My husband and I have lived at Hopkins Park Apartments in a two-bedroom unit now for eight months. It's a quiet, well-maintained complex. Well-behaved pets are welcome. I have seen cats and dogs, but I hear no barking dogs from my unit, and I see no dog poop outside. Management seems to be proactive about handling complaints.
Most of the residents are middle-aged, and many are seniors. Thanks to the rent control in Berkeley, many residents have lived here for years, or even decades. Because they consider this place home, they've put flowers, bulbs, or low-growing herbs in the garden beds by their doors, and some have elaborate container gardens. I've done a bit of gardening by my front door too, and I appreciate that management doesn't discourage this.
Since the units are small and since the Bay area requires open windows, our peace is largely a gift of considerate neighbors. In my area at least, they're very good about noise. I can't hear the neighbors on either side, but I can hear the woman above me walk around, and I can sometimes hear her when she's talking. More soundproofing in the floors would be very welcome.
The units are quite small. The 2-bedroom apartment is about 660 square feet (24' x 27.5'). There are 3 small utility closets: a coat closet, a linen closet with shelves, and a broom closet. We took the door off the linen closet so we could use it as built-in shelves and put the litter box underneath. Plus, there are 2 clothes closets, one 7' and the other 5' long. The kitchen has little in the way of counter space, but management provided us with a microwave cart and a metal-topped kitchen-island-style storage cabinet, and we brought a 3 x 5' kitchen table. Using all those pieces together, we've been able to prepare complex meals without much trouble.
The location is perfect, right next to the Ohlone Greenway in a pleasant neighborhood in the "flat" part of Berkeley. We're near many of the fun locations without having to listen to the traffic. BART is a 7-minute walk away (with access to San Francisco and both airports), and we can walk to the Fourth Street shops, to shops and restaurants on Shattuck, or to Trader Joe's by the university in about 20 minutes. San Pablo shops are even closer. So is Monterey Market. Solano Street is about a half-hour walk. The neighborhood in all those directions is full of charming bungalows and is a real joy to walk through, and I've felt safe walking nearby before dawn and after dark. The park across from the complex is a magnet for neighborhood activities and family birthday parties. It's a great place to go to people-watch and pet other people's dogs. The main sound I hear during the day is children playing in the park.
The office isn't staffed fulltime, but staff is quick to respond to email. Maintenance has me spoiled: they've responded to my forms the next day, and the problem is usually fixed within half an hour. They've replaced a drippy faucet and a wobbly toilet seat for me, but honestly, the place is well kept, so there haven't been a lot of reasons to call them.
The staff don't wait for things to become emergencies, either, before they deal with them. My toilet started bubbling one evening, and when I reported it to management the next day, I was told that they had learned this from other residents and had sent a plumber out at midnight to check the lines before a clog could cause any overflow damage. A few nights later, my toilet bubbled again, and this time I knew to call the emergency line. About 20 minutes later, a plumber came to my door accompanied by the resident manager, and he must have taken care of the problem at the main line because it didn't happen again.
In terms of shared services or common space, the laundry room for our half of the complex is roomy and well lit and is kept clean, with four card-operated washers and dryers and a sink. It has a code on the door to guard against theft. The parking lots are small, but we've always found a space--not that we move our car that often. We only have one car, and I think they only give out a tag for one car. I'm not sure what two-car residents do. Each resident is also issued a key to an indoor storage locker. Ours is about 3' x 3' x 4', nice extra room for suitcases and holiday decorations.
The biggest problem with Hopkins Park Apartments, from a renter's point of view, is that so few units become available. Even the ones that do become available often don't make it to the advertising stage. I knew this place was perfect for our needs, so I didn't wait for a unit to be advertised. I called to find out if there would be any availability in the next few months, signed a lease on a unit the same day the tenant announced she was moving out, and rented it empty for a month before we needed it. If I had it to do over again, I still would: I'd spend that extra money in a heartbeat. This is a great complex to settle into and call home. read more