U.K. one here where quite a few kids walk to school when possible.
Close to a school, handy if your kids go there, otherwise noise, graffiti, litter and vandalism.
I ignored the fact that when I moved in, the refrigerator had a Chicago Bears sticker on it. When I moved out, the landlord charged me $20 for having supposedly put the sticker there, since I didn’t make a note of it as damage during my initial walk-through. I guess I thought of a Bears sticker as decor rather than damage–if it had been the Packers that would have been another matter entirely.
I once rented an apartment with two train tracks located about 100 ft. from my front door. Not only did the trains run through all night, they coupled and uncoupled at about four in the morning.
I found this out one night when I had to pull an all-nighter for a report. What can I say, I’m a deep sleeper.
I went to college in the town where I was was born. For one summer, I rented an apartment where I could see the actual hospital out my window. I underestimated how depressing that is. Like, 20 years and I’ve only made it 400 feet.
I’ve had neighbors that did the same.
But it looks pretty!
I ignored parking. Several places I looked at had lots, but they cost extra, and I wasn’t really concerned about parking spaces since street parking wasn’t horrible. I took my apartment, and was just glad there was somewhere to park my car that wasn’t 8 blocks away. That, you see, is a silly Los Angeles mentality not suitable for the Midwest. I forgot about, oh, winter! :smack: One, snow emergency plowing means trying to find somewhere to put your car so that it doesn’t get towed which is horrible, and two, heated parking is a especially key. Shoveling your way out of your space and scraping ice off your windows is not my idea of fun.
Never even thought about that. Just was shocked and pleased that there was a place to park my car within the same zip code of my apartment.
If you work at night and sleep during the day, the apartment near the pool is not a good idea.
I’ll do you one better - when I was 24, I rented the same apartment that my parents rented when I was born. I felt like some sort of tribesman who’s never been more than a mile from home.
Before you rent an apartment…show up there and walk around at 11:00 at night. Do a weeknight and a weekend night.
Trust me 
Lessons learned: Don’t rent an apartment near a drive up ATM. Holy crap, the people pulling up at all hours with the radio blasting is incredibly obnoxious. No consideration whatsoever. Also, don’t ever rent at a 4 way stop intersection. We made this mistake in Hollywood, FL where apparently absolutely no one knew what to do at a 4 way. All day and night they would pull up to the stop signs, stare at each other and then start laying on the horns and yelling “F YOU!” I worked third shift and tried to sleep during the day through this, which was impossible.
“The upstairs neighbors are really into sports so sometimes they get a little loud during games.”
All sports- all games- friends over for every game. Pot smokers who have every window open.
“Run mutha fucker! RUN! CATCH (or KICK! or PUNCH! or whatever the fuck else) THAT SHIT!” echoing down our quiet -largely immigrant- residental block.
Apartment Manager: The other tenants around them haven’t complained.
US: All your other tenants are chinese immigrants who are afraid of making a fuss. Tell them to knock it off. They are in violation of their lease.
I came close, though it turned out to be about two doors down. Sent my mom scurrying through her diaries, though.
My college dorm was JUST across the street from the hospital’s Helipad. Luckily they only got a Medi-Vac flight once every few months but it was quite the commotion when it happened. Landing lights, strobes, pad lit up like a football stadium, and, of course, the helicopter landing.
Insulation. My friend and I rented a charming old apartment because it was cheap and spacious. We had astronomical heating bills that winter.
Damn pigeons!!
Big problem in big cities…they are so loud…they pair up and squawk like crazy and poop everywhere…make a total mess of balconies
Pigeons are not worse than crows. Crows are my nemesis.
The same can be said for parking lots. I use them as a quick judge whether I even want to consider a particular complex. You see a lot of ratty cars, cars on cider blocks, or a trashy lot, it will tell you a lot about the tenants and management.
Pardon the ignorance of an old Southerner but… Heated Parking? How on earth does this work?
I guess it sounds just as odd to you, when we talk about waterskiing at a heated lake in the winter.
An indoor, heated parking garage means no car doors frozen shut, no ice on your windows, no frozen batteries, no shoveling snow so you can get to work. It gets cold here in the winter. Fucking cold. And snowy.
My house has an integral garage, and it is fantastic. But are there apartments that offer it?