Review History for jsbdgolden

Lake Village East


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jsbdgolden

Resident 2010

4/21/2010

Cheap Rental, but be advised...

...you get what you pay for. PARKING Parking is limited, at best. The spots are narrow and some neighbors take up 2 spaces at a time. The resident parking lot has an odd layout, since cars can enter and exit at a bottleneck. Guest parking is in a small adjacent lot that's roughly 1/2 block away from the building entrance. Overnight, its a creepy and long walk to the building becuase there are few street lights. Street parking is relatively inexistent. NOISE This place is NOISY!! The building is located on the corner of two busy streets and is 1/4 mile away from south lake shore drive. Additionally, it towers over the metra electric line. Although the metra trains dont usally make much noise, there are commercial trains that grind over those tracks. The noise created by the commercial train often overpowers the volume of my television and I usually have to close my windows. (I live near the top floor.) Street noise can get disruptive when the weather is nice out. Cars tend to gather in the parking lot of the small shopping mall across from the building. I heard loud conversation and heavy bass on a nearly nightly basis last summer. Oh, you'll also get a lot of noise from the motorcyclists barreling down LSD. GROUNDS The grounds are maintained at a reasonable level. Rarely is garbage strewn about, even in the parking lots. Over the winter, snow and ice were cleared to the best of maintenance's abilities. Grounds maintenance falls short once you enter the building. - Elevators - There are two elevators (no service elevator) which are very antiquated and small. They break down regularly--usually, one malfunctions every month. When the elevator malfunctions, it is shut down and all track is forced to flow through one car. At one point in February 2010, both cars were broken and residents were forced to take the stairs. My husband and I had to climb 24 flights of steep stairs with groceries and our newborn. - Laundry Room - The laundry room was recently updated; high efficiency front- and top-loading, single-load washers were installed. There are two heavy-duty, multi-load washers that are inoperable for at least two months. No word has been received as to whether or not these machines will be repaired, replaced or removed. There are five dryers; typically three work well enought to dry a load of clothes within 30 minutes. All of these machines are coin-operated, but there is no coin machine in the building. If you're out of quarters and need to do a load, your only option is to go across the street to the spin cycle laundromat and change your bills there. I usually try to stop at a bank and get a few rolls of quarters. - Lobby/Security Desk- The lobby is very small and its virtually impossible to board an elevator without bumping into a person who is stepping off the car. This is due to the security desk jutting out into the limited walkway in front of the elevators. SAFETY This is a joke. The building outsourcing its security needs to Darby or Danby Security (can't recall the exact company name). The company must rotate staff (or have a high-turnover), because I've only seen people stick around for a few weeks before someone else replaces them. Usually, the staff is fairly young and unprofessional. I have witnessed "security professionals" casually take phone calls on their cell phones, play music, neander outside to smoke or just stand leisurely on the front steps, and engage in inappropriate conversation with residents and guests. I'm not sure what the building's contract is with this company, but I'm certain they could do better by hiring a dedicated security professional. CONSTRUCTION Lake Village East is an old building; there are no frills. There are eight units per floor; the largest unit is 2 bedrooms. Heat is included in rent, and it can get really hot! I believe the heat radiates through the floor. There is no way to control the temperature, short of opening up your windows--doing so will inevitably lead to street noise bombardment (see "Noise" entry above). - Inside the unit - There is an air-conditioning unit support grate available. We had a new refridgerator and a cleaned, but obviously used, stove when we moved in. The apartment is fully carpeted--the carpet was new when we moved in. The bathroom is very small. There is a corner sink basin (not a pedestal or vanity) that was caulked and poorly nailed to the wall. We've been there less than a year and the sink is slowly detaching. The bi-fold closet doors are ~10' high and two have come undone. Maintenance has not yet responded to our repair request. STAFF One word: unprofessional. Little, if any, notice is given when major repairs are going to take place. The leasing agent/manager is rude. One day I was walking into the building with my arms full of groceries. She was speaking with someone and started heading toward the security door and keyed in. I was trying to get my keys without dropping my groceries, but when I saw the door open, I just walked right in. She actually stopped me and told me that I needed to go back in the hall and wait to be buzzed in by a resident. When I informed her I was a resident she scowled and I hastily produced my keys. She didn't apologize for the confusion. Instead, she watched me as I got my mail and boarded the elevator. Overall, I'd never recommend Lake Village East--its horrible. The only silver-lining is the low rent. But as I mentioned earlier, you get what you pay for.

    Review 2 out of 6

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