Windsor Ridge

Have you seen a nice area with two grills etc, that is actually free of people? It is free of people for a reason. Grills always out of gas as they not connected permanently, but have refillable canisters. It is almost guaranteed that canisters will be empty during a week and there will be high probability that by mid of weekends canisters will be empty too. So with all the facts taken into account there is actually no grill. My last seven tries to grill something there failed due to out of gas situation. It was reported many times to management and no one is actually trying to fix the problem, they are thinking replacement of canister with a new gas is a solution, but no, it is not a solution. You can not plan any weekend BBQ or anything, as there is no guarantee that grill will work.

While I didn’t end up choosing this as my new home, the staff at Windsor Ridge made the stressful process of applying and looking at apartments seamless, quick, and extremely easy. I worked mostly with Myra, who was not only knowledgeable, friendly, and efficient, but allowed me all the time I needed to look at the apartment and talk about the features and terms of the lease. This is not a process that I want to be rushed through, and I so appreciate the time she took to make sure I knew exactly how everything worked, as well as her quick response time to all of my inquiries.
The apartment that we toured is quite nice — it was bright, had new appliances and carpet, freshly painted walls, ample parking, excellent storage space, and is in a convenient location — but the floor plan is just a bit too small for the type and amount of furniture we have. Based solely on the application process and a viewing of an individual unit and the apartment complex, I would highly recommend Windsor Ridge, and can only hope that finding a different apartment will be as easy as it was here. If the floor plan were just a bit bigger, I would have chosen this apartment with no hesitation.
In addition, the property management company, Essex, was responsive to my inquiries, and seems to have policies in place that favor tenants more so than other property management companies in the area. While my only experience with Essex and Windsor Ridge has been through the application process, their policies, along with their wonderful employees, have made everything about this normally difficult process smooth and simple.

Still going strong. Because of my situation I was not really in a position to move out. So I discussed it with Windsor Ridge management when they sent me notice to not renew lease. They wanted to renovate my apartment. But after a few rounds of discussions they generously took the notice back and offered to renew the lease though the rate was on a little higher side. But the rates are going up like crazy everywhere so can’t completely blame them. I am happy they considered my request.
Rochelle does not directly manage the property but still helps with issues. The new manager Cathy was patient during the negotiations. Though they might have done a little better job with non-​renewal notice but I heard they improved and corrected their processes immediately. Which is good to know.
Exterior renovations was a good touch.
The property is still maintained well and maintenance crew is quick to take care of things.
The constructions around the property are creating a lot of noise and air pollution. Apart from this I don’t see anything wrong at Windsor Ridge. I wish they had some say or power to influence the way crazy constructions are going on. And also of course depends on the rent staying, hmmm, a little reasonable.
Ah one thing I forgot to mention. It used to be nice to have familiar faces in the property management office. But everybody has left. These days there are no familiar faces and the staff keeps changing very frequently. Not that there they are bad but just saying.

This apartment is a headache. If you respect your time and money do not move into this apartment.
Our car was broken into once and later was stolen. The place suffers from book keeping after Malissa and Jacqui left. They constantly double charge tenants and as I am writing this review I am still waiting for one refund check.
If you are a working professional and would like to avoid spending your time running after a refund check or trying to correct a $ 50 overcharge stay away from this awful complex with its horrible management.

