Pros (cons will follow below):
- safe neighborhood and nice, quiet neighbors
- year-round outdoor jacuzzi, summer season heated pool
- office manager Sarah is friendly and courteous
- fireplace
- no problem with finding guest or street parking if you have a visitor
- no washer/drier in unit (yes, for me it's a pro: trust me, with Bay area building standards, that would be a huge source of noise and leave you less square feet) - laundry room available, $1.50 a load, front-loading machines
- may not hold for all apts, but mine gets lots of sunlight and it helps to keep the apt warmer in winter; I personally don't feel there is a need for AC in summer.
Cons:
- Essex corporation is greedy without any link to reality: $200/month rent increase has sent many tenants on move as of recent; a reliable, trouble-free tenant is not valued by this corporation over potential gain - and in fact they have apartments standing empty for a month or more (effectively losing a month's worth of rent which is equivalent to what they would have earned with their $200/month increase over a year, but they don't know math)
- The building quality is no different from the rest of the Bay area - walls are thin, and yes, I could keep diaries about when my neighbors shower or have sex; thankfully, the relatively high rent does the "natural selection" for nice, quiet neighbors (or maybe they're all out most of the time trying to make money to pay rent).
- Interior materials and fixtures are the cheapest there exist: linoleum floors (carpet in bedroom, some apts have carpet also in living room), PLASTIC bathtub (and they call this a luxury apartment...!), single-pane windows.
- Occasionally, there are uinvited guests using the pool - loud uncivilized ******* families (cannot use ethnic identifiers for political correctness reason) whom I have seen driving up with their car, it's clear they don't live here. Either they have obtained a copy of the pool gate key, or fiddled with it by other means. I called management, and the Essex standpoint is that they don't care if non-residents are using the facilities that the residents pay for, and if the violators are there after 10PM I can call the police (well, by that time they're gone).
- Occasionally, I also see people drive up with cars to use the laundry machines (door always open).
- High utility costs (1BR typically $75/month), no individual water meters
Judge for yourself if you're willing to pay what they ask. I think it's overpriced.