My husband and I have lived here for about 9 months, and I still love it here - with a few caveats, see the end of this post.

The community is mostly quiet, though you can sometimes hear children playing outside during the day, especially in summer. Noise from neighbors is limited - at first we wondered if we even had neighbors! In fact, the good walls can be inconvenient when my husband talks to me from the other room and I can't hear him :-) Insulation is great - we only ever turned our heat on for one week in the dead of winter (we are on the top floor, though, and heat rises), and summer heat didn't bother us much either.

There are small playgrounds scattered throughout the community, and most people would be able to watch their children play from their balconies. I feel very safe here - I don't worry too much about locking the car, and feel comfortable leaving my purse there overnight, even! Never heard of anyone having their car broken into here, unlike my last complex which had three break-ins in as many months.

The floor plans are nice, and our kitchen has both a bar and a pantry. Washer and dryer in the unit. Our last month's combined water, sewer, and trash bill was $41.48, not $100 water bills for 2 people like someone claimed. You can pay your rent automatically each month using e-billing through the Archstone website, if you like the convenience.

Management has been great. We had a problem with our stove that was fixed the day after we reported it. When our phone service was out (we use VOIP), they allowed us to use the office phones to call people to get the problem corrected, and even let us stay a little bit after hours to work on the problem. Also, I recently had to apply for a disabled parking permit, and management put in a disabled spot near my apartment for me - which was necessary due to the lousy parking (see below).

Other plusses: three swimming pools, one indoors; a small 40-seating theater you can reserve; weight rooms, racketball court, basketball court; monthly free movies at the small theater; activities for kids; great family community; walking distance from "Bothell Tech Corridor" - my husband walks to work.

Downsides: The pet costs are outrageous. $20/month per pet in PET RENT' I never heard of this! Plus a $400 fee (not deposit - no refund) for two cats in *addition* to the added rent' On the plus side, due to some complications, management waived $100 of the pet fee without us even asking.

Parking is pretty bad - you don't get an assigned spot unless you pay $35 a month for the covered parking, or something more for a garage space. There is free, unlimited uncovered parking - but if you get home late, you may have to park on the other side of the large complex, about a small city block away. This can be a nightmare if you have groceries, or a health problem that makes walking difficult.

If you are on the top floor, climbing two flights of stairs to the third floor can be annoying, though we didn't mind it until I became pregnant with twins :-)

I don't know if they raise rent at the end of your contract, since we are still on our first lease.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/26/2007
I can't reply to my own post with my name, so I am posting anonymously. Change this 5 star to a one, maybe two star. They lied about what our fees were for, and tried to break the law by not applying our holding fee (which I had thought was a damages fee) to our first month's rent or to our security deposit. They also did not count a CENT of our over $700 in pet fees against damages. We have not heard back from them since I informed them that they needed to apply our holding fee to our first month's rent (which they didn't do) or a security deposit. If they press the matter, we are prepared to take further action and already have some paperwork prepared. Know the RCW tenant laws when you move out. Otherwise, it still was an okay place to live. I just can't stand lying and law-breaking. Hold off on renewing your lease as long as possible, they only raised our rent by 8% after they threatened to raise it by over 30% at first. And if you are considering moving here, check out the other places within a mile. They are mostly more affordable.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/13/2008
Other than they are liars and swindlers it's an OK place to live, where are your principles?

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