My husband and I moved here from Portland, OR for school and his job. It's our last day at The Aventine today, and after 2 years it has been just what we needed when we needed it.
The Aventine is situated next to a school, and in between two shopping centers in a suburban neighborhood. It is far enough away from all those things to be an inconvenient walk, but a short drive. It IS on a big hill, so walking anywhere means a hike on the way back. The area is very modern and nice, with anything you
...need within a couple of miles.
The management staff remembered our names despite very infrequent stops to see them. Super nice ladies, and always attentive. The maintenance guys have these golf carts which are annoying but that's just me, they're always effective and all of them are very friendly. They replaced our dishwasher and anything else when we asked.
Some small issues, but nothing that ruined our experience:
The apartment IS older, 20 years or so, and so the paint inside the apartments is thick. The cabinets are dated, and some of our doors had different colored knobs. Despite this, the A/C worked year round, never broke, and they updated the thermostat! Very cool. The biggest issue for me? The shower. The tub is ancient, and the finish is totally blown, so it catches every single hair and bit of dust imaginable. To add to this problem, the shower is *the lowest flow* I have ever seen. You literally need to stand directly under it to get clean. So the water doesn't rinse away any of the hair or dust in the rest of the tub, be prepared to clean that thing every other day if you want it to stay clean.
I mentioned a school, and when it's busy down there, a stream of constant cars comes up the road around the corner, and it never stops until all the parents have dropped off their kids. There's only one way in or out of The Aventine, so sometimes the wait to leave in the morning is pretty long since no one can pull out of the complex.
We got mail for like, 8 different people for two years. There are recycle bins near the mail, which made that issue less of a problem.
Also, a cop sits out on Pacific at the intersection near the Aventine. Don't cross the crossing guard or turn on a red. He'll get you.
No recycling. Sad.
Overall it's a nice place at a good price. I recommend you move here if you like it. Out rent never went up as long as we renewed our lease, and despite its flaws, I always appreciated how lucky we were to find a place as great as the Aventine.
Max of 2.