I've only been here for a little over 8 months, and have not had any real problems. This was the cheapest, roomy apartments in Alexandria, that I found. I live in building 1, so I am one of the residence that have the opportunity to enjoy the upgrades. I have yet been able to take part in the events sponsored by Riverside. Love the fact that it is centrally located to DC and MD, and is in walking distance to the Metro. Also, parking is never an issue.
Now, lets get to the negative. The top electrical outlets, in almost every room of my apartment, does not work. The cooling unit in the Master Bedroom, hardly works. I've reported it to maintenance, when they came to change the filters, but nothing was done.
The bathrooms does not have a venting system, so I am having to go through a bottle of Tilex a week, which can get very expensive.
No lighting in Living and Bedrooms, along with electric outlets not working, and the fact that I'm rarely at home, I can't understand why my electric bill is so high. I've lived in a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment, that was almost twice as big as this, and had my teenage daughter and son with me at the time, and my electric bill never reached the amount that I am paying now. Oh, and someone was always home. By the way, I am in a 2 bedroom/2 bath now. I hardly ever have guest, so I don't get a chance to entertain. I rarely cook, since it is just me, where I used to cook everyday. So I can't understand the tremendous increase in electric bill. You pay your electric bill through Riverside. They have not provided me with a copy of how much electricity, they are reporting, that I am using. I know how to read, and calculate the meters and what I should be paying.
I have not had any roach problems, and as far as mouse/rats, I've one on 2 separate occassions, and this was outside, by the dumpsters. On one of those occassions, the mice actually ran inside the door way, but it came back out.
My neighbors, except 1 particular black female (I am also a black female), are very friendly and polite. No noise problems. If anything, I might be the noisy neighbor because of my laugh, and seem to be developing a hearing problem, so I have to turn the volume on my TV up...lol. The elevators have gotten slower, and I hate the washer/dryer combo, but love the fact that I have one. They are just too small.
My overall experience, at the Riverside, has been ok. However, I might have to move, when my lease is up in December, because of the price with all the utilities. Oh, almost forgot, no storage, so my 2nd bedroom has been turned into a storage. So I can't enjoy the 2nd bedroom, like I should and paying to. If Riverside can give me a great deal, like what I am paying now, I might renew my lease, if I can't find anything just as nice, but cheaper. I've been researching another complex near by, but the reviews of that complex, is scary. However, the reviews, on the Riverside, almost scared me away. But I had a friend, who knew someone that lived here, and had nothing but ok things to say.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/27/2009
You do realize that the apartments aren't individually metered. What they do is split the one bill riverside gets and you pay "your portion" based on what size apartment you have. Thankfully, the woman you showed us the apartment my husband and I will be living in is in the same type so was able to tell us the average utility bills (we move in mid-September.)
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/13/2009
As an additional note, most of the top outlets (at least in Bldg 1 where I also live) are tied to the light switch in the room. It took me a while to figure that out.

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