We lived in the Duramwood section of The Woods from April 2004- Sept 2007. The apartment was large and airy, with a lot of natural light, ample electrical outlets, and an amazing amount of closet/storage space that included a 6x20 attic crawlspace accessed through a bedroom closet. We had our own garage, and although the apartment didn't lead directly into the garage, we had our own stairwell that ended a foot from the side garage door, and complete ownership of the (lockable) storage area underneath the stairs. In 2 1/2 years, we only ever heard our next door neighbors if they were outside on the balcony that was inches from the bedroom window. Occasionally there would be a bump on the wall, but you won't be able to hear their conversations or their TV/Music Systems. The price is very competitive with others in the area- and they keep it that way by some complicated system that monitors the housing market. This means that rents can change daily, however, so you could end up paying more for the same unit your neighbor signed the lease on the day before. Unlike every other place we've rented, when your lease is up, you are NOT immediately subjected to a huge rate hike while new tenants are given the deals. In fact, while our rent did increase after the first time our lease was up- after 18 months- it only increased $75, while new tenants were paying $200 more. When we moved out, as was clearly stated in our lease, because we had been there for more than 18 months, we didn't have a dime deducted from the deposit for the carpet cleaning or painting. Anything that needed replaced was clearly itemized, both with how long we'd lived there and when they had been last replaced, with the charges pro-rated accordingly. We received $1600 back from a $2200 deposit, despite them replacing all the carpet and linoleum in the apartment and having left them with extra cleaning. We've lived in other places for just as long, or longer, and received much less of our deposit back despite spending 2 days cleaning and them not replacing the carpet or linoleum.
Those were the good points. There are many bad ones, as well.
There is not enough parking. We should have been fine, since we had a garage and only 1 car. There were 8 "reserved" parking spaces directly next to our garage that are supposed to be for Residents only. This is not at all enforced, and people's visitors don't give a darn if they don't pull in all the way (or have extended vans or trucks) and completely block your entrance/exit to your garage. And when you call Security, they either give you blank looks and try to tell you that you can make it around them (hey, what do they care if you hit the other car or the side of the garage!) or they complain loudly about having to call the tow truck, and refuse to believe that the parking is supposed to be for residents only, despite it being clearly posted on a sign as you enter the parking lot and in every single monthly newsletter. I don't know what the previous poster is talking about, claiming to see 30 open spots from her balcony. That is bull. There are maybe 3-4 open spots in front of the buildings- not counting the 8 "reserved" spots in some buildings, all the rest are assigned. But this isn't clearly marked, so idiots like him/her will probably park in your spot, so you have to have them towed away. Security is constantly having to do this.
Security: The only thing they are marginally good for is towing people out of your parking spot and asking them to be quiet if you complain. The gates are broken 90% of the time, and yet they still inconvenience you by leaving the outgoing gate working. We complained about 5 teenage boys sitting on our steps with open laptops, and they didn't see what the problem was. They walked past people moving into the building next to us at 2 AM- banging furniture and with the loud back-up beep from the trucks, and said nothing to them.
Maintenance: They are good about fixing things quickly and correctly. However, they see nothing wrong with doing things like taking a shortcut onto the roof by putting their ladder up directly in front of your door, blocking you in. Or coming into your apartment while you are sleeping because they were supposed to be there to inspect something between 1-5, and they show up before 9 AM instead. Entrance notices are also rarely given 24 hours in advance because Security passes them out late at night. We've gone out at 10 PM and found a notice that hadn't been on the door at 9 PM, telling us that someone would be entering the apartment the next morning- for non-emergency maintenance. It also used to be, when we first moved in, that they could come around to trim the trees away from the building twice a year and pressure wash the building once a year. That has ended. We complained in April about a tree branch rubbing on the a/c unit of our Master Bedroom and squeaking loudly, and it had not been addressed when we moved out in September. We got notices to remove planters and windchimes, etc from our balcony in February because they were about to paint- that also had not happened as of September.
Neighbors: For the most part, if you live in Duramwood, Foxwood, or Edenwood, the people living there seem to be mostly professionals and not a lot of trouble. However, the low rent apartments of the other villages seem to attract some real winners. If you happen to live across the street from Brentwood, for instance, this means you get to share the joy of living next to drug dealers too. Before we moved out, even Duramwood became to be a problem, with new neighbors whose balcony was inches from our window out there smoking pot, not caring that it came right in through the window.
Management: "Resident Relations" is a joke. Their whole purpose is to diffuse your anger, not solve anything. It used to be that the Manager was better, but calls about 3 separate incidents before we moved out were never returned- even after I left 2 messages about 1, and my husband left 1 and tried to stop in the office to talk to her in person. Coincidentally, every time he stopped, she was off that day or he'd just missed her. So we gave notice and got out.
The apartments are nice, the price is okay, but for us, the hassles just weren't worth living there.