I love it here! The office staff can seem a little over the top but they are friendly and easy to work with. I don't know what people are talking about with high utility bills -- mine are the lowest they've ever been.
The people here have been nothing but accommodating. When I moved in, my washer/dryer were not here yet, so they gave me two options: take an older set (still fully functional) and get $20 off my rent, or wait the couple of weeks and get my brand new front-loader set. Since I really, really, really wanted that front-loading washer and dryer, I held out, and they still knocked a little off my rent for the inconvenience.
Maintenance requests are handled SUPER quickly. They even sent someone to install the ceiling fan/light fixture I bought for my living room.
I also LOVE this neighborhood. The shops and restaurants downtown are AMAZING and I have never felt unsafe walking my dog anywhere at any hour of the day. I even walk to work when the weather is nice. These apartments are in a really convenient location.
My complaints are minor, and usually beyond the control of the management. Biggest complaint: dog poop. I feel as though I am the only tenant who picks up after my dog, who refuses to go in the little dog walking area because it is so disgusting. It's especially irritating to see turds along the brick walkway (or even in the stairwell, once). Clean up after your pets, people! It's not maintenance's job!
The second month I lived here, they had some accounting error and did not show that I paid rent, so they sent me a notice telling me I owed about $1300. I checked with my bank and confirmed that EV had already deposited my check, then called the office, and they quickly resolved the problem. Things like this happen, and they were totally nice about it. Now I just get a receipt when I pay rent in case there's another error.
In retrospect, my choice of floor plan was poor, as the kitchen does not really serve my cooking needs. I love to be in the kitchen, and this one really is not big enough -- there's not even a pantry. I think if I remain here next year I am going to try to move to Phase I, where the kitchens are more to my liking. The one in my apartment in Phase II does the job, but I really do not have a lot of room to move around and cooking with guests is certainly an adventure.
I live in the building without an enclosed courtyard, so there is often a group of people downstairs well into the evening, but I've never had a problem except for maybe one time when people congregated on a weeknight. If you are looking for a quiet apartment, you should not look in a downtown area in any city. The fire station and police station are close by, so if you are sensitive to sirens you might not like it here. And personally I love the live music, which I think can only be heard from units that face Kelly's, of which there are few (so the solution is not to rent one of those units).
My last complaint is that my number is programmed incorrectly into the callbox downstairs, so it dials the wrong number, so I have to walk down all three flights of stairs (oh the horror, right') whenever I have guests, and if I ever lose my fob, I am screwed. When I told the office, they said they didn't think they could change the number, which made absolutely no sense to me unless what they meant to say was, "We've given up on the callbox."
Overall, this is a great community in a wonderful neighborhood. If you are unsure, come here in the evening and walk around. Sample to area and see if it's a place you would want to sleep in the middle of. I lived in a different arrangement the whole time I was in college (apartments, houses, duplexes, with roommates and alone), and this is my first apartment as a real "grown-up." I certainly feel like I made a good decision. If I am not here next year, it will not be because I have been unhappy with my living arrangements. If my rent goes up, I will move. If I get a roommate who wants to live somewhere else, I will move. Otherwise, I can see myself staying here for several years.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/05/2009
I have been at Eastside Village for a few months. I do have to say I love my floor plan in phase one. Yes I do have to complain that the dog poop is horrible if you are walking around the courtyards. It smells too when it rains or is humid outside. I still have not had my name and number programed in the call box either. They keep telling me they will do it, but it still has not been done. Also, there have been a few parties in the party room on the first level. Which I do not mind. Depending on the crowd it can get out of hand with the yelling and people socializing outside the party room. But there was a party a few weeks ago and there were about 50 people outside when gunshots went off about 12:30am. People started running everywhere and most ran into the parking lot next to the dart train station. That is where the parking lot is for this room. There were fist fights that broke out and more gun shots went off. I could see someone raising a gun outside the party room then ran when the police showed up. We notified the office the next day and informed them what we saw. They said we were not the only ones to file a complaint. So now after this, I am hoping that they better select who rents the party room.
From: ntxchick	Date: 05/22/2009
About the phonebox: I'm in the process of leasing now and was told that the phone box is broken and they don't know when it'll be fixed.

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