Oak Park

In addition to raising rent every year Oak Park will and nickel and dime you, and in exchange you'll get cockroaches, mold, and to hear the intimate details of alI your neighbors through the thin walls and the gaps under your door. No utilities included, in the year I've been here my monthly costs have gone up $5+/month each month either due to them increasing laundry prices or trash or some other fee; I now pay $40+ per month for the privilege of throwing away my garbage, there's the $5 processing fee. More than weeklong waits for simple maintenance tasks and the outside doors don't close completely.

I recently moved out of the Oak Park Apartments, and I wish I had known a couple of things before moving in. The biggest: upon moving out, building ownership charges you for preparing the apartment for the next resident. Therefore, regardless of how clean you leave the space (I left it perfectly clean), you will see $275 come off your deposit no matter what. The administration will say there's a clause in your lease that specifies you must pay for professional cleaning upon moving out, but there's no such thing. Ultimately, don't expect to get your deposit back, no matter how good of a tenant you are. Additionally, you should know that (1) the building fire alarms are extremely sensitive and are directly linked to the local fire department, meaning there will be a fire truck at your building at least twice a month. (2) The apartment doors are thin, so you will hear everything in the hallways. (3) The AC units are not strong enough to keep your apartment cool in the height of the summer. (4) They're preparing to demolish the building to build a luxury development (*sigh*), so don't sign a lease if you plan on staying long-term. And finally, (5) they WILL try to increase your rent by the maximum amount every year. I would have taken the building to small claims court had I not moved out of state. Since moving, the leasing office has been entirely unresponsive. Sadly, their tactic of ghosting me has worked. I'd drop names, but that's not my style, and since only two people work there, so I wouldn't gamble on who you'll get anyway. I'll admit that I really enjoyed the building when I first moved in, but my experience went downhill. Similarly, when I first moved in, living at Oak Park was a steal, but now the prices are comparable to many of the nicer buildings in the area. Take your business elsewhere. Sadly, I would not recommend Oak Park Apartments.

Potential renter beware!!! This is an older building that they have tried to upgrade but are unable to fix a lot of issues. Small apartments with paper thin walls. You can hear your neighbor's conversations without them having to raise their voice. Air conditioning is a wall unit in the living room & won't reach into your bedroom in the heat of the summer (even if you position fans in the hallway to help the cool air along). If you have neighbors that smoke, be prepared to be second hand smoking as well, the smoke comes though the vents in the ceiling & opening your windows to air it out does not help. LOUD fire alarms go off at all hours of the day & night for quite a long time because only the fire department can come & turn them off. Some pet owners do not leash their dogs or pick up after them so there are often piles of dog poop in the grass & sidewalks & small dogs that will run up yapping at you while you are on your way to the parking garage. Did I forget to mention the bed bugs? At least twice in the 12 months I lived there I received notices regarding bed bugs. I guess this is why they eventually tore up the hallway carpets & installed linoleum. The exit doors slam very loudly & on more than one occasion were broken, causing me to have to take my groceries the long way around to get into the building. Oh, and don't expect to get any of your security deposit back if you only stay for your 12 month lease. Even if you return your keys & have cleaned the place it is standard for them to charge a cleaning fee, carpet shampooing fee, & a (ridiculously high) repainting fee, which just happens to be the amount of your deposit. Funny how that works, huh?

Oak Park is a quiet community set right in the heart of Downtown Monrovia. There is plenty of night life in the area and all within walking distance. I love the small town feel of the area without being far from the 210 and other bigger cities. Management have made several improvements to the apartments including a new gym and brand new common area with flat screen TV as well as dining and entertaining areas for communal use. Overall, Oak Park is a nice place to live.