A few weeks ago, I showed Audrey a 24-hour-new Redfin listing and asked her whether she thought she'd be happy in the featured cute little condo. Audrey smiled and said, very reasonably, "Do I really need it, Mom?" "Nah," I conceded, "but there's never been a better time to buy than now and it would be a good step toward saving for your future. If I gave you the down payment, you could actually afford the monthly mortgage on your own salary." She had obliged me by viewing all the pretty photos and afterwards said that she would think about it, but presently she was happy at home and not in a hurry to move out. As it turned out, Audrey wouldn't be able to qualify to buy any real estate anyhow, as I was informed by the BoA loan specialist that her job was too new and her credit likewise incipient. But it still amazed me that my eldest daughter didn't jump at the chance to escape from my hovering as I'd erroneously assumed.
We had a few follow-up discussions about her lodging options after I came to realize that even though Audrey never complained about her long train commutes, she wouldn’t have any sort of a life if she continued her pattern of 12-hour workdays. Every morning she hurried out the door at 7:20 to catch the train, and didn’t come back to the Tustin station until 7:30 in the evening. In addition, her train fares totaled almost $400 a month (and I didn’t even count the tickets that went unused because Audrey was in the habit of losing her wallet every few weeks), so it seemed almost cheaper just to bite the bullet and have her relocate to L.A.
One thing I quickly realized during my apartment search for Audrey was that good ol' Orange County had spoiled us for far too long. After getting used to planned neighborhoods and their manicured surroundings, I was shell-shocked to be reminded of what renters had to choose from in careworn urban cities like Los Angeles.
It made me feel positively ancient reminiscing about the time I lived in L.A. after moving south from Seattle on the heels of my June '89 wedding. How did I ever manage to survive 3 whole years in the City of Angels? Must have been youthful and blissful ignorance! I remember waiting anxiously for my then-husband to pick me up from work to go into hiding when the Rodney King riots were lighting up the streets of L.A. I remember having to repeatedly replace our windshield and car windows every time transients smashed them in looking for change. I remember the countless parking tickets we incurred just doing normal grocery shopping because the store's parking lot was always full and we ended up having to park on the streets. I remember plunking down $900 for our first month’s rent and an equal amount for security deposit on a one-bedroom unfurnished apartment twenty some years ago in the heart of downtown L.A. (Skid Row). How could I expect things to be better now?
It came as no surprise that a good L.A. apartment would be hard to come by, and finding one that's also reasonably-priced practically an impossible feat. Still, I was hopeful that an initial search online would point me in the approximate direction and besides, what other alternative did I have? Leaving this task to Audrey was pretty much leaving it to chance.
After reading numerous apartment reviews in which the mentions of crickety stairs, inoperable elevators, broken air conditioners, and assorted vermins popped up with alarming frequency, I decided to include the apartment building's age among my search filters, and to eliminate from consideration any structure that existed before the 1950’s. Unfortunately, I soon discovered every other newer complex was designated as affordable housing that admitted tenants based on lower-income qualifications. Even though Audrey’s starting salary was paltry compared to those of graduates from almost every field except maybe the liberal arts, it was enough to effectively disqualify her for affordable housing status. And almost every eligible building remaining had an elderly admission criterion. So that left me choosing between dilapidated structures in questionable neighborhoods or nicer, modern facilities with prohibitive rents for my able-bodied daughter.
Having perused apartment reviews for a week or so, I became addicted to my reads-of-the-day. Some were positively comical. A sample:
* After visiting this place and dealing with on-site staff a handful of times... i get the picture. This place is nothing but a joke. Some of the things the on-site staff say to you make you wonder if they are pulling an april's fool joke on you cuz it's just so ridiculous, but nope, it's real. Wow, a living standing joke of an apartment. Stay the hell away please.
* The staff is not only incompetent, they are extremely rude. The ceiling leaks! If it's raining outside, it is definitely raining IN your apartment as well... Their excuse? "We can't help the rain."
* Problems I have had in the nine months I have lived here:
- The evicted resident in the apartment below me was allowed (with the management's knowledge and permission) to sneak back into her apartment. She was upset about being evicted. She soaked her mattress in gasoline and set it on fire. My apartment was smoke damaged (about $1,500 worth) and the building claimed no responsibility. It took them over a month to repair my door, which had been kicked down by the firemen, and they repaired it with sub-par materials. It also took one month and threats of legal action to force them to clean my carpets and walls, all the while I'm breathing in the toxic smoke fumes from the gasoline-mattress-carpet-asbestos-ceiling fire.
