275 Hawthorne Apartments

Flashback to October 2009. I got a job at Stanford and I had two weeks to find a place to live. Coming from further north, the rent prices here were staggering. But I needed to find something fast, even if was just temporary.
I literally looked at least 15 places all over Palo Alto. Some nicer than others, some in better neighborhoods than others. I didn’t get a moving allowance so I didn’t have a lot of money for deposit and moving in yet. Dun duh dun… this complex saved the day. During the weekend, the office attendant’s name is Judy. She’s really friendly and helpful. She handed me an application and said there was no application fee. Just turn in the application with the deposit (cheap! $ 300) and they’d go from there.
Randy (the main office person) ran my paperwork quickly and I was able to get a studio just in time for me to start my new job. I only wanted to do a 6 month lease to get a feel for the town. Those 6 months were great. The apartment was pretty large for a studio in this town, with a walk in closet, full bath, heating and air conditioning. I also had a balcony/​patio (2^nd floor) and another huge storage closet by the entry door.
You can’t beat the location — right near the creek and a 3 block walk to downtown Palo Alto yet far enough out so it’s not noisy or filled with traffic. One of the biggest bonuses is off-​street parking underneath the complex. I currently live a block closer to downtown and am constantly looking for parking, especially on street sweeping days! I miss that parking space! Plus, there’s a swimming pool and hot-​tub and a BBQ picnic area you can reserve for parties.
The cons — it’s an older complex but heck most of the «affordable» units in Palo Alto are old! Plus they don’t take dogs — so i had to move to have my puppy with me. I’m not sure how prices are for larger units or how much they’ve gone up since I moved out, but at the time, they were cheaper than most other downtown units with more amenities.