Apartment Review for Colonial Gardens - Cincinnati, OH

I have rented at Colonial Gardens 3 seperate times, beginning in 2000, and twice after that until I bought a house in 2006. When I first lived there, it was very good--the price was reasonable, the apartment was pretty good--it's an older unit, and sometimes there were plumbing issues, etc, but the maintenence was generally very good for the money. It's not fancy, but very decent for a lower price apartment. The people that lived there were mostly nice, many had lived there for a long time. Parking could be a slight issue--you're allowed 2 cars only, and have one space dedicated to your apartment. Once in a while someone would park in your spot, and you could have them towed. After I left and moved back a few years later, the whole atmosphere had changed. The management was the same (Vicky), who lived on the premises and was a really good manager--she kept things under control very well. But, the kind of people moving in changed--lots of immigrants (Mexican and European), some younger people, some of which had drug issues. Those of us who were decent had to deal with noise and some rudeness, and some apartments had more residents than they should have. I would not have minded immigrants at all, some were quite nice, but some were awful--loud music at ridiculous hours, spitting on sidewalks, lousy attitudes. Probably some of that came from Americans as well, in fairness. I had never seen any bugs at all the first time I was there, and they did regular pest control, but the last time I began seeing an occasional roach, and that never became a problem, but the day I found a bed bug ended my stay there. I found out the next building had an infestation, and it's a very tough problem to deal with. I didn't want to do any reviews because the manager was doing her best, and I didn't want to risk her job, but I just found out she's gone. I don't know if they currently have a problem with bugs now, but I would try to find out before moving in there. The owners of the complex began to pull some stunts also, like raising the rent in the middle of the lease, which caused a small revolution among the tenents. Those of us who complained in writing got adjusted back down, those who didn't know about that option got stuck with higher rent, so the owner don't care about his tenents, obviously. On the plus side, you can walk out your door and into Sharon Woods, which is a gorgeous large park with walking trails. I miss that a lot -- but I would no longer rent there. It's a roll of the dice (between bugs & possible bad neighbors) whether it would be a good experience, or really bad.