- The parking garage is not secure. Three cars, including mine, were burglarized, and my stereo was stolen. The building claims no responsibility, even though it's supposed to be locked, patrolled, and camera-observed. The garage door stands open constantly, and these guys disabled the cameras, so they had obviously been here before while nobody was paying attention. Damage to my vehicle, and amount to replace the stereo: total $1,200. Building, again, says, "That sucks, but it's not our problem."
* After visiting this place and dealing with on-site staff a handful of times... i get the picture. This place is nothing but a joke. Some of the things the on-site staff say to you make you wonder if they are pulling an april's fool joke on you cuz it's just so ridiculous, but nope, it's real. Wow, a living standing joke of an apartment. Stay the hell away please.
* The staff is not only incompetent, they are extremely rude. The ceiling leaks! If it's raining outside, it is definitely raining IN your apartment as well... Their excuse? "We can't help the rain."
* Problems I have had in the nine months I have lived here:
- The evicted resident in the apartment below me was allowed (with the management's knowledge and permission) to sneak back into her apartment. She was upset about being evicted. She soaked her mattress in gasoline and set it on fire. My apartment was smoke damaged (about $1,500 worth) and the building claimed no responsibility. It took them over a month to repair my door, which had been kicked down by the firemen, and they repaired it with sub-par materials. It also took one month and threats of legal action to force them to clean my carpets and walls, all the while I'm breathing in the toxic smoke fumes from the gasoline-mattress-carpet-asbestos-ceiling fire.
- The parking garage is not secure. Three cars, including mine, were burglarized, and my stereo was stolen. The building claims no responsibility, even though it's supposed to be locked, patrolled, and camera-observed. The garage door stands open constantly, and these guys disabled the cameras, so they had obviously been here before while nobody was paying attention. Damage to my vehicle, and amount to replace the stereo: total $1,200. Building, again, says, "That sucks, but it's not our problem."
- The apartment above us had been improperly renovated, and the drain on the water filter just drained into the wall. Luckily we had no expensive electronics sitting on the counter when the disgusting brown water came crashing down. Building still has not repaired the ceiling, despite repeated requests (that was 6 months ago).
- The entire building is cockroach-infested. Not little ones, mind you... the ones the size of house cats. Their version of an exterminator is the maintenance guy with a spray bottle full of soap, or something. We still have to have traps and replace them every month, even though we keep the kitchen free of open food.
- They are re-plumbing the building, and turn the water off between 9 and 5 every weekday. It says in our rental contract that utilities will be connected at ALL times during the residency. They are in violation of our rental agreement, but claim they don't have to follow the rental agreement in this instance. WHAT?!
I could continue, but you get the picture. Tell all your friends. I am probably going to file a claim in small claims court, and will also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Do not, for your own sake and for the sake of your loved ones, ever consider living here. Ever.
John L.
Los Angeles, CA
8/26/2011
Very noisy. Living in the Towers is like living in a factory -- the constant drone of the ancient, cheap, worn out air conditioners. Most tower apartments do not have air conditioners, so you will want to open your windows. But you can't because of the noise from your neighbors' window air conditioners. And the noise goes straight through the windows if you close them. The noise is stressful, shortens your life, and causes disease.
Duchess T.
Hancock Park, CA
3/6/2011
I've lived here almost 10 years and still live here and think it's not as HORRIBLE as people may say it is.
PARKING: I pay $100 a month for a small space in a gated parking lot, but the gate is always open an my spot is being used by maintenance guys and rude people who think it's ok to guest park in reserved spaces. I would cancel this, but then I run the risk of parking 5 blocks away (not very safe at night.)
SECURITY: Looks good, but REALLY? Anyone can park in here (and it's free for those of you who want to walk over to the GROVE). I think it's the only free parking around... they never check ID.
ELEVATORS: CONSTANTLY breaking down. When I say, breaking down - it doesn't stop at specified floors, it jerks, it feels like the Tower of Terrors ride at Disneyland, AND sometimes, you are in it and it just won't open. I guess it's good for me cuz I am now forced to climb 12 flights of stairs regularly and have lost a bit of weight. I just feel really bad for my 80 year-old neighbors who end up being stranded in the lobby for hours not being able to get home.) I think the worst in the 6 years was the elevators out for a week at a time. It's a hassle when you are trying to do laundries..
