This page has older comments about Cranbrook Apartments.
I personally avoid anything near J street, the apartment was big and spacious, just not my style
2005-07-17 01:56:43 So far only living here a year I can say that the management is quick with repairing problems. The amenities here are quite adequate. They have two laundry rooms on site. At the clubhouse they have a small fitness center and a rather spacious study room. They have the standard swimming pool and jacuzzi setup. The management is pretty chill about most things. This complex seems to be quite quiet. The only downside here is probably the fact they are right on railroad tracks. So the noise from the freight cars squeaking on the track can be heard all the time. Also the gardeners, which seem to be here everyday are quite noisy, but at least polite to the tenants. There is plenty of parking here as long as you live here. The only problem I have with the apartment is that I wish that the units were central heat and air, oh well. But as the previous comment states they are quite spacious apartments. —MikeMele
2006-01-11 13:33:33 There's free wireless in the lounge :)!!! —MinervaCelesteCardona
The apartment itself is decent, provided you don't have a lot of stuff, and can withstand the summer time without air conditioning. The dishwashers do NOT heat up properly, and don't adequately clean the dishes. Rent for a one bedroom going up to $840/month in the fall. RIDICULOUS