Park Vista Townhouses

So after living here for 2 and a half years, it’s time to part ways. Overall, Park Vista has treated us very well and our unit felt like a mini house, each front-​facing unit is outfitted with its very own front lawn. You get a semi-​private detached garage, meaning you share the garage with your neighbor. If you have more than one car, you’ll need to park on the streets. Generally not a problem if parked before 7 PM, otherwise, be prepared to walk to and from Elm Street, or you can be an A-​hole and park on the red zone like the black ricer mid 90’s Accord sedan across the street. Neighbors are courteous, grounds are well kept and maintenance and office staff are quick and professional. Here’s the thing, the units are old, just like the rest of the housing in the area — built in the 60 – 70’s old and signs of aging are very apparent (that’s because the units has not caught up with time). The vertical blind panels break off if you leave your windows open and there’s gusty winds outside — they’ve become brittle with time. Insulation? What insulation. You’ll be soaked in sweat during the summer nights and freeze your butts off during the winter. If you haven’t had water pipe leakage issues recently, you –will– have them eventually. The pipe behind our water heater failed and leaked water in our carpet. The next day, it soaked up our neighbor’s hallway, prompting the repairmen to tear four large holes on our walls (one in the storage cabinet next to the water heater, three inside the 0.5 restroom on the first floor). Turns out a 3^rd neighbor behind us who had moved out months before had pipe issues but never reported it to maintenance, and thus affected the shared piping. The windows does not shield your home from outside noise or draft, so expect to have a very dusty home after a week. If you rent a front facing unit as we did, it doesn’t matter if you close or open your windows, you’ll hear the same level of noise during rush hour. The in-​unit dish washer is outdated, isn’t energy efficient and doesn’t clean your dishes efficiently. The coin operated washer and dryers are a joke and just as old. If you rent a unit that has a tree overhanging into your patio, be prepared to sweep leaves like no tomorrow in the Fall, then while you’re sweeping the leaves, you can go ahead and sweep up the petals between spring to summer. Our previous neighbor never made any noise, so we thought the walls were secure and thick. When our new neighbors moved in and started having singing lessons in their living room, we can hear them loud and clear. So yeah, the walls are pretty thin. Rent has been increasing 2.1% two years in a row with no sign of upgrade to the amenities (our initial rent on 12÷1÷12 was $ 1,645; it jumped to $ 1,715 4÷1÷15 before we moved out). With the rent increase, at least upgrade the laundry room machines and install smart card readers or replace the aging windows with dual-​pane vinyl windows. Overall, very nice place to live: close to the ocean, walking distance to eateries, parks (Wilson Park and Hickory Park), grocery stores, etc., but very old and outdated units. Essentially, you are paying for location, location, location and location. After a year, lease switches to month-​to-​month, making move-​out very flexible. That said, we will miss Park Vista and Torrance.