My updated rating will go down 1 star to 3.
NOTE: As other reviews have attested, the townhouse construction project across the street has been completed, but there is another far larger project called DR Horton’s «Sandalwood» that is ongoing directly behind the complex and will continue for some time (File #: 2014 – 7656 in city records). The Sandalwood development will consist of 215 townhouses.
Currently, demolition of the previous building is still occurring and it is EXTREMELY noisy. Noise begins at around 7:30am and concludes around 5:00pm on every day except Sunday. (Saturdays too.)
I would strongly discourage renting any apartment unit in Building 6 on the back side of this complex where you are just over the wall from the construction, noise, dust, etc. but in truth, the entire complex experiences the full brunt of the noise. No unit is left in peace.
If you are considering renting an apartment, inquire about the status of this project with the apartment office and use extreme caution overall, especially if you or someone in your household is home for the majority of the workday or works night-​shifts.
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Pros:
— Renovations to the Windsor Ridge complex itself seem to be completed. EVERYTHING seems to have been altered since I last reviewed. The siding and roofs on the buildings have been changed, the parking lots resurfaced, children’s play structure removed and replaced by a garden, basketball court replaced by a cabana, and the laundry room replaced by a gym.
— With the impacted housing market in the Silicon Valley these days, your rent will climb regardless, so apartment residents basically have two options: 1.) a complex that reinvests the rental income into the property. 2.) a complex that merely pockets the rental income while simultaneously allowing the property to run down. Windsor Ridge is the former.
— The response times for maintenance requests seem to have shortened. Often, issues are addressed within 24 hours. Maintenance staff continues to be extremely polite and courteous.
— Because the renovations are completed, there are far fewer intrusions into the apartment units and water shutoffs.
— I no longer see motorcycles or experience noisy, impolite drivers in the parking lot.
Cons:
— NOISE!!! Those renovations (particularly the roof and siding replacement) were extremely noisy. Now, with the townhouse project, it is even worse. The windows have not been changed and remain single-​pane. Noise comes right in.
— Incidents of robbery and theft have increased with at least two stolen cars as well as theft from vehicles inside Building 6’s underground gated lot.
— Rent increases continue at an alarming rate $ 150-​$ 300+ with each new lease with no option to negotiate. There is NO RENT CONTROL in this area.
— Management is not as pleasant as it used to be. Some of the kindest employees have left.
— The cigarette smoking problem continues. Smokers still loiter and light up in the parking lots and on the curbs bordering the property.
Neutral:
— While it is nice to see the Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) reinvesting their capital back into their properties, the renovations have included tiny details that seem minuscule and ultimately pointless such as: replacing the existing landscaping with new landscaping, replacing the patio furniture and the staircases, changing the wooden balcony railings for metal ones, repainting the balconies, replacing the mail boxes with… other mail boxes…, and replacing the painted numbers on parking spaces with plastic numbered cards which hang above each space. I guess that residents enjoy these changes… they paid for them all.
— The turnover rate continues to be sky high. New residents seem to move in and out each weekend.
Please read my 2013 review for additional information.

I give five stars to the nice staff that show us our future apartment !! (Catie and Alex) They were really nice, honest and helpful solving all of our questions!
Catie was so patient showing us our lovely apartment three times on the same morning! And she was still smiling on the third time! Thank you Catie that’s the main reason we could take our decision on the same day
We will move there until November we are really happy, we have a good feeling that we will keep this five stars on Unilocal!The apartment is so beautiful, enormous, great space for storage and two amazing balconies! the price is high as every apartment in Silicon Valley but we hope it will worth it! I’ll let you know

A rundown of things I wish I’d known:
Your lease has pretty standard language about going month to month once your year is up. What you don’t know is that your rent increases 65% in order to go this route. Yup, really.
The construction to the front is finished, but the project in back continues for more than another year and there may be another site beginning on the other side. Yes, you will hear construction noise. Yes, even on Saturdays. Yes, in the morning. If you face Wolfe you will definitely hear traffic noise. You will hear your neighbors. It’s actually overall a quiet community but the walls and floors are thin and old and the windows are useless.
You don’t get your own utility bill. You get your own electric bill and the water and trash bill is divided among all units with a very slight discount for the «common» use. Yea, so if a sprinkler breaks, or your neighbor is wasteful with water, you have to pitch in to cover it.
Your service depends on who you get to speak to in the office. Don’t expect anyone to ever return your emails. Pretty much ditto for phone messages as well. But, if you can get their online system to work for a maintenance request, the team fixes it the next day usually. The maintenance staff has always been professional and very fast. I think someone else mentioned this too, sometimes the office staff will accept a package, but not let you know that they have it held for you, so hopefully you know to expect it, otherwise, I guess it just sits there indefinitely.
Lots of kids. Depending on who you are that could be a plus or a minus, but I think it’s important to know if you’re considering an apt. They do allow pets here, though you don’t see too many. The breed restriction list is very long. Most people seem to clean up after their pets. You do see trash left outside doors, but you don’t see dog poo, etc.
Parking is fine, we’ve never had an issue. There seems to be a bike theft issue.
One other thing, they don’t have a model apt, so call and make sure they have something they can even show you, otherwise, you just get to see the grounds.

