if you want to live at the Decatur Apartments. I had an apartment there for one year, and it is the worst place I have ever lived in. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Location: First Hill is not a great neighborhood to live in. It is mostly residential, so you have to walk or drive to Capital Hill if you want to go to a bar, restaurant, or even a grocery store. Also, the Decatur is located between two hospitals (Swedish and Virginia Mason). You will hear ambulance sirens all the time, even at night when you are trying to sleep.

2. Apartment Building: The building itself is ugly to look at, especially compared to the other places in the neighborhood. The maintenance staff does a terrible job of keeping the building clean and there is usually a lot of garbage and vandalism on the premises.

3. Parking Garage: There is an indoor parking garage, but there are very few spaces compared to the number of apartments. When I lived there I had a parking spot, but I know many other people had to go on the waiting list for several months. The garage was not really safe because it was broken into four times, despite the security cameras.

4. Street Parking: The street in front of the Decatur has some parking spots, but they have strictly enforced parking meters. There are some nearby streets with no meters, but these are for Residential Parking Zone residents. However, the Decatur is on a street block that does not qualify for a RPZ permit.

5. Moving Out: The Decatur will charge you for mandatory cleaning and carpet fees which are not specified in your lease and illegal under the Landlord-Tenant Act. This property is managed by a large corporation (HSC Real Estate), so they think they can overcharge residents because most people dont understand their legal rights.

I hope this information will be useful. I cant understand why anybody would want to live there!

User Responses
From: luvdecatur	Date: 09/19/2005
lived here for 15 years. Your one year does NOT tell the truth, nor do you.
From: mamala	Date: 02/05/2006
try moving out, and see if they gouge you for a bunch of fees or an extra month's rent, HSC Real Estate has a reputation for this in Seattle, BTW.

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