I've lived in multifamily houses in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, and I've lived in big…read moreapartment buildings. By far, 91 Sidney (aka University Park) is the best building I ever lived in for a host of reasons. I moved to North Carolina a couple years ago but kept my job in Boston, and lived at 91 Sidney part time for the last 2 years, while commuting to/from Boston. Coming home after a long day of travel, or after a long day at work really felt like "coming home." The location alone is excellent, in one of my favorite neighborhoods in the Boston area - Central Square. Central Square has changed a lot over the last few years, and it can be a very noisy area, but not at 91 Sidney. I looked forward to coming home, walking into the building, greeted by a smile at the front desk (and like anyone else, I have my favorites), often quickly and easily picking up a package that might be waiting for me, and then taking the elevator up to my floor and always with another friendly tenant. 91 Sidney is a clean, tidy, quiet, secure building. These things are important to me. This is my home, after all! The one thing that I love most about 91 Sidney though, is the quiet. As I understand it, the building was originally built for condominiums, each one to be sold. That changed, during the economic crash of 2008, and instead it became apartments. But what that means is that the units were developed to be condos, and thus of high quality materials, hardware, and for me - most importantly - for quiet! There is literally zero noise between units. I literally never ever, not once, heard any of my neighbors, from those on either side of me, or above me. My biggest pet peeve is noisy neighbors! I hate it so much, especially at night when I need to sleep. But I literally never heard a single thing from the apartment above mine, or from those next to me - nothing, not a peep. And the people above me have children. Children run, the cry, the make lots of noise. But I'd never know that until I met them, cuz again - I never heard a peep. This is in stark contrast to other places I lived, like Archstone for example, where we once lived but had to break our lease to leave - it was nothing like 91 Sidney. The noise from one of our neighbors, and from above, was too much to bear. It was truly awful. 91 Sidney on the other hand, is peaceful. I cannot overstate how important that is to me.
If I ever had problems, needed maintenance for example, I got it promptly and professionally. Maintenance people at most apartment buildings usually, well, they are usually lazy and don't care about their work. That's not the case at 91 Sidney. The maintenance staff, to the front desk concierge, or the back office people, are true professionals, care about their tenants, invest in the community, and in delighting their tenants. This too makes 91 Sidney a place I can call home, and mean it. The building manager, Jodi, is awesome to work with. She represents the company that owns the building of course, but you'd never know it, because she lives in the building too and cares as much about everything (and more) than anyone else. She's a total pro. And she, and her staff, are always easy to work with. They're friendly, courteous and even fun but always professional and accommodating. And the staff invest in improvements, in quality of life, but never interrupt the routines of the tenants.
In the winter, when there's ice and snow, you'd never know it at 91 Sidney, because they maintain the place so well. The lobby never looked like people were in and out, leaving salty puddles behind them as they walk in from the cold, nothing like that. It's always clean, always tidy. The sidewalk, the driveway, always very well maintained
Back to the apartments though - all high quality hardware and fixtures. From the bathroom, faucets, shower, medicine cabinets, vanity lights, to the kitchens, the refrigerator, the cabinets, drawers, and knobs, dishwasher, and to the carpeting, bedroom and closet doors, all solid, high quality, well designed and integrated. Garbage disposals, HVAC are issues in all buildings, no one is immune, but I rarely had issues and if I did, maintenance would be there to deal with whatever the issue was in very short time.
Lastly, the tenants are great. Various ethnicities, mostly professionals, young families, and importantly no undergrads. Undergrads are usually the most disruptive tenants, but if they do live at 91 Sidney, I'd never know it. Again, this is in stark contrast to other places I've lived in and around Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville.
This review is longer than I intended, but I guess that's a clear indicator of my experience at University Park. If you're considering living there, do yourself a favor and sign the lease agreement and hire the moving company (I recommend Big City Moving Co.). You won't regret it. See you around!