Oh yeah LAUNDRY ROOM: there's really no rules set. There's usually one or two machines broken (or really dirty), and although there are about 10 washers, usually there are one or two people who hog all the machines preventing most of us to do it on a first try. They also raise the prices of the wash during peak hours (I wanna say there's almost a 50-cent difference per wash between peak and non-peak hours.)
HOT WATER: It's been better, but for some reason, the hot water runs out at about 10 am and then again at about 10 pm. It turns out that some maintenance guy has to turn the water heater back on manually at the building and I guess he forgets to do it... I think they fired the guy because I haven't had that problem in a little while.
SMOKING: When I moved in, I was told that this is a non-smoking complex... non-smoking my A**! I smell cigarette smoke in the staircases, the lobby, and through neighbors' windows. I have asthma and this is really an issue. I had to buy about 5 air filter things and have them in every room. It's especially bad in the bathroom because somehow smokers think it's more polite to smoke out of the bathroom window and all of the ashes fly into our bathroom (and subsequently into the master bedroom.)
Other than that, it's a great place to live!
- The entire building is cockroach-infested. Not little ones, mind you... the ones the size of house cats. Their version of an exterminator is the maintenance guy with a spray bottle full of soap, or something. We still have to have traps and replace them every month, even though we keep the kitchen free of open food.
- They are re-plumbing the building, and turn the water off between 9 and 5 every weekday. It says in our rental contract that utilities will be connected at ALL times during the residency. They are in violation of our rental agreement, but claim they don't have to follow the rental agreement in this instance. WHAT?!
I could continue, but you get the picture. Tell all your friends. I am probably going to file a claim in small claims court, and will also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Do not, for your own sake and for the sake of your loved ones, ever consider living here. Ever.
John L.
Los Angeles, CA
8/26/2011
Very noisy. Living in the Towers is like living in a factory -- the constant drone of the ancient, cheap, worn out air conditioners. Most tower apartments do not have air conditioners, so you will want to open your windows. But you can't because of the noise from your neighbors' window air conditioners. And the noise goes straight through the windows if you close them. The noise is stressful, shortens your life, and causes disease.
Duchess T.
Hancock Park, CA
3/6/2011
I've lived here almost 10 years and still live here and think it's not as HORRIBLE as people may say it is.
PARKING: I pay $100 a month for a small space in a gated parking lot, but the gate is always open an my spot is being used by maintenance guys and rude people who think it's ok to guest park in reserved spaces. I would cancel this, but then I run the risk of parking 5 blocks away (not very safe at night.)
SECURITY: Looks good, but REALLY? Anyone can park in here (and it's free for those of you who want to walk over to the GROVE). I think it's the only free parking around... they never check ID.
ELEVATORS: CONSTANTLY breaking down. When I say, breaking down - it doesn't stop at specified floors, it jerks, it feels like the Tower of Terrors ride at Disneyland, AND sometimes, you are in it and it just won't open. I guess it's good for me cuz I am now forced to climb 12 flights of stairs regularly and have lost a bit of weight. I just feel really bad for my 80 year-old neighbors who end up being stranded in the lobby for hours not being able to get home.) I think the worst in the 6 years was the elevators out for a week at a time. It's a hassle when you are trying to do laundries..
Oh yeah LAUNDRY ROOM: there's really no rules set. There's usually one or two machines broken (or really dirty), and although there are about 10 washers, usually there are one or two people who hog all the machines preventing most of us to do it on a first try. They also raise the prices of the wash during peak hours (I wanna say there's almost a 50-cent difference per wash between peak and non-peak hours.)
HOT WATER: It's been better, but for some reason, the hot water runs out at about 10 am and then again at about 10 pm. It turns out that some maintenance guy has to turn the water heater back on manually at the building and I guess he forgets to do it... I think they fired the guy because I haven't had that problem in a little while.
SMOKING: When I moved in, I was told that this is a non-smoking complex... non-smoking my A**! I smell cigarette smoke in the staircases, the lobby, and through neighbors' windows. I have asthma and this is really an issue. I had to buy about 5 air filter things and have them in every room. It's especially bad in the bathroom because somehow smokers think it's more polite to smoke out of the bathroom window and all of the ashes fly into our bathroom (and subsequently into the master bedroom.)
Other than that, it's a great place to live!
Still, by the grace of God I found Audrey a suitable apartment. That's the topic of my next blog. Here you can see us checking out my find.
Audrey gingerly entering Tuscany Apartments
me following
Ordering Pizza Rustica afterwards in the retail shop downstairs
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