I have lived here for about a month, moved in January 2006 and so far I have very few complaints. What follows is my so far lengthy, unorganized, but forward review I have for my first month of living here. Since I (mostly) relied on apartmentratings.com, I thought I??d give my opinion back.

Pros:
All of the staff that I have dealt with is very professional, very willing to help and personal (they??ll even remember your name! 5). So far, I??ve only had really minor maintenance issues (e.g. level my kitchen stove, etc) and maintenance was there within 24 hours. They have a policy that if they don??t respond to a call by 24hrs, you get a day free rent for everyday day they don??t respond or something like that. Anyways, I have no complaints on maintenance herein so far ??fast & professional. I have yet to see any insect infestation of any kind, but, I also keep my place clean (no garbage buildup, no sink buildup, etc), live on the top floor (of 3) and its late winter. As for people from other apartment complexes that have had car thieving problems, so far I have seen none of the sort here. In fact, every-night since I??ve been here I??ve seen some ??American Securities?? car driving around patrolling the parking lots. I am unsure if they were hired by the complex or a resident though. You get a lot of room for your dollar at this place too (1.323 sqft / dollar for 1bdrm) as the places are really big. I have all new GE appliances, gas stove, and new carpet. Finally, at least where I am, it??s really quiet so far. I don??t hear my neighbors and the stuff outside is at a low enough level so when someone??s doing something outside that I don??t care. Summation: I??m impressed so far.

Cons:
Having washer/dryer hookups would have been nice. Wash/Dry is $1.75 per use. The dryers are big though, so, you??ll be able to fit 2 loads in one dryer if you wanted. To get to my apartment, I have to drive across approximately 7 speed bumps in the parking lots. Ya, I know, safety, blah blah blah, but they really piss me off when you have to drive over them at least twice a day, 5 days a week minimum. In my apartment, there are two wall cable outlets, according to the people at Cox (local cable/internet provider) the one is for show and not even hooked up! So, it was a whole fiasco for them to run the cable across my living room to my TV. Oh well, once and be done. There is wire laid for the next person now at least :-) Summation: With the exception of my wanting washer/dryer hookups, none of these cons are serious enough for me to really care.

Neutral:
There??s a metro bus stop if you??re into that right in front of the complex. Closest metro stop is Van Dorn, about 2.6 miles. It runs on the blue line. There??s a (crappy) mall right up the street, but, fear not because the whole Springfield Mall shopping mega-area is only about 5 miles away. For those of you like me who commute to work in NOVA away from Alexandria, you??ll find there is zero traffic until you get to 495 at Braddock (there is an ever so slight ??backup?? at backlick rd). It??s really sweet because I can get to work in 10 minutes, as opposed to 45 from my prior residence when I was interning. Traffic generally sucks in nova. I haven??t figured out why going away from Alexandria to Braddock/495 is a traffic-free bubble, but frankly, I don??t really care as long as it stays that way. Finally, V. V. is located in Fairfax County for the people who care about the whole school districting thing. Oh yeah, if your into mountain biking, the ??best?? mountain bike park in the area, Wakefield, is very very close.

Conclusions:
Obviously, different people have different living needs and not everyone will be compatible with a apartment/townhouse/etc. For me, a recent college grad w/a new job this place fits all my needs very well because its not shoddy college living and as long as things continue as they do, I intend to renew my lease. It seems there are some mixed feelings about this place posted. The reviewer on 2/6/2006 talked about roaches, overflowing sinks, and guest parking. Again, I have no roach problems, but, its still winter and I keep my place clean, food sealed, etc. I certainly have no maintenance problems like the reviewer claimed. In fact, with new appliances and remodeled everything I don??t think I??m going to (or at least hope). I??ve already had some guests over and the office staff issued temporary parking passes for them allowing them to park anywhere they want, so?? Another reviewer complained their car got towed because they were parked over the lines. My comment to that is if you leave your car half-assed parked like that then what do you expect the towing company to do' I??m convinced every towing company is shady, they're in the business to make money and they make their money by towing cars, so it wont take much convincing to tow cars taking up two spots. I intend to write an exit review as well, so someone apartment hunting in the future can judge with consistentancy how this place plays out over time. Also, since car thievery is such a big deal and a lot of posts at apartmentratings complain/issue warnings about it, I too will make a post about that if my car gets its tires slashed / broken into / etc. My advice for those looking is to not pick a place based on one review, but, read what everyone has to say and form your own opinions. Good luck!

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