Review History for anonymous

Shields-West Apartments


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anonymous

Resident 2008 - 2012

6/10/2012

The apartment grounds are beautifully kept and welcoming, and the units look like that, too. LOOK is the key here. Every time I had something I needed repaired, it took forever to get a maintenance contractor out, and there have been issues on the quality of the work done, too. I had issues with the sound insulation: the complex is on a major thoroughfare where cars often speed and fly down at 45-50mph, at which the old and worn-down single-pane windows would rattle, making it impossible to sleep well. The walls seem awful thin, too, you can hear your neighbors often, and you can ALWAYS hear their water pipes running. The insulation could use a revamp, I would spend over $120 on the air conditioning every month in the summer while keeping the house at a sweltering 80 degrees or hotter. The mangates are often broken - they either won't lock, or won't open, so getting in and out of the complex after the 5pm "curfew" when the car gate locks is difficult if you forget your remote for the main gate. Parking is out of the way, your car is more often than not FAR from your place (yay groceries), there is less than adequate guest parking. You only get 1 assigned spot; if you happen to have two cars, one needs to be left in one of the preciously few guest spots. Landscaping comes every Thursday, when they run the lawnmower, the blower, the edger and the weed-eater non-stop from about 9am to 1pm at the very least, often until 2, or even 2.30. The on-site laundry is relatively small (2 rooms with 3 washers/3 dryers each for 50 units), and is usually dirty and unkempt. The pool area is nice, even though the only shade structure, a little gazebo, was torn down last year. The floor plan for the 1 bedroom is alright: the kitchen is very tight on counterspace and even tighter on power outlets. In my unit the oven, fridge, and dishwasher were all old and not too energy efficient. Air conditioning is nearly useless, makes the living room freezing cold, and leaves the bedroom still hot. The bathroom is tiny and kind of claustrophobically tight; two people can definitely NOT get ready to work at the same time. The bedroom is spacious and can even fit a California King set; however, the shoddy blinds, the huge window, and the walkway lights right outside the windows make it awful hard to get a good night's sleep. The living room is pretty spacious, too, and the units have cable hook-ups; however, there is no central ceiling fan or light in the living room. The current manager is really unprofessional!!! She tries to avoid any conflict, and treats serving notices or talking about issues as if she was reprimanding a little kid. She is also way too wound up on small issues, and forgets to see the big ones. The $595/mo rent is not too expensive for the Fresno area, but I don't think this place delivers $595's worth for your money. Pros: nice pool, spacious living room/bedroom, cable hook-ups installed, located on a main road, fairly priced. Cons: unprofessional staff, thin walls, lots of nuisances, no pets, no charcoal BBQ's (and now an enforcement on only camp stove style propane ones), not enough parking, noise. Your mileage may vary on the neighbors, I didn't get the best selection myself. Overall, this may not be a bad deal for you if the above issues don't send you up the walls. They sure did do me in.

    Review 3 out of 3

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    Shields-West Apartments

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