Independent Living Communities in Richardson, TX

"The last community I visited was Emerson on Harvest Hill. I liked it but I couldn't afford it. It's $1500 and that will take my whole check. They took me around and they showed me the apartment that would be mine, once they got to finish cleaning it up and that kind of stuff, and I was very satisfied with them. I just couldn't afford it. I checked out their independent living and there wasn't anything I disliked about the quick visit I did. I like the idea of everything being included too. I didn't meet too many of the staff, but the ones that I did, I thought they were professional. They showed me a 1-bedroom apartment. It had a kitchen and a bath. It was like a small apartment. The food is included and if you want to put some small things in your apartment, you can do that too. The apartment that I saw wasn't cleaned up yet because somebody had just moved out. They told me ahead of time that it wasn't cleaned up so I can't judge the cleanliness of it. They also showed me the theater, the exercise room, and the laundry room. Everything I saw, I was very pleased with. Everything was clean and I saw both the outside and inside. I was there during mealtime so mostly everybody was in the dining room eating. It was set up very nicely and they told me that you're not assigned a seat so you can make friends by going from one table to the other."

"I have moved into Whiterock Court. I felt totally at home the minute I walked through the door. Everyone has been more than kind and gracious, and I feel like we're one big family. We're all here for more or less the same reasons. We have family, but we want to have a place of our own. I have no complaints about anything. It has turned out to be very good. I have my own apartment and three meals a day, which turns out to be very good food. There are plenty of activities and transportation if you need it anywhere. It's a beautiful setting. I just couldn't be happier. I think I made one of the best choices I've ever made. The apartment that I have is a studio, which is just more or less one big room. It has a very big window overlooking some beautiful trees. I'm on the third floor. There's an alcove that the bed kind of fits in, so it's almost like a separate room. And of course, you have your own bathroom. They're indoor rooms, and you have a balcony on the outside. There are one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments available also. I can't say much about them because I have a studio, and I'm very happy with it. I also have a pet too, which is allowable here. I'm able to keep her, and that works out very well. They have a lot of activities every single day like bingo and dominoes. They play beanbag baseball. They have a very nice library, a salon onsite, physical therapy, and an exercise room. There's a grand piano here and someone comes in and plays the piano occasionally. They have activities where they go to restaurants or shows. You get a community calendar for a whole month and it's full. "

"My father in law moved in about 2 months ago. He loves it ! The management staff have been wonderful and they were so helpful. They provided us some recommended movers and that worked out great ! The food is fantastic considering it is a facility. But it has been wonderful. The whole staff for their dining is so friendly and helpful. It is also one of the cleanest facilities we looked at. They are always cleaning and keeping everything looking so nice. They have lots of fun things to do including music, and activities. I think we made a great decision and my father in law loves it. So glad we made the move. Thank you to Peggy (sales) and Tori (executive director for making our move so much easier. They are great."

"It is a comfortable place. They have one group of apartments that didn't have elevators and that they were renting out as independent living. Their apartments were efficient. On the rating of 1 to 10, where 10 is the best and 1 is the worst, I would give it a 7. They also have a very large community center with different functions going on almost all the time. For my needs, that would have been fine. The staff there was also very accommodating and very knowledgeable."

"Mother liked The Forum at Park Lane. It was clean. They play Bingo, cards, and dominos. They have game nights. "

"I was very happy with The Landon at Lake Highlands. It was not quite as appealing visually. It is less expensive, and I felt like it was adequate for my needs. But the thing that would swing it in its favor is that it is much closer to where my son and daughter-in-law live, so it's easy access. They are very loving and are very interested in me, and I would consider that a very big plus, too. The overall facilities were good. They were not quite at the level of the other place, but it was less expensive. One of the things that stood out to me was the staff that showed me around. The occupants of the residence were very friendly and helpful. I had an opportunity to eat a meal there, and I would rate that as excellent. One of the things that kind of piqued my interest was that their serving size was quite small. They had done that because I had noticed that the residents were leaving food uneaten on their plates, so they reduced the size of the servings, and I had no problem with that. I thought that was a plus, and I thought that was smart of them. Another thing that impressed me about The Landon at Lake Highlands is that they have never had a power outage, which surprised and impressed me. They credit it to the fact perhaps that they are right across the street from a fire station, and it seems to have priority for power, so they'd never have had a power outage, and that was very reassuring to me. Another thing that I like about them is that there is an opportunity to come and stay a few days there. They have some rooms set aside where you can come and stay and experience living there for a short time, and that is something that I plan to take advantage of. They don't provide themselves with home health care, but there is a home health care provider that is housed there. It is operated as a separate operation so that if I needed additional assistance, I could stay in my room and I would not have to move out to another location if I needed additional care there. So that was a very favorable thing. "

"My mother is in Cottonwood Estates. They have been a very friendly and helpful staff. The residents seem very happy and well taken care of. She is in a private room, which is mainly a small apartment with her own bathroom, kitchenette, and patio. It's very well taken care of since they clean it, change the sheets, and provide towels once a week. They have lots of activities."

"Sunrise was one of the nicest places I went to; however, there were no vacancies. I loved the colors they used, and the apartments they showed me were nice. They seemed to have a good social program going, the lunch wasn’t quite as polished as the others, but the facility was good. "

"We're very happy with Edgemere. It's very clean. The people are pleasant. They take good care of us. The meals are good. Maintenance and housekeeping are all good. They have a Bible study that we go to. They have a lot. We do movies and stuff. It's worth the money."

"Everybody was very friendly at The Tradition-Lovers Lane. For me, it was too big. I looked at independent living there, but now I really don’t think I can handle independent. I received invitations for speakers and luncheons, and I attended quite a few of those and was very impressed with them. They had a theater, a swimming pool, and a room for exercise with the equipment in it. It’s very expensive, but it’s very nice. The dining area had white tablecloths and napkins and very comfortable chairs. It looked out onto a grassy area with shrubs and flowers. "

"My visit at The Conservatory at Plano was very good. They had all sorts of activities, like sewing, art, movies, going on outings, and so on. They served two meals a day and had exercise, a swimming pool, and a theater that looks quite impressive. We looked at a good two-bedroom apartment. There were loads of oil paintings everywhere."

"I went to Ariel Pointe of Sachse. As far as getting to it, it would be real easy to get to because of its proximity to the George Bush Highway. It was very new and very nice. The rooms were very nice. The price was a little high and the amount of assistance they could provide was the turnoff for us, because all they could provide was the first two or three levels of assistance for assisted living. If somebody was going to have to go beyond those levels, they would have to move to a different facility, and Ariel Pointe could not handle them. If Mom ended up needing to go into a nursing home, we would have to move her to another facility. The assisted living was all one-story, and the independent living was their three-story building, which was separate from the assisted living. You could get to it, but they were not connected. They weren't mixing the people. The people in assisted living lived in a different portion of the building than the people in independent living. There was a different front entrance for each half. We actually went in the front entrance for the independent and then after we got in, we found out we should have gone in the other entrance, but they didn't have signage to say that. I guess it's because it's so new, and why they haven't got all their signage up yet. The staff was very nice. They called us several times and sent us a thank you card even though we had to basically decline on the first visit with them because of the level of assistance. It was a very nice facility, but it was expensive."

"Briarview was extremely nice. It's like a hotel. They were extremely professional. I was looking for respite care, but they didn't have that. I was thinking I should go stay there myself. I saw the cafeteria, the dining room, and the rooms. Everything was topnotch as far as quality. The staff member who showed us around was very good."

"Everybody here was nice. However, she didn't know anyone there and she had to walk outside from the room to go to the entertainment and dinner. But the rooms were really nice. It thought it was spacious and well maintained. They had plenty of things to do there. I was able to talk to only one lady and she's nice. "