I don?t give much credit to the three previous reviews, which seem to me unspecific, unsubstantiated whining.



I agree the rent is too high, but I think this is as much Mary Washington College?s fault as it is the property mangement company?s (AIMCO?s). MWC recently began admitting more students than it could house, forcing students into local apartments. Rent all over the city has skyrocketed over the past couple of years, especially in the professionally managed complexes (Snowden, Greenbrier, Belmont, etc.). The higher rent is comparable to on-campus housing, anyway, and what company with an ounce of business sense would charge less for its apartments than it could get'



I also agree the construction is pretty shoddy. The walls are awfully thin, and it?s easy to hear babies crying, phones ringing, stereos kept at reasonable volumes, even normal speaking voices, in neighboring units. I didn?t have any problems with appliances that weren?t fixed as soon as I reported them, though, and I thought the appliances were fairly new. My apartment was spotless when I moved in, and the paint on the walls was fresh, and the carpet seemed pretty new, too. The machines in the laundry rooms aren?t the best, but they?re not old, and they never once "ate" my money. (However the laundy rooms could certainly stand to be cleaned a little more often, I would say.)



I never had a problem with the office staff. They?re reasonable if you are, and they?re as responsive as they can be, given their workload. Keep in mind they don?t have absolute authority over the complex; Aimco does. When they say there?s nothing they can do, I believe them.



Parking is pretty obnoxious. It?s barely adequate for residents, some of whom unfairly take up space with commercial vehicles. There really isn?t enough parking for visitors, especially Friday and Saturday nights, but this is a chronic problem for most apartment complexes I?ve seen, and short of building a parking garage, which would be restrictively expensive, what can be done'



The towing situation isn?t so great. My guess is Aimco has a deal with the evil, maniacal towing company, and receives kickbacks. I never had a problem, but some of my guests did. Make sure you observe the parking rules and you shouldn?t have a problem.



I wasn?t aware there were only two maintenance people for the entire complex, but whether or not that is the case, I never had a problem getting repairs done. I always received next-day service, and I even reached one maintenance person at his house when my heat stopped functioning one night. No problems there.



Snow removal was a problem, but I tried to keep in mind the winter of 2002-03 was particularly bad. Still, I think a better job could have been done on sidewalks and stairs; I had to do a lot of shoveling on my own, more than I thought was reasonable.



I thought the safety situation was pretty good. The place is farily well lit, although there are a few dark areas. There was one serious incident while I was there, something about an attempted kidnapping, but the staff was quick to distribute flyers to all the residents to raise awareness.



All in all, I didn?t have an awful experience. I think it was pretty average for a complex. My recommendation is to avoid complexes altogether, but Snowden isn?t a bad choice if you?re low on options.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates