I moved here in July of '08 and wanted to put up a good review counterbalancing the negative one that was posted in January. My guess is the same person who wrote that one then commented on the most recent review of a new resident.

I find it suspicious that the person lived there 7-8 yrs if their experience was as terrible as they say. Why not move after the first year when your lease is up'

I'm going to focus on the possible negatives, specifically those mentioned in other reviews and why they're not problems for me personally, but that a new resident would want to consider before moving in. This may seem to give my review a negative tone, but I would recommend this complex for anyone willing to sacrifice internal looks for price.

I have only had one disruptive problem, and that was recently with a (new') noisy neighbor. I complained to management and they put a lease violation on the resident's door the same day. I haven't had any problems since then. According to the lease if you get 3 violations, your lease can (will') be terminated.

The appliances are indeed old. This was one thing that made me very wary of moving in, and before I signed the lease, I made sure maintenance would respond promptly. However, none of my appliances have stopped working in the time I've lived here.

I live in the smaller 2 bedroom apartment, and the refrigerator is on the small side, so I'd recommend you take note of that if you're going to have multiple residents.

The apartments are not well insulated, and noise travels easily inside->outside (but not vice versa), and the electric bill may be a little higher than you're accustomed to, but mine was comparable to other apartments I've lived in. For free cable/WD and paying about 650 a month for a 2 bedroom, I'm willing to pay a little more for electricity.

They divide the water/trash bill up amongst the residents and you pay by apartment size. My monthly bill for that averages about $25.

I'm on the second floor and don't have any problem with bugs. But I never get a ground floor in Houston because of all the insects.

Take note that because the apartments have so much for so little, you're probably going to have neighbors who aren't exactly upper middle class. As a lower-priced complex in Houston, there are several black residents and Hispanic families. However, I have not seen any of the "hoodlums" another reviewer claims live(d) here. I've seen several racist reviews/comments on other Houston complexes, and I hope that wasn't one of them. I also know a couple of very old white people who are quite comfortable living here. (I do know several complexes went to hell after Katrina, but in most places that has been taken care of by now.)

I personally haven't had any problems with crime, but there's crime everywhere. If you're going to live in an apartment complex in Houston, don't have valuables visible in your car! Common sense, people. There are several younger people, so it wouldn't surprise me if some were smoking pot, though I haven't personally seen them. But if they are, it's certainly nothing compared to your average college campus. Go walk through the halls at the Rice dorms some weekend... Honestly I'd much rather have neighbors smoking pot than being drunk and disorderly.

The complex is tucked away nicely and is gated, so you'll probably avoid the crime you would get by living in some place just off Westheimer. There was a period of time where one of the gates was having issues, but that was several months ago. There are several families and people are always moving around during the daylight hours which in my opinion makes the community safer. Be smart and get renter's insurance (which you should get no matter where you live). There was a sexual harassment crime in the complex a while ago, and management put notices on everyone's door with tips to avoid being put in a situation where something like that is possible. (Basically telling people not to be idiots.)

I don't use the pools, so I can't comment on their cleanliness.

That's everything I can think of at the moment. If you don't mind that the interior of your apartment, especially the appliances don't look new and spiffy, I would definitely recommend this to you. Keep in mind that because of the cheap price, you may be surrounded by those for whom this is all they can afford. Crime happens everywhere, always check crime reports for the past year or so when moving somewhere new. I passed up one complex because there had been three murders there in the past three years...

User Responses
From: kad032000	Date: 04/01/2009
Being able to move whenever you want is a luxury. Being able to move during a 7 year period is matter of taking your time and planning ahead.
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/01/2009
As you said people who live there are usually lower class and don't have much income and with 3 kids and heart disease that constantly puts you in and out of the hospital it takes alot of effort to save and the energy to move so I guess that's why some people don't have the luxury to move whenever they want even if all hell breaks out around them!

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