DO NOT LIVE HERE!!!
My wife and I moved here from the East Coast in the summer of 2013. We wanted to live in the city, but the apartments are overpriced and small. We were a bit skeptical about signing a lease without seeing the place, but the staff was very helpful. They sent us pictures of the unit that was available. Everything was newly renovated. We arrived in CA a day early and they even let us move in a day early. When we saw the apartment, it met our expectations. We were just glad that the apartment was a sh*thole. Everything was great at the beginning.
And then they announced they would be renovating the exterior of the apartment complex. We were not compensated a penny for the disturbance. We basically lived in a construction zone from Dec. 2012 until we moved out in Sept. 2013. I work from home. It was so noisy that I had to buy noise-​cancellation headphones to be productive.
We signed a one-​year lease that expired July 2014. When we got the letter of renewal from management (around May 2014), I went to the office to see if it was possible to sign a two month lease because my wife and I had bought a house that was set to close in early September 2014. I explained our situation to the manager and she was very helpful. The manager sent us a two-​month lease and we signed it.
About two weeks before we were set to move out, I inquired about their move out policies, i.e., when we needed to hand in our keys, what kinds of things do they look for when they move out, etc. They were not «aware» that we wanted to move out, even though I explicitly told them we bought a house and only wanted to sign a two month lease. If you read the lease, there is a clause buried within it that states you have to give written notice of intent to leave 30 days before you leave the apartment. Also, the lease automatically renews if you do not give notice. We also never received a notice of renewal unlike the previous time our lease was about to expire. We ended up having to pay an extra months rent at the 2-​month lease rate, which was around $ 3000 per month.
Management didn’t seem to care and just said that the terms were in the lease that you signed. The staff at the Windsor Ridge is very friendly. But don’t let that fool you. Windsor Ridge is owned by Essex Property Trust, a company that’s sole purpose is to make money from tenants. They will pass on any extra costs to the tenants any chance they get.
I wish this was the only bad thing about our experience, but it gets worse.
We have a dog. Windsor Ridge advertises itself as being «PET FRIENDLY». Not so much. After we moved out, they charged us to replace the carpets because their inspector found «large amounts of urine» throughout apartment. This cost us around $ 700. There are many reasons why this is false and borderline insulting:
1) My dog is house-​trained. Sure a dog may have the occasional accident, but the report found urine in every room of the house.
2) I work from home and was able to take my dog out on regular walks. I took her out for regular walks at 6 am, 12 pm, 5 pm, and let her out around 10 pm before I went to bed.
3) Whenever I was out of the apartment for an extended period of time on the weekends, I scheduled a dog walker to come by to let her out.
4) Whenever I was on vacation, I boarded her at the vet.
5) The urine inspection report said there was urine in places where we had furniture, making it impossible for my dog to pee there.
6) The urine inspection report found «large amounts of urine» in a hallway that was not carpeted. Even though we regularly cleaned the hallway, I never had to clean up a puddle of urine in the hallway.
I have been in regular contact with the company to get further clarification and resolve this situation, but have been unsuccessful to date. I keep on getting the answer of «I’m waiting for more documentation from the front office».
In addition to the $ 700, they also charged us $ 300 for damage because they had to clean the apartment and paint the walls. We cleaned the apartment before we moved out. The walls were not damaged beyond normal wear and tear. The place was not spotless, but the place was clean. Had I known they were going to charge us a cleaning fee after we cleaned, I would have rather not cleaned and left them a big fat piece of sh*t on the carpet for them to clean up. At least then, they’d be justified in charging us an extra $ 1000.
In total, we paid the Windsor Ridge an extra $ 4000. We choose this place because it was cheaper than living in the city and had extra space, but had we known how much we would be charged, I would’ve rather paid the extra money to live in the city.

