If you are planning to rent so that you have a place to sleep, scratch this place from your list. I've been here two years and the management just doesn't stop. The other tenants are quiet, but management continuously have a noisy project going. They seriously make a racket every week. Spring of '07 included chopping down 200 year old trees (went on for days). Chainsaws were out there by 8am. Summer and fall involved painting buildings, but they used rented lifting equipment and set off an alarm (like a bus traveling in reverse) whenever they adjusted the height or moved them. It was like having an outdoor alarm clock. Again, it was usually around 8am. That went on every day for a few months. Apartment modifications were also noisy as they ripped out bathrooms in apartments across the hall, installed additional lighting in the hallways (wear sunglasses at night), etc. Although additional lighting was installed in hallways, I haven't seen it improve security and no additional lighting was added to parking lots. By fall, they started using diamond chain saws and jackhammers to break up perfectly fine sidewalks. That project started in the fall and as of this writing (March 27, 2008), they are still going. They also don't have a set date to finish the project. You can bet money on it that they start within ten minutes of 8am sharp. Unless you work an 9-5 job and never sleep in, other than Sunday....don't plan to get any sleep here. If you work a 2nd or 3rd shift job, you won't look forward to coming home. I've addressed the apartment management several times. They can be friendly, but they don't deliver. I think this is one of the unadvertised reasons this community has a high turnover in tenants.

Cleanliness is also poor. They do allow pets, but they haven't come up with a solution to prevent them from urinating in the hallways and leaving the scene. The longer you can hold your breath, the happier you will be. Trash left in the hallways has also been a common problem. After three months of sending in photographic evidence, management finally talked to tenants, but the problem still isn't fully resolved.

Security here is also poor. I've seen posted community letters in which multiple cars (and even a motorcycle) have been stolen since I have lived here. Even my own car had a whole wheel stolen from it one night. The community is partially fenced in, but the gates are frequently broken. They are also left open during the winter. If you plan to park a car here, you'll want wheel locks and other deterrents. If you are new to northern Virginia, this apartment community is in Loudoun County, so you need to pay property tax on your car every year, even if it is not registered in Virginia. Those in the leasing office never mentioned that when I moved here.
Despite looking nice, you'll find noise and security to cause more frustration here rather than satisfaction. Of all of the places I have lived, this is the worst place I have ever resided.

User Responses
From: HenryThoreau	Date: 03/29/2008
You either have really high expectations or really low ones. I can't decide which. If you lived in an unmaintained dwelling with no pets, then I think you would be happy. Otherwise, you're just gonna have to get used to real life. That drilling that you heard(and posted above) during the day are Verizon FIOS contractors. They had 20 guys working per line for the past 2 weeks. Which, is good. It would suck if I had to sleep through it, yes, but.. it's FIBER OPTIC LINES. They have to bury it below the frostline in the dirt. Or else it will crack, and you will be stuck with coaxial cable for the rest of your stay at this horrific well maintained place. And if they are replacing bathrooms and tiles, then good. I would rather that than live in a unmaintained dwelling. Call me crazy. Now the part with the dogs peeing in the hallway, I don't know. The owners of pets at my site are more considerate. All I smell is fresh air. And if I do see the pets or their owners peeing in the hallway, I'll tell them to stop and take a picture of them and send it to the office. What the management can do is have a maintenance crew blast the hallways out once a month with water, but again, that would wake you up since they don't work at 3 am. If you live in an apartment, there are certain things that you give up. Like absolute silence when maintenance crews are working during the day. From what you've said, the only thing that archstone can do is spray out your hallways regularly, or allow you to shoot your neighbors pets on sight. But again, they'll have to clean up the blood and brains from the hallway during the day. Which, would wake you up- again. Savvy? The issues you are describing are temporary and finite. Verizon is almost done, and you can ask the staff to spray down your hallway. Not a real showstopper.

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