UPDATE!
Feel free to read my original review (below), but my opinion of Brookside Park has since changed. As it turns out, the quality of life here was largely a result of the cost value. They recently raised our rent 16% from what we paid when we first moved here. The fact that we are excellent residents who maintain a beautiful apartment inside and out and pay our rent on time meant nothing to the heartless, greedy people at Sack Properties. I wrote Nancy Weirdsma at Sack a friendly message, twice, and called her once to discuss this rent increase, and in nearly two months she has not responded. She is just another soulless cog in the corporate machine. By the way, they raised my next door neighbor's rent 25%.
So now that Brookside Park is no longer the good value it once was, I'd like to express a few of my grievances that don't quite fit with the new, posh image they're trying to project through their precipitous new prices:
- Brookside Park advertises "babbling brooks" on their voice message when you call the office. The brooks are not at all babbling. I think they are best described as oozing, sludgy, mosquito-breeding cesspools. And that's on a good day. Otherwise, they're just dried up and filled with debris.
- Our ceilings contain asbestos. I always wondered why they had those signs saying "this property contains elements known to the state of California to cause cancer." That's why.
- The TVs in the exercise area have been broken for 2 years.
- The hot tub in the pool area makes a loud hissing noise when the jets are on and has done so for 2 years. It needs to be re-caulked.
- The antenna from my wife's car was unscrewed and stolen while in the Brookside parking lot.
I could continue, but my anger has subsided, so I'll leave it at that for now. Bottom line is, there is no excuse for Sack to ignore a client's letters and calls, and if Brookside wants to raise rent so dramatically, it needs the facilities to back it up.
Old review:
After reading the first review I felt compelled to offer my own take on life here at Brookside Park. I remember when my wife and I were doing our apartment searching 2 years ago and how helpful it was to hear different people's takes on each apartment complex we explored. We settled on Brookside Park and we're very glad we did. Here's why:
The pros:
Our apartment is cozy and very nice. We've got lots of friends in the area and I have to say, our apartment is easily one of the nicest around. I'm pretty sure we pay less than most of our friends, too. The apartment was newly renovated when we moved in so we have granite counter tops, carpeting, some kind of laminate floor, and as of December '10 we now have a built-in washer/dryer (which has been pretty sweet). We live on the top floor so we have high ceilings that really open the place up. We also painted our walls and bought nice furniture, plants, accents, and other things my wife insisted on buying once we got married and decided to make this place our first home together. Apart from the indoor aesthetics, I love the outside. The landscape is impeccably kept, so much so that it makes me wonder how much of my rent money goes toward mowing the grass every day. There's a nice pond with some pretty entertaining resident ducks. Our pool is nice--it's the perfect temperature, gets lots of sunshine, is surrounded by palm trees, and even has a real deep end. There's also an exercise room that is certainly not the greatest, but it's been working fine for me. Another plus is the maintenance staff. Frank and Alfredo are hilarious, and although they don't always solve the problem the first time around, they usual show up promptly after I call and they will keep coming back until the problem is resolved. And finally, the location is great. We're so close to 85, 101, and 237.
The cons:
I don't have much in the way of complaints. Our walls and floors are thin just like most other California apartment complexes, but our neighbors are all quiet, so they don't really ever bother us. One thing that made me pretty mad this past year was when they increased my rent by $52/month. I'm told that for what we're getting we're still paying less than most other people in the area, so I'm trying to let it go, but it does still make me mad that we're paying over $600 more a year. Beyond that, our apartment in particular doesn't get as much sunlight as we'd like, but that's just specific to our location.
So overall, we're very happy here and I often recommend this place to others. I don't doubt that the first reviewer has had a sub-par experience, but I think with a bit of bad luck that's bound to happen anywhere. I hope this helps! read more