Living at the Allen House has it's pro and con's. Unfortunately the con's are starting to outweight the pro's. Even though I pay only $660.00 in rent for a 1 bedroom wth 715 square feet, my monthly utility bill in the summer is anywhere from $100.00 to $150.00. My bedroom is either hot or cool by 5 degrees compared to the temperature in the living room.

The choices of telecommunicaton services are limited- the only cable provided is TV MAX and I am fleeced at $58.00 a month for basic cable, SouthWestern Bell is the only provided for DSL ( slow) and with that package I pay $100.00 a month. The water bill is a total mystery. I can be out of town for a whole month, but will get a water bill for $20.00 or more. From what I have been told, the water bill is divided up among either each building or all 1000 units.

The units do not have washer and dryers. There is a community wash house that serves the three building that I live in. It is really a pain to haul your clothes across the parking lot in the rain, heat and cold to wash house. This gets old real quick and is something to consider before moving here.

The machines are maintained and I have never had a problem or lost money in them. Only on a rare occasion will I have to wait for a machine.

With these units being built in the late 60's or 70's they are solid construction. There is very little noice through the walls and the rooms are spacious with plenty of wall space. The kitchen is OK, updated as much as it can be, but if you are a gourment cook with lots of pots and pans; you will cramped for the cabinet space is very small.

The air condition system is running on band-aids. My system has gone out three time within the past year. Last summer is was the compressor and twice this year it was becuase a wire had burned out. The maintenance people at Allen House in all cases where very prompt and responsive, but I question the safey of my a/c unit now.

When you are in the bathroom, you need to be careful what you say for the vent in the bathroom must be connected to the vent in the unit below me. Along with bathroom conversation and sounds, I get cigarette smell in my apartment when the resident below me is smoking. He turns his vent to take the smoke out of his apartment which circulates it into mine.

Considering the age of the property, I would say management does the best with what they have. For the price you cannot go wrong, but the water, utilites, cable and phone and really run you total expenses up. Be cautions on that. The units on the third floor they may have on specil, but you will pay in the end.

For some pro's, the locaton cannot be beat, the swimming pools are maintained daily and the grounds are kept up. The residents who live here vary in age, but a majority are single or couples just starting out or over like me. In talking with most of my neighbors, we laugh and long for the day we will not have to walk across the parking lot to wash clothes. It is something we all failed to think about before moving in here.

However, this is a place you can look back and remise about your days at the Allen House. Everyone in Houston seems to have lived here at one time.

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