Need info about apartment living

[ajbera]

The wife & I currently rent a house in a nice development in Stockton CA, but because she works in Oakland we're looking to move closer to the Bay area. Although I would prefer to find a house, I'm resigning myself to a real possibility that we'll end up in an apartment complex (or townhouse, or condo, or somesuch.)

Now, I've always lived in a house, so I'm not too familiar with the advantages and drawbacks of apartment living. My general concerns are: safety (both in the apartments and on the grounds, since I have a dog I'll have to walk), noise, maintenance (are supers/maintenance men generally conscientious?), dog-friendliness... and anything else you think I should know as a housedweller scouting out alien terrain. Many say they have high-speed internet; is the connection usually reliable?

I know these will vary from place to place, but any information, advice, suggestions and experiences (positive and negative) will be appreciated. I'm somewhat leery of apartment living, but mostly because it's foreign to me. Dammit, the wife's excited about possibly living in an apartment in Alameda (we actually just saw a nice one at rents.com), and I don't want to bring her down, but I want to know what I'm getting into.

Thanks gang!

[KrazyHorse]

It depends entirely on the building. There are tenant reviews for most large complexes available on teh Intrawebs. I think the address is something like www.apartmentratings.com or something.

In general you can find better housing for a lower rent in a privately owned home or townhome. Browsing craigslist is a good idea.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

Tuber and i live in an apartment. we have for the last five years ours is reasnable safe. Kh is right it depends on the hood ur looking to move to. u can get cable service or usually phone service that ofers hi speed dsl. on ur dime of course. for the most part the best things are u dont have to do the lawn and the water is usually paid for. on the bad side u can live next to and around abunch of aholes that make so much noise ur drove to call the cops. another cool thingis u cna find some with gyms attached and most all of them have pools that u can use at ur leisure. as for a pet owner if ur usd to walknig ur dog then u wont have a problem taking him out every time he needs to go. The bigest and most important is that u get renters insurance because ur at the mercy of what every other person in ur building does. If they smoke in bed and catch the building on fire ur kinda at ther mercy. thats a big down fall. tuber and i watched a woman single handly burn down a 24 unit apt building by smoking. thats all i can think of at the moment. good luck