I'll address the items in the order that they appear in the survey below.

1. Parking: We have one assigned spot in the garage per apartment unit. The indoor, assigned parking is fantastic, especially in the winter. But if you ever have guests, there's not really any parking available for them. The office says that the spots outside the garage are for guests, but they are filled with residents who don't want to pay for a second (or third) garage parking space for their extra cars. When I have guests, I usually park my car in a spot outside the garage early in the afternoon, then move my car to my spot in the garage when my guest arrives in the evening. If you know enough ahead of time, you can go to the office to get a guest parking permit, but then your guest has to park on the top floor of the garage.

2. Noise level: I can hear my upstairs neighbor urinate. My downstairs neighbor's TV sometimes wakes me up in the middle of the night. I think it all depends on your neighbors, but if you can afford it, live on the top floor. There's nothing fun about knowing when your neighbors are using the bathroom!

3. Grounds: The grounds are well kept and clean most of the time. The landscaping is nothing special, but it looks fine and it's well kept. The only major complaint is that dog owners don't always pick up after their pets, even though the community provides bags and pet waste disposal stations. Some people throw rotten food off their balconies. I don't know why, but there's often melon rinds, stale bread, or brownish lettuce in the gardens. This year, there are also TONS of mushrooms/fungi growing everywhere. Not really sure where they came from, but if you're allergic that kind of stuff, you won't want to open your windows!

4. Safety: It's in a pretty safe area, and the community is well lit most of the time. The only problem is that sometimes it's TOO safe. If you happen to go outside and forget your key card, forget about getting back in. There are no keypads to enter a code or unlocked doors anywhere into the building. If you live alone, you can't even use the call box to call up to your apartment, because nobody will be there to buzz you in. Even if you did have someone to buzz you in, you'd only get into the garage. Your roommate/spouse/whoever would still have to come to the door between the garage and the building to let you in. Also, you have to let guests and food deliveries in; you can't buzz them into the building - only into the garage. They cannot get into the building without your key card.

5. Construction: As I previously mentioned, the sound insulation from above and below pretty much sucks. Other than that, construction is ok. I have a few stress cracks in the plaster on some walls (particularly above doorways and below window sills), but I think some of that is to be expected as the new building settles. The layout is nice and all the fixtures/fittings/finishes are very nice. I like the tall cabinets, but it's impossible to reach the top two cabinet shelves without a ladder or step-stool. I just don't use them. I would have put something other than wire shelving in the pantry because the weight of a couple cans of food makes the shelf sag. Also, I don't get any cell phone service in my apartment. I use Cingular and in the rare case that the call actually goes through, it usually ends up dropping or breaking up too much to continue. I don't know if that's related to the construction or the layout of the buildings, but I don't have this problem anywhere else in Herndon or outside of my apartment in the community.

6. Maintenance: I've been very happy with maintenance. They always respond promptly and are generally able to fix things pretty fast.

7. Office staff: Generally very good. They seem to care a lot, and usually call to follow up on maintenance requests. They host fun parties fairly regularly and have known me by name since the day I moved in. I have had an occasional issue with packages, but that's mostly because FedEx/UPS/USPS doesn't always leave a note on your door because they can't get in the building to do so. The office kindly sends a note about a week after the package arrives if you don't pick it up. Instead, I have urgent packages delivered to my office.

8. Overall: If you can afford it, go for it. It's quite pricey, even for this area. Rent also tends to jump up a LOT at each renewal. Mine went up $100/month my first renewal and was supposed to go up $150/month for this renewal. Instead, I'm moving out because it's getting too expensive, too fast. The move in fees (not deposits!) are also quite pricey; when I moved in there was no security deposit, but several non-refundable fees. Finally, I hope the ladies in the office are as wonderful during my move-out as they have been for the last two years.

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