I've lived at Riverside since July of 2007, and my overall opinion is a solid "Meh". It's certainly not the worst place in the world, but it's certainly not the best either. The DC area is generally expensive and dumpy-looking, but that's par for the course on anything from Washington to Boston. If you want cheap rent and a very nice place, I'd recommend moving to the South or the Southwest.
Utilities will generally run you $50-80 per month on a studio (535 sq ft in my case). Presumably a bit more on larger units.
The Good:
It's fairly inexpensive for the region. $1150/month is about as low as you're going to get in an apartment complex without moving to some toilet in Maryland -- unless you're wealthy, I'd recommend staying in Virginia -- where you'll run the risk of getting stabbed on your way home.
The shuttle bus is pretty reliable, and certainly the fact that the place is close to the Metro should be taken as a plus. Not having to compete with the mass psychosis that is DC traffic makes life better.
The maintenance staff are generally decent folks, and they respond fairly quickly. I haven't dealt with the office staff much, so I can't really speak intelligently to whatever experiences you'll have with them.
Parking is good.
The Bad:
The elevators are slow, and they do break down from time to time. It's an old set of buildings (late-'60s/early-'70s, I think), so my guess is that's not completely out of the ordinary.
My wife's laptop was stolen while she was out briefly one day. Others reported the same. No issue in the last six months or so, so my sense is whomever it was -- and the police believe he/she was working here -- has been fired and/or arrested.
The Big Picture:
If you want a reasonably-priced place in a fairly safe neighborhood, Riverside will suffice. Like I said above, it's neither the best nor the worst. My wife and I are looking into moving to a place a little closer-in with a little more room, but otherwise we'd probably stay another year or two before buying our own place.

User Responses
From: alicia247	Date: 06/01/2009
Damn, this review is so true (and so hilarious!). Not just the spot-on skewering (and defending!) of Riverside, but your grasp of the D.C. area as well as the nation's entire Northeastern seaboard megalopolis. (As for myself, I wrote a similarly positive/rational review of Riverside a few months ago, even while desperately missing my calm, civilized, and aesthetically pleasing home region of the U.S. - which shall remain unidentified so as to avoid apartmentratings.com mud-slinging.)

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