I was unhappy staying at Amli Apartments, and I think you probably will be too.
The problems:
1. There's no sound proofing in the interior walls and poor sound proofing in the exterior walls. If you're thinking about renting an apartment here, do this: in the two bedroom apartments one of the bedrooms will likely share a wall with the kitchen. Have one person stand in the bedroom while the other person goes into the kitchen and opens and closes cabinets (they don't have to slam them closed, just close them naturally). The lack of sound proofing means the shared wall acts like a drum--the sound of the cabinets closing will boom through the bedroom even if the person in the kitchen is closing them softly.
Also, you'll hear your neighbors. When I'm paying this much for an apartment I expect to not be able to hear my neighbors. If you're thinking about renting here make sure you visit during a time of day when lots of people are at home--as you walk down the hallway you'll hear the people inside the apartments talking--not just sounds, you'll be clearly able to hear their conversations. When I was living here I could occasionally hear my neighbors through my bedroom walls (and I bet they could hear me too--sorry for snoring!).
And finally, you'll hear the trains. I expected that some sound would get through, given that it's across the street from the train tracks, but the poor quality construction means that the sound is a lot more intense than I expected. You'll have to pause your phone conversations and TV shows while the trains go by, and at certain times of day the trains go by every few minutes. Make sure that if you do view the apartment that you visit while the trains are going by. Try talking on the phone while they go by--I've been on conference calls that had to pause every time a train rolled by. Now imagine doing that every day you live here. Hint--some trains are louder than others. When you're checking out the apartments if a train goes by and it doesn't seem loud, make sure you wait for a couple more.
2. Amli loves nickle-and-diming you. Lots of apartments increase the rent if you go month-to-month, but I've never had an apartment increase the rent by more than $1,000. Given that so many units here are empty I understand that they're desperate to force tenants into year-long leases, but maybe they should try doing it in a less-hostile manner? I had to stay a month longer than my lease while we closed my home purchase, so I paid the extra $1,000 for that month. It made me angry as hell to pay it, but the alternative was more expensive. They knew it and they took advantage of me, and for anyone thinking about moving here, remember this--they'll take advantage of you too if they can. For example, they increased my rent after the end of my first year lease, and told me it was still less than "market rate." Well, I can look out my window and see units that have been empty the entire time I've lived here, so their definition of market rate must be different than mine. Basically, once you've moved in they know it's expensive to move out, so they'll start twisting the screw on you. Looking at all the empty units, I think they're desperate to make money off their tenants, and that means they'll take every opportunity to screw you.
3. Amli isn't in the best area of Evanston. The neighborhood is nice and walkable, but there will be crime if you live here. For example, some bicycles were stolen from the bicycle storage units here, and another time they caught some guy climbing in through someone's window. For a while they informed us about the break-ins, but at some point the emails stopped. If you want to live here lock your windows and don't leave valuables in your car.
Despite what I wrote about Amli above, not everything was bad. I liked the gym. I liked the neighborhood. I liked the roof deck. I liked how convenient everything is. You can get that from any of the other buildings in the immediate area, though. If you live here you'll have to deal with Amli managemnt and their desperation to make more money off you. And even if Amli managment policies change, there's not much they can do about soundproofing at this stage. I couldn't recommend that anyone live here. read more
