English Oaks Senior Apartments

SA123

I'm in English Oaks Senior Apartment Community, and I'm happy here. The buildings themselves look like ranch houses. The unit I am in has four or five apartments, so they're not great big buildings. Many of the units, like my own, are end units, and it backs up to the woods. I don't look out on highways or traffic or anything like that. I have a small deck, and then the woods with a deer and every other animal you can imagine come. I have a field beside me, so I'm in a nice private situation. I have a woman who lives next door to me, but I have not heard a sound in eight years. These buildings are well constructed. This place has no programs. They talk about it, but it's not true. They have occasional bingo and an occasional spaghetti dinner. They could do better considering that there are people who are still working who live here. The office staff is lazy. I was fortunate to come in under the old administration. The new administration tends to look for the meek, mild, very elderly who will not ask for or want anything. Many people have home health aides here. I prepare my own food. A couple of us will order in pizza or Mexican food. Those of us who drive will go out and scoop up a whole bunch of something to share with everybody. They have a kitchen up there and tables. There was a hairdresser when I first came here. There is a salon up there, and people who go to her like her. There are washers and dryers up at the office. There's an exercise bike and maybe a treadmill, but I have never seen them used. The office staff does a great deal to discourage people, particularly the woman who manages makes people uncomfortable enough that they won't go near her. I see an old painted shuffleboard court, but I have never seen it used once. We have requested a few benches for people who like to go for walks because it is a nice place to walk, but they won't put benches in. We have parking, and they keep excellent control of keeping solicitors out. We have no speeding and rarely have strangers. We occasionally will have difficulty with children and skateboards, mostly because it's a beautiful skateboard area, but skateboarding in here is also dangerous because of the age of some of the people. The assistant of the manager is very kind. The maintenance men respond very quickly to needs. They just do some things that are questionable, like towing cars. I don't like the way they add things to leases. They used to wash carpets, now they're refusing to do that. They change things without notice, and people find themselves surprised. They do a good job with cleanliness, although I have to do a lot myself, for instance, power washing and things like that, which they should be doing and I was told that they would do it. They take care of the lawns, but not the best because weeds are taking over and bushes and shrubs are dying. A company comes in, but they could do better. They keep the office area looking gorgeous, but if you go around the corner, you're going to see something different. The overall value compared to other rents in the area is pretty good. That's one of the reasons a lot of people who are still working, as soon as they hit the right age, try to get in here. I have heard that they're going to restructure or revamp the apartment, so that'll be interesting because the appliances are older than God. They allow little dogs and cats and that's very good.