I lived here with my girlfriend from 2011 – 2013. We had the worst experience!
In that time, we were burglarized. And surprisingly, «no one saw anything happen»! You think, «Sunnyvale» safe area… nope!
The leasing manager was a hypocritical parking nazi. I say this because she told everyone that lived in the complex that you cant back Into spots anymore. But when it came to her car, she allowed herself to park crooked and across the line (we still have photos) IF YOU ARE GOING TO LEAD? LEAD BY EXAMPLE!
Lastly in the two years that we lived there, the rent was hiked up $ 200 every year! For substandard living quarters. I.E. Cabinets falling apart since move in, constant water shut offs. noisy children that flood the complex, running up and down the walkways, screaming! People stealing packages felt at door by USPS.
If I were you, I’d stay away from this place.

Gosh where do I even start. This place has been a NIGHTMARE to live at. I would NOT recommend living here if you have an option. Heck, if I can… I’d give it ½ a star.
After Jacqui left this place pretty much went south. I lived in a 2br/​1bth. From the outside the place looks new, but the inside is a whole different ballgame. The cabinets in the 2br are so old that they try to hide it by covering it with stick-​on laminate… you can smell the nasty funk in them as well as see the termite sawdust on your pots and pans. The stainless steel furniture are pretty much the cheapest base models. The a/​c unit is probably from the 80’s and just pulls electricity like crazy. The floor is cheap laminate and the windows and sliding glass door is old. EVERYTHING in this place screams CHEAP!!! For the price you pay to live here you can find better elsewhere.
Our apartment was on the third floor facing the pool… bad idea. You can be guaranteed no sleep during summer-​nights as some people have no concept of «PEOPLE WORK» and there’s no curfew as to how long you can party at the pool.
So lets get into the nitty gritty of not just the condition of the place, but the staff itself that runs the place… especially the INCOMPETENT Manager. I’m seriously stunned as to why people don’t sue this place more as this Manager is probably the WORST I have ever had to deal with. INCOMPETENT, LAZY and just PLAIN RUDE about sums her up.
We were given notice that they were raising the rent, so we’ve decided that we weren’t going to pay more for the same space as they were renting a 2br/​2bth for. We went to the office (fluke it was actually open as it’s usually closed) to let them know that we were interested in the 2br/​2bth they were FULLY renovating. One of the staff told us that it was in the renovation stage and couldn’t show it to us because of lawsuit issues. Fine, we told her we were interested and to please let us know when it’s available. We then told her that we needed to do this ASAP as our lease was about to end and we refuse to renew it under the same conditions we’re living in. She told us not to worry.
A week goes by and still nothing, so my husband emails them to follow-​up. The Manager emails him back to let him know that it’s been rented. No — «I’m so sorry we’ll work with you as we’ve messed up.» We had no other option. We couldn’t stay at the same complex as they were doing an entire overhaul of the exterior (i.e. ripping off the entire sidings, patios, etc.) and we had a newborn who was 1.5 months old at the time. There was no way our newborn would be able to sleep through all the noise/​hammering, etc.
We moved out and a month later we received a bill from them stating that we had to pay a month’s rent as well as their cleaning cost because we hadn’t given them sufficient notice. In the end we took them to court and only paid the cleaning cost.

Find somewhere else to live! Here’s why: After moving out we received a bill, which included a charge for a pet urine inspection ($ 80) and the treatment for the urine they said they found ($ 100). It doesn’t matter that I am POSITIVE that our cats never urinated on the carpet. I ended up calling the urine inspector who told me that the substance he found on our carpet MAYor MAY NOT have been urine – but he could not say for sure. He also said that the inspection he performed costs only $ 50 not $ 80. We were appalled and furious that Windsor Ridge falsified this inspector’s report in order to take our money. This, among other issues (see below) prompted us to reach out to an account representative who, after listening to our story agreed that there were many major issues with the way we were treated, apologized for damaging our trust and ended up refunding our security deposit in full.
–We left the place spotless, but unfortunately could not do the «walk through» due to our work schedules. They charged us $ 150 for cleaning (but it was refunded as mentioned above) without being able to provide any details on what needed to be cleaned.
–We were charged $ 130 for painting also later refunded), which was absolutely unnecessary – as there was no damage to the paint in the 10 short months that we lived there (aside from «wear and tear» allowed per our lease.
–We broke our lease when we bought our house. We did this (rather than just paying through the end of our lease) because the guy in the front office told us that he would «work with us» either by giving us some money back on the fee we paid to break our lease OR by giving us some money back for the days (4) that we lived there in January. Later, he told us we misunderstood him and that he would not be working with us. What?!
–During the 2 weeks after move out, I called at least 6 times and left messages with the front desk asking about the status of our security deposit. They never returned my calls, and when I showed up in person, they said they only received one of my many calls. They said their manager must have received the rest of them. She never called back either.
–We asked for a copy of our «walk through» on the day we moved out, but we were told they did not have it.
–We asked on multiple occasions for the light on our deck to be replaced so that we could see what we were doing when entering the apt at night. They never fixed this.
–Beware of cockroaches. Despite having these treated 3 times, they still kept coming back.
–Our stay at Windsor Ridge was just fine until the summer when the front office staff changed. Then everything went downhill.

