Virginia Square Plaza Apartments

Place to live, but not a place to call home From: -Anonymous- Date posted: 8/1/2007 Years at this apartment: 2001 - 2007 8 responses   I've lived at VA Square for 6 years. Yep, 6 of 'em. I knew Oscar, I know Eileen, and yes there is a difference. Dittmar as a company has changed too. If you're looking for a place to live, you'll probably be ok here. The front desk staff are very nice, our maintenance guy is friendly, there's a decent minigym, and the front foyer makes a nice impression. Security is an absolute joke though. When I have friends over they just follow someone in and knock on my door about 50% of the time. We've only had two thefts in the building since I've lived here, but that's all neighborhood and nothing to do with building security. You will, however, be treated like a child, you will have notes stuck under your door and threats made about compliance (not fire safety, just whatever strikes management's fancy that day -- plus Eileen will throw "the law" in your face without actually knowing what she's talking about, evidenced by "the bike in your parking spot is a fire code violation, but the pile of 10000 bricks and cinderblocks we put in the spot next to you isn't"). The homeowners association is a good analogy. This apartment has a full time employee who considers it her job to "patrol the neighborhood" and nag people. *Reasonable* homeowners associations would address actual dangers (mirrors in the garage are a GREAT idea, I've nearly been killed walking to my car) and would understand that you have a HOME and not every weed in the garden needs to be plucked within 48 hours of breaking the surface. If something is totally out of hand THE RESIDENTS will complain, and it then becomes the job of the many to prevent one bad person from ruining the neighborhood. *This* HOA is random and aggressive and nosy, and your enforcer is one person with nothing better to do. You can live here, but you will never be allowed to think you have a home... you are paying for the privilege to live under their rules. The smoke smell is *not* isolated to one apartment with poor weatherstripping. If you visit, walk some halls in the evenings. If you live here, try opening your windows on a pleasant day, especially if you're in the interior courtyard. Ironically, I actually support people's right to smoke on their balcony because I do think this should be a home for them... unfortunately the building design means huge negative pressure in the building -- so everything outside is sucked inside, and everything in apartments (cooking smells, smoke, etc.) is sucked into the hallways. You can even hear the front doors howl when a window is open in the apartment. I have no doubt there are even worse places to live in Arlington, but you can take or leave this place. It's just another profit making corporate venture, it'll be turned into condos when the tax writeoff is complete, and while you're here don't forget to cross the Ts in Dittmar so you never forget who owns you. 5 stars in 2001, 2 stars in 2007. As far as the positive reviews always landing immediately after a negative, I'm suspicious too. They hung a huge "Apartmentratings.com" banner outside a while back... you think no one's keeping an eye on their reviews'

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