DO NOT LIVE HERE
From:
-Anonymous-
Date posted:
7/29/2005
Years at this apartment:
2001
-
2005
The Cove is a terrible place to live. I lived there from early 2001 until late 2005 unfortunately. When I first moved there, it was a decent place to live. The majority of the people that lived there were quiet and peaceful. There was a security guard at the front gate, there was an HPD officer that would patrol the grounds at night, and they had valet trash pickup. That all changed over the next 2 years and now it is a complete dump.
First, that area in general has gone downhill. Just drive down almeda genoa to get an idea of how downhill things have gone. Also, make sure to check out the HPD crime statistics for that area. There are numerous violent crimes committed in that are every month. You can find the statistic for these crimes here.
http://www.houstontx.gov/police/cs/beatpages/c is no longer any active security at the complex. There is no one that mans the security shack. Once they got rid of that person, people just started ramming the gate open. Once the gate was rammed open and broken enough times, the geniuses in management decided the solution was to install one of those cheap and blurry X10 cameras (http://www.x10-online.com) and a motion activated floodlight in lieu of an actual person. The active security now consists of the HPD person that shows up after you call the police.
If you do have noise complaints, and trust me you will, the cove management will just instruct you to call HPD. In all honesty, that is probably the best policy because it is not safe to walk over and knock on your neighbors door. Also, do not leave anything in your car. Break-ins are common.
You will notice that visits by HPD to The Cove are a regular occurrence. If you come home late at night, you will surely come home to flashing lights. Just this past year, there was a home invasion where a mans wife and daughter were shot. Fortunately, the man was able to get his gun and shot the suspects. He fatally wounded one of them in the parking lot of the building that is next to mine. The police tape and blood were right next to my car. The report on this incident can be found here:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/4046246/deta kept a gun in my apartment, you should too.
The quality of the tenants there has dramatically decreased. You will see hoodlums and obvious gang member types hanging out at night. They like to congregate on the banks of the lake at night. The pool that is on the lake is absolutely not safe. The last place that you want to be at in evening is there. Just this past 4th of July there was a serious racial type incident that occurred between some white people and some --------.
The maintenance is terrible. My last two months there, my air conditioning was broken. I asked them to fix it, but the only thing that their supposedly AC certified people did was clean the coils and change the air filter. Consequently, my last two electric bills were 170$ and 198$ respectively. When I called them, I complained and then asked that they waive the last week of my lease ($180) as a good faith gesture to make up for what had happened. They replied that it was my fault that I had not complained enough about the situation. You would think that after years of paying your rent on time, no complaints, and enduring someone getting shot and fatally wounded next to your building they would be reasonable with that request. After all, there are vacancies all over the complex and it would not have cost them anything. If it were a quality complex I am sure that would have happened, but it is not a quality complex.
If you have kids, this is not a complex for them to be safe. You cannot let your kids play outside alone.
There are drug users and dealers in the complex. This is not a lie. You will see them congregating at night near the stairwells or in front of their doors.
Whatever you do, do not live on the 3rd floor. They are impossible to keep cool, and the old air conditioners are pathetic.
Also, be prepared for a lack of hot water. When I first moved in, the water was so blazing hot that you could scald yourself. Then, at some point, I stopped getting hot water. You had to make sure that you took a shower before anyone else in the building to get any. When I called the office, they told me that it was due to the boiler and the distance of my apartment from the boiler, and that the water had already been turned up as high as they could be. What they didnt know was that I had been there since 2001 and I knew that scalding hot water was possible. They always insisted that NOTHING could be done. Low and behold, after a year though, suddenly, we had normal hot water again. However, the water can be discolored. You will want to buy a filter system. Just hold up a glass of the water to some light and you will see the junk they have in the pipes.
Also, kiss your deposit goodbye. They are as shady as any other complex in this arena and you will not see that money again no matter how well you take care of your place. In all honesty, they should give you a deposit just to live there.
I cannot stress enough how bad this place is. It is easy to get sucked into thinking that it is a nice place, especially in the daytime. When you go in the day, you dont see the hoodlums and the trouble. You dont know about the maintenance. All you see if a lake, a big pool, a volleyball court (many a drunken fight starts there), and some wonderful ducks. To give you an idea of the types of people that live there, I have come outside to my car in the morning to see where someone has intentionally run over an entire family of baby ducks that were crossing the road. Yes, there are people there that like to run over entire families of ducks. Dont get sucked into this place. I only stayed there because once I got there and had all my stuff, I did not want to bother with a move, and it was cheap so it let me save up a bunch of cash. I would never go back and I want to do my part to spread the word about this dump.
|
|
I'm the author!
Free estimates on moving trucks
Free quotes on movers