Malissa and Jacqui are wonderful and very helpful. We have 3 crazy dogs, and they (and we) feel very welcome here. Malissa was exceptionally helpful and patient with us when we first wanted to stop our lease, then continue it for a month, and then continue another 3 weeks after which we could no longer extend the lease since someone had already claimed the apartment before we could submit another extension. We are staying at WR while I remodel my house, and I wanted to try to save money by moving out of the apartment as soon as my house was done (with almost no overlap)…not such a good idea. When the last 3 weeks was over and my house still wasn’t completed, I asked Malissa if anything was available, and there happened to be an apartment available nearby. The transfer went very smoothly, with their help.
Overall, I’ve had a good experience, although the walls are a bit thin (or I’m thinking that some people have louder voices than most). It didn’t bother me, as I understood that apartment living is like this and got used to it.
After living in a house for the previous 14 years, I expected a big difference. However, it is actually not that bad. I wouldn’t even mind staying longer, actually. And that’s saying a lot, considering I am waiting to occupy my new remodeled home with big backyard for the dogs.

I lived here for 2 years. Here are a couple of hings that bugged me in order of the things that bothered me most to least.
1. The Washer and Dryer Screw-​job
When I began my second lease, there were two laundry rooms on the property. During my second lease, the property decided to install washers and dryers in each unit in my building, and one of the laundry rooms was closed. The washers and dryers were «optional». My options were to 1) take the washer and dryer and an increased rent, or 2) keep my current rent while using the 1 remaining laundry room that was no longer being maintained. Since the property was installing washers and dryers in units, when a washer/​dryer broke in the laundry room it was no longer being fixed.
They should have installed the washer and dryer without raising my rates, or maintained the laundry room until every unit’s lease was over. No one else should have to deal with this particular scenario since all units have the washer and dryer now. In the end, it’s all about the money as usual.
2. Will Return at «Whenever We Feel Like It»
On 3 different occasions, I went to the leasing office during office hours only to find a sign on the door that said the staff was out of the office and would return at a certain time. Since this happened on 3 different occasions, the times varied. I’ll give one as an example. I went to the leasing office at 12:45. There was a sign on the door that said the leasing staff would return at 1pm. They were probably out to lunch, so no big deal. I came back at 1:30pm, only to find the office empty and the sign on the door still claiming a return at 1pm. I returned again at 2pm, and the office was still empty, and the sign still said the staff would return at 1pm! I wanted to do more with my Saturday than wait for the leasing office staff. This particular occurrence happened after the office remodel, and during that time, I had to go across the street to Bristol Commons to meet with any office staff. I thought maybe they could still help me since they are owned by the same company (Essex). I walked over to Bristol Commons and there was Jacqui! I asked politely if anyone would be working at Windsor Ridge today. Jaqui retorted, «Ya, I’ll be over there in a bit.» I did not point out that she was an hour late, because I needed her to do something for me. If I would have gotten rude, she probably would not have helped me at all. 20 min later around 2:20pm, she finally showed up at Windsor Ridge. So sorry I am not sorry for interrupting your 2 hour and 20 minute lunch break. This happened to me 3 times in my 2 years there. I only ever visited the leasing office about 6 times, so this was my experience 50% of the time.
3. Mail Fail
When a package is too large for the mailbox, it gets delivered to the leasing office. On one of my 6 visits to the leasing office, I was made aware there was a package for me. The package had been in the leasing office for a month. I did not receive a notice in my mailbox that I had a package waiting in the leasing office. I was not expecting the package, so I did not know to ask about it. I was not made aware that I had a package until I happened to be in the office for something else.
In general, if you need to speak to someone, avoid Melissa for the best customer service experience.

