I lived at Woodchase for several years and recommend it.
Woodchase is in a quiet north-central neighborhood near the intersection of 183 and Mopac. It's a quick drive to 360, 35, downtown and The Arboretum.
The adjacent neighborhood, North Shoal Creek, is middle class and very safe. It is a nice neighborhood in which to walk and there is a playground with a track at the elementary school. When the neighborhood was established in the 60's, it was probably a suburban neighborhood on the edge of town. Therefore, there aren't any businesses in the neighborhood, only surrounding it. But, the commercial area around the neighborhood has many amenities. West Anderson, around the corner, is full of great restaurants and shops like Hopdoddy, Hanabi, Terra Toys, Fresh Plus, Dos Batos, Cover 3, Sunrise Minimart, and the Alamo Drafthouse Village. Slightly farther south you'll find highly rated businesses on Burnet Road. One awesome thing located right in the neighborhood is North Village Branch of the public library - it's a quick walk from the apartments.
The complex is located on the 3 bus line, whose route includes The Arboretum/Great Hills area, Pickle Research Campus, all of Burnet south of 183, Medical Parkway (doctors! The Draughthouse!), The University of Texas main campus, Downtown, and South Lamar. The bus arrives about every half hour and is pretty slow. It's possible to live here and rely on public transportation, but it's inconvenient and you'll probably be run over attempting to jaywalk (crosswalks are far between on busy Burnet Road). The Rapid Bus 803 route is coming, so that should be an improvement.
Our apartment interior seemed shoddy and slapped together - lopsided light switch covers, uneven floors, and sloppy paint jobs. There's nothing trendy or interesting about beige walls and carpet. The high ceiling in the living room was a nice touch. Some units have fireplaces and washer/dryer hook-ups, which I'm sure was great for those residents.
I lived in two units here - a small one and a large one. The first had a very horrible roach problem when I moved in. It took awhile, but the problem was eradicated with regular visits by the exterminator.
The grounds are well maintained, though spotty with dog poop. The pool is okay - not disgusting but usually in need of a cleaning. The parking lot has plenty of spaces. The biggest con about the physical complex was the "emergency" pipe work that occasionally kept the water off all day. Usually, they would send out a notice the day before and only keep the water off from 8am to 5pm. However, a couple of times the water didn't come back on until 9 or 11pm. That was so frustrating.
I rarely had complaints about loud neighbors. Even if someone was having a party or yelling in the breezeway, you couldn't hear them from the bedroom (which is the most important thing). Typically, everyone was polite and kept to themselves. The residents are a mix of older students, young families, singles, young couples, and the elderly. I noticed rowdy people rarely lasted more than a couple months, while most people seemed to live there for years.
The staff are pretty good. Jamie in the office is professional and helpful. I rarely dealt with the manager, Dora. The maintenance guy (I feel guilty for not remembering his name) is wonderful. It seems he has to do most stuff by himself, but he gets everything done in a timely matter and is a super friendly, upbeat guy. I don't recommend leaving a work order with the after-hours answering service, unless it's an emergency (like your fridge stops running or your toilet is overflowing) since they seem bad at relaying non-urgent messages to the office.
Moving out was painless. We got a large chunk of our security deposit back, which I didn't expect. Seems the rent has gone up a few hundred dollars since I moved out in early 2014.
I would recommend Woodchase for most people looking for an affordable, safe, modest place to live in almost-central Austin. read more
