In so far as there are good things about Riverside, unfortunately they are more frequently outweighed by the bad things.

Good things: Outdoor tennis, volleyball, and basketball court; 4 swimming pools if you count the lap pool.

Bldg #3 has a tiny cave of a gym, but usually all the equipment works, and most of the time you can find it empty or only a few people working out in it.

Bldg #2 has a package pickup and convenience store in it (and dry-cleaners), which is extremely useful and convenient.

Interesting events at the clubhouse, and generally everyone I've spoken to has been pretty friendly. (When they speak English that is)

Apartments are very large for the rent, with a decent amount of closet space; at least compared with others I've looked at in the area.

Odd positive - I rarely have to run my heat in the winter due to the radiant heat through the floor from other apartments.

Parking is good, assuming you don't get in late.

Bad things:
Management / Lease staff - Seriously, don't even ask about how to transfer between buildings. Assuming you're within your lease, expect to pay a $700 "transfer" fee, and also be directed by the Management office to go to the Leasing office. The leasing office will then direct you to speak to the Management office. If you're at the end of your lease, same deal but without the $700 fee. I don't know why this is so difficult, given that everything is computerized anyway, and in this economy, they should be happy to have people interested and willing to transfer to their Bldg #1 and pay the higher rent.
In addition to that, while they are generally very friendly, usually questions are met with "I'll have to check on that and get back to you", and usually the final answer is incorrect anyway. (Ask if they have FiOS is Bldg #2 or #3... they'll say "yes! we offer high-speed internet in bldgs #2 and #3! Mind you, there IS NO FiOS in bldgs #2 or #3)

Electricity - While this is an issue that they are working on, none the less outages still occur. Every time there is any heavy rain, the electricity goes out, anywhere from a few seconds to an hour or two. When this happens, occasionally the security system, lighting, and elevators will also go offline... so just hope you aren't in the elevator when this happens.

Water - What the other postings said was true, there is almost a monthly water or hot-water outage in Bldgs #2 an #3, sometimes with warning, sometimes without.

Elevators - The elevators work... mostly. Sometimes they will randomly not close the door, or will make random clunking noises or bounce when the get to the lobby level; and of course occasionally go offline when power is lost in a storm.

Toxic-bad smells- This is a frequent issue, at least in bldg #3, where every time a resident moves out or like today, they clean the garbage chute, the whole building smells like a superfund site for about 12 to 24 hours. At the moment, it smells like a cross between rotting bananas and amonia. I'm guessing that this is what huffing is like.

Appliances - general apartment state - The appliances in buildings #2 and #3 are OLD. Most of mine in the kitchen are dated from 1992, and are in appropriate condition for that age. The linoleum in the kitchen is faded and yellowed, and won't scrub clean no matter what I've tried.
My dishwasher makes so much noise that it can be heard down the hall... I would think there is something wrong with it, except that occasionally I can hear several of my neighbor's dishwashers which sounds just the same.
In the last two years, two of my blinds have fallen off their mounts, the living room AC died, the toilet broke, and sometimes two of the burners on the stove won't work. Maintenance has been very quick to fix these though, so there is a positive to the negative there.

Laundry Room - Recently they raised the cost of a load of laundry in either a washer or dryer from $1.60 a load to $1.70. This wouldn't be so bad if they maybe had replaced all the washers and dryers with ones which didn't frequently break, or take your money and not credit you the drying time. Oh wait, they didn't replace them, they still suck. There seems to be no AC in there, so try to avoid doing laundry in the summer... or on the weekend.

Hallways - I tell people that I live on the Green Mile, as that is what it seriously reminds me of. White fluorescent lighting, stained and dirty green carpet, scuffed up dirty walls. Randomly missing wire coverings.

Cost of living - value for the cost - Seriously, I wish I had just picked somewhere else to live and paid more. While there are some great advantages to riverside, such as it's low cost, location, parking, or access to metro; the disadvantages just really make me wish I had chose somewhere else instead.

Obviously everything above is somewhat to very annoying, but I suppose one of the things which annoys me most is outside of riverside entirely. There are several auto dealerships nearby, one of which has an open lot and lots of bright lights shining at night. For the first several weeks I couldn't figure out where the odd ghostly voice was coming from, until I happened to be on the balcony at just the right time to hear "Please get off the lot, we are now closed. Please come back during normal business hours. You are being monitored by video and microphone. Leave the lot now or we will call the police."... etc. Aside from the weird wafting voice that I hear a couple times a week, especially if my windows are open (see toxic smell above); the light pollution is so bad that in higher up apartments it lights up the bedroom through the closed blinds at night. It's kind of like having a full moon right over your window every day of the week. Not that this helps light up the parking lot though, since at street level the lights are nicely blocked by a row of trees.

Also, while this location is close to the metro, it is a good 1.5 miles from bldg #3; and from what friends have told me and my own observation, walking it at night is generally a bad idea. Walking it when there is snow is also not a good idea since the snow plows only plow the road, not the side-walk. The recent renovations to I-495 have also included a bike/walk path over route #1, except that it goes to Washington blvd, not directly across route 1 or 495, so yes, bike for fun but not to work. There is a park nearby (Huntington Park), or so the map says. I've been there... it's a big open lot with a lot of overgrown weeds and grass and a baseball field at one end.

Oh yeah, and the nice fitness center and "Club Blu" that they advertise' Free if you live in bldg #1, but they charge you per month otherwise.

So my summary is basically what the title says, it's a cheap place to live, probably better than some other complexes in the area; but really it would be better to spend a little more and get a lot more value for the dollar.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/03/2009
I found the abovereview to be very fair and largely comprehensive. The author was too kind when it comes to the staff though. They are utter morons!!!!! Also, more could be said regarding the negative. Over the years, Riverside has become "Ghetto-fabulous" with some kind of vulgar ebonics replacing English. Even the Spics have trouble understanding the mumbo-jumbo, and there are plenty of them as well. The second thing omitted from the above review was the level of crime, ranging from auto theft, assault, vandalism, and breaking and entering. Many residents are careless leaving the front door ajar inviting riff raff off the street to enter and steal. But then again, riff raff are the ones moving in lately so what's the difference?
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/16/2009
I moved in last month and compared to the apts. in D.C. this is GRAND. Residence and visitors were being robbed every week, cars stolen every month and one maint. person for 500 units. Now mind you this complex was downtown D.C. And to my neighbor above (Mr./Ms.Anonymous) it really DOESN'T matter if you're black, white or HISPANIC there is THEFT, ASSAULT & VANDALISM everywhere. When ya live in the BIG CITY you have to learn how to handle/protect yourself. And to Ms./Mr. "Don't move here unless you're desperate" you're right the carpet is filthy/nasty.

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