The management is very nice. The only problem I had was that the walls were paper thin. I could hear my neighbor talk on the phone almost everyday. It made me paranoid about not making too much noise on any type of speakers.

Each apartment complex is going to have it’s own issues and, let’s face it, it’s an APARTMENT so there’s going to be some issues. However, I feel the strength of a complex and its management shows in the face of those issues. Our 1 year lease is almost up. We had looked into staying but they’ve raised their rates too high so we had planned to write a nice little Unilocal review and move on. Then came a note on our door today and that nice little Unilocal review went right out the window. I would love to give this place 1 star due to that but I have to be reasonable and keep the whole experience in mind. So here’s what you have here at Windsor RIdge…
We have a 1 bedroom, 1 bath, renovated 1^st floor apartment. It has nice features like two tone paint, new fixtures, and granite. However, the «new» cupboards don’t line up, don’t close, hang awkwardly, and sound like a small creature is dying when you close them (we’re talking screeching so loud you can hear them through the walls– including your neighbors). Our unit also includes a washer and dryer and a large storage unit off the large patio. Our unit also includes heat and AC. We love the large patio for our dog and we use the large storage like a garage. It’s a secure place to store tools, bikes, camping gear, and other things that don’t fit in the somewhat cramped 700 square feet of our apartment. The complex has a lot of kids that run and play but I don’t mind kids being kids– they’re never destructive or rude. The complex also has a nice pool/​spa, the grounds are well maintained, and the trash is always picked up. Parking hasn’t been an issue for us. We have 2 cars and work it out that whoever gets home first takes an open spot and the last person get’s the reserved spot. We have had to call maintenance a few times and they always fixed things with a good attitude, although they sometimes leave a bit of a mess behind. In general, the complex is really good about staying on top of maintenance and making sure everything works well.
Some things I have been disappointed in include: 1) The amount of noise coming through the walls. I have heard far too many intimate moments between my neighbors, along with my other neighbor’s loud movies. You can hear general conversations, and I’m also lucky enough to hear my one neighbor throw up every morning. Seriously. Every morning. Gross. While it’s great that this is such a pet friendly community, I have had to make several complaints about two dogs that bark all night occasionally but nothing was done about it. My calls weren’t even returned. Also, remember those cabinets I mentioned? My neighbors are slamming those between 5−7am M-​F, always waking me up, and I tried to make a complaint about that too. It sounds like construction every morning! 2) Good luck getting ahold of anyone. They closed the office awhile ago and now you have to go across the street to another complex to get any packages, mail doesn’t get delivered correctly, and you get the run around on phone calls. If you call they leave a recorded number to call and then when you call that number you will either get a busy tone or have to leave a message and hope you get a call back. I’ve gotten ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on my returned calls, however, they have been pleasant and helpful when I do get in touch with someone. I think management is cutting costs and corners and sadly it reflects poorly on the helpful staff who tries to work here. 3) Notices: we were once accidentally $ 2 short on rent. We got a notice to pay by that evening or get a fee and possible eviction notice. $ 2!!! Seriously?! Tack it on next time or have me swing by the office (if someone will be there) and I’ll take care of it. Honest mistake that I think was over-​reacted on. Especially considering we are never late with rent and it hadn’t happened before.
Speaking of notices. Today we got a notice that they are installing full sized washers and dryers in all of the homes. This sounds great up front but then you get to the details and logistics. Management will be installing these in the storage unit, which you have to empty asap, along with a large portion of your apartment because they’re going to be working in your home too. So we lose the secure storage we loved and needed. And we have nowhere to put it all, especially since the inside has to be cleared for them to work, which is scheduled to take 5 – 10 days for 9 hours each day. The water and electricity will be turned off. My dog has to be boarded at my own expense (but they offered a small discount at an extremely expensive dog hotel). They suggested we rent storage units and got a discount for that too, but why would I want to keep my bike that I use on a regular basis in a storage unit that I have to drive to? That defeats the purpose of riding my bike to work, right? And did I mention that they’re giving no discount or concessions for our inconvenience and extra costs? Nope. Instead they’re raising the rent. Happy valentine’s day, eh?

