First off, I'm NOT staff or property management. I've been a resident here since January of 2008 though I spent most of the summer of 2008 out of town. On the whole, the review title pretty much sums it up: in some ways it's great, some ways not, so maybe you could do better.

This is my first experience living in an apartment (I'm a student at SMU) and it's been pretty much what I expected. I'll just run down some key points here.

Staff - Everyone on staff has been fantastic to deal with, courteous and friendly, by far the best part of living here. They know that the location has its problems (more on that later) and do their best to help out. Always been cheerful and, thankfully, there are always at least two and sometimes three leasing agents in the office at one time so there is always someone to help you. Props to them.

Location -
Pros: Smack in the middle of downtown near Deep Ellum, it's not really my scene but it's a plus for some people; downtown dog park is literally right across the street, which is great since I have an energetic terrier who has to go out every day; next door to the Farmers' Market, I enjoy cooking and, though the market isn't fantastic, it is nice to be able to get some fresh produce when I want it

Cons: As aforementioned, right in the middle of downtown and so comes with downtown problems: bums, though they've never bothered me; a LOT of typical downtown noise, sirens, racing cars, squealing tires, car alarms, that sort of thing, if you're a light sleeper you might have some problems...; as another reviewer mentioned, it's not really near anything besides Deep Ellum, have to travel up 75 several miles to do any sort of shopping or eating

Security - I can see how people would be concerned, I mean, it is downtown so of course there's crime, typical car break ins and petty theft (I've had my patio furniture stolen TWICE, I'm on the first floor and it doesn't take much effort to hop the fence). I'm a fairly big guy so I don't feel completely unsafe, but I'm still uncomfortable walking around outside at night, and if I were a single female, there's no WAY I would venture outside at night. On the occasions I have been outside at night I have seen security driving around, so they have a presence, but as to how effective they really are at deterring crime, no idea...probably not very. Kicked me out of the hot tub at midnight twice, though, so they are effective at that...

Parking - Again, a mixed bag. You get to park on the same floor in the parking garage as your apartment is on, so that's nice. Get's tight when everyone is home, after work and so forth; I drive a big SUV and the parking spots are TINY, and the garages have a ton of supporting steel pillars that make driving through them like navigating a maze. They WILL tow you promptly at 8 pm if you are a visitor and not parked on the top floor in visitor parking, don't think you can get away with it.

Maintenance - Haven't really had any maintenance problems other than having a different lock on the outside storage, hence my key didn't work, but they resolved it within a day or two. Other than that, can't really speak to the maintenance.

Gates - I've read a lot of reviews that complain of broken security gates and garage gates, but since moving in I haven't encountered anything near like the problems described. The pedestrian gates always have functioning locks which require a security card to unlock, and the staff replaced my non-functioning gate clicker as soon as I took it in to them. There used to be a problem where if you pulled up really really close to the garage gate it would open, but they've since fixed that; I get the feeling that they finally listened to complaints and fixed (most of) the gate problems.


OVERALL IMPRESSION: Not bad, suits me pretty well but I'm still looking around for other options. Just to recap:

If you're a single female, security is a BIG concern and you might well be advised to look elsewhere because of the area...

Dog park across the street, very pet friendly complex...

Staff is excellent, friendly and helpful...

Instances of petty theft, car break ins, stolen patio furniture and such, but that's to be expected, if you follow some common sense rules (like don't leave your iPod sitting out on your dash) then you should be fine...

Can be noisy at times...

Score: Average

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/08/2009
Dude, you REALLY need to get a life and stop commenting on everyone's reviews. You moved, its not your problem, get over it.
From: bigD1122	Date: 01/08/2009
wow, guys/gals , just a review, stop trolling. as for why I live here as a student, it's because several of my friends do as well.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/12/2009
Camden management - please fix the security issues and stop posting false reviews/comments on here so this guy (Anonymous commenter #1) can finally have some peace. Guy who hates Camden with a passion - thanks for your honesty, but one comment would have sufficed. How do we know YOU are not a rival apartment management slandering Camden so potential residents would go look at YOUR property instead? Hmmm? It's unethical to misuse review sites such as these, just so you can make a quick buck. It's obvious when management/staff are posting reviews/comments to make their ratings higher, which makes the decision to not go with those apts that much easier. PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID, WE ARE SMART ENOUGH TO RESEARCH APTS ONLINE, THEN WE ARE SMART ENOUGH TO FIGURE OUT MGMT/STAFF ARE WRITING POSITIVE REVIEWS. Just let the residents speak up on here, and you can do your job when people VISIT your property. I will say though, I will investigate a little further into the Camden @ Farmers Market apt. now that I've gotten a good idea of the good, bad and the ugly.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/16/2009
I agree with the poster this is not a good place for single women to live. My boyfriend lived here and he would meet me outside because it was not that safe (and I only had to walk 25feet!). We would get approached quite often by homeless sleeping on the benches and would often has strange vehicles driving by.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/24/2009
Great job Big D as this is the most objective review I've seen on any of the complexes I've researched in Dallas, Euless, or Arlington. I too am considering living here, but the safety issues have me thinking 360/Arlington area and sucking it up for the weekday commute. Used to live in NYC for sometime & it's amazing how much safer it is to live in the Manhattan scene than it is the "happenin" area of Dallas. The city seriously needs to do a better job of protecting the young professionals that pay good money to live in high rent urban areas; that is once again applicable to every complex I've looked into (kicking down doors, parking garage uncertainty, stealing bikes from outdoor patio area). Attracting these young professionals is what gives the city more intrigue & gives Dallas hope in holding its own against other areas like NYC, San Francisco, etc. Dallas at least has a great singles scene (not so much for stable relationships or marriages, lol) & it's fun to meet many different ppl here. Let's hope it gets safer!

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