so you should shop around, but overall I think The Ridge is a pretty good spot. If not for the crappy windows/insulation I would be very happy. My unit is one of the nicer ones I've seen in this neighborhood.

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