I lived here about a couple years ago. The reason why I am writing a review for this place is because they were the best apartment that I have lived in so far. I never really had any serious complaints. It is a quiet community and they are good about fixing problems quickly. The ladies at the leasing office at the time were really nice and understanding.
The cons: Parking! After 6 pm, it’s difficult to find extra parking. Luckily, the building I lived in was close enough to park on the street or the empty parking lot next door, so this was not too much of a big issue for me. I also remember some beat up cars parking at spots and not moving them for months. I complained about it being unfair and it took months for them to tow the car.

Pros:
— Gym/​Swimming Pools/​Spa
— Playground
— Trash (twice a week)
— Gardeners (didn’t bother me)
— Maintenance came when I needed a fix
— Laundry usage during the weekday mornings/​day
— High Ceilings
— Good area and close to everything.
— Property Management were very friendly at the front office. There was this one girl at the time who wasn’t so friendly, but glad the management rotated her out of that office.
Cons:
— Parking was very limited after 6pm so tenants were allowed to park at the sister’s Apt right across the street, but a hassle really.
— Stove was very old fashioned and hard to clean and no Preheated settings for the oven.
— Notices — we got notices frequently to enter the premise of the Apt, but these were to check the fire alarms to make sure they were working properly or notices that they’ll be working in our building for the roof/​balcony.
— Rude neighbor (always have to be that ONE person
— If you order a package from Amazon, accidentally had your package mailed to your old mailing address at Windsor Ridge for whatever reason, the new tenant who moved into your old Apt = don’t expect to get your package back. Based on 2 past experiences, the new tenants kept our mails, which is basically «Mail theft» that doesn’t belong to them, but kept them anyways. First occasion, UPS had to retrieve a case of Wine, which the new tenants signed for (forged my husband’s signature) and accepted the goods, which both are illegal. The company that shipped had our new address, but the delivery people didn’t. Our recent Amazon package was delivered (confirmed by Amazon) to our old place at Windsor Ridge, but the new tenants are refusing to return our package. *shifty eyes*
I lived at Windsor Ridge for 6 years, which I enjoyed my stay all those years until one morning, our new neighbors (no children) happened to move in the Apt right below us as we were coming home from the Hospital (our first baby)!! Things were fine at first between my neighbors and I, but over time, the cries my baby caused in the middle of the night actually disturbed my neighbors on the 2^nd floor so at times the husband or the wife would open/​close their closet doors indicating that the couple did NOT like crying babies in the middle of the night period. Overtime, I started feeling uneasy because of the way both the wife and her husband looked towards my son and I. I could tell they did NOT like children at all, which was very unfortunate.
One very late night, I started up a load of laundry (emergency) and as I reached the 2^nd stairs going up to the 3^rd, I heard footsteps behind me. I seen my neighbor who wore a black hoodie with black pants, paused at the 1^st flight of stairs just looking up at me. My hair stood up while I froze in place. I quickly ran into my Apt, locked the door and peeked out using my peephole. My neighbor, as he walked passed our door, he glanced at our door, which our eyes met until he walked down and into his Apt below us. I had my husband do the laundry switch and to retrieve our dried clothes that night because I didn’t feel safe thanks to our new neighbors.
Because both of our Apts faced the parking lot towards Wolfe Rd, whenever I pulled up, my son and I always ran into the husband. Each time, he would give us that cold stare, which shivers ran down my spine. I even looked up the husband on Megan’s Law website to see if he was a registered Perv, but he wasn’t in there.
One week day afternoon, I even got blocked in from getting out of my car (driver’s side) as I returned home from an outing because the husband, he would stand right between our driver’s door since he occasionally parked his car backwards and he would just stand there, dead eyes just starring right at me and my son.
That afternoon, I serious felt scared for my life and it wasn’t like other tenants were around either since most everyone worked from 8am to 5pm. Nobody was around if I were to scream or yell for help if I needed, that is.
That’s when I confided in my husband in regards to the way the husband behaved towards our son and I. Even though my husband insisted that the husband was nice to him, I think this guy showed two split personalities with me. It was very unfortunate that I was stalked and harassed by the husband. And, I could have reported all of this harassment to the Property Management, but I was actually afraid for my life of the «retaliation» the husband would cause so I didn’t dare to speak out.
The day I bought moving boxes at our local hardware store, the wife saw me out in the parking lot from her balcony as she shouted out, «YES! SHE’S MOVING!!» I’m sure she and her husband celebrated like it was 1969 by inviting ALL of their friends over.
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A year ago, Windsor Ridge spent a lot of money and effort in doing work around the complex, with new roofs, sidewalks, etc. Service calls would be answered the same day!
This year, 2011, something is up with the management of this complex as of late. They seem to be severely understaffed or unhappy. Maintenance issues take MONTHS to get resolved. Calls are not returned. The management office is almost never open when they say they will be open, which makes it tricky if you are trying to pick up a package. The staff continues to be pleasant, but it seems the company is cutting costs to the degree that it stresses them all out… not a great vibe! Not sure what is going on…

I lived here for 3.5 years before moving out to live with the girlfriend. I never had real problems and whenever something broke or a drain was clogged, the service people would have it fixed the next business day. (Maintenance doesn’t work weekends.) Most of the office staff knew me by name since I was often in the office getting packages and they were always friendly. They also responded pretty quickly to things happening on the grounds. A group of kids were constantly on scooters zipping around the complex almost running you over when going around walkway corners and almost getting run over when riding by cars backing up. After a number of complaints they banned scooters.
I loved my apartment but it did have some goofy things going on. I had a top floor one bedroom with a loft and vaulted ceilings. I loved the openness of the vaulted ceilings but the location of the stairs to the loft (which I made my ‘office’) was in an odd location. It cut across a wall in the living room making the living room pretty narrow. To keep it open I never had a coffee table. Not all layouts have this though so if you have a choice, get the one where stairs run next to the kitchen. There’s also some odd areas I wasn’t sure what to do with that wasted some space, like under the stairs and a niche in the bedroom. Guess it depends on your furniture and decorations. I do have to give mention to the extremely large storage area on the balcony. I definitely miss this now as I had a ton of boxes, tubs, costco purchases AND my bike in there.
I never heard any noise from my neighbors other than the next door dishwasher and rarely the bathroom fan. The only problem I had with neighbors was a woman on the ground floor who would smoke on her patio. The complex is very open (not gated or fenced) but I felt very safe and never had any issue with my car which was parked right along Wolfe Rd. Speaking of parking, it’s pretty full. If you get home late (like after 8−9pm) you’ll probably have trouble finding any unreserved spots. The apartments come with one reserved spot but it may be an issue for families with multiple cars. There’s always street parking and there’s usually room in the complex across the street which is owned by the same company.
There’s not too much to the grounds but they’re maintained well. I could never figure out their pool heating schedule however. Maybe they stopped turning it on at all. There’s a second pool that I actually forget even existed until I was moving out.
In terms of cost, they were raising my rent again to a point that seemed a little high considering I was in an unrenovated apartment but the year before I talked them down several hundred dollars so that may have worked again if I weren’t moving out.
In short, I loved my apartment and never had any major issues with anything. The only reasons I’m deducting a star is the couple goofy layout things (but there are multiple floorplans to look at) and rent was getting a little high for a one bedroom.

I’ve had great experiences at this place. Even though the appliances and built in furniture are not the newest and most stylish (I got a splinter too) — it’s still a home which is within a reasonable price range.
Not a very noisy area, and I didn’t really even hear other people when I visited. Older apartment complex, but it’s built to the standards back in the day.
The avg. apartment in the area is right about at that ball park figure yet SMALLER… I’ve seen so many places yet this property group ESSEX has gotten my vote.
Communication is key in order to get the job done. Small quiet complex with decent parking for a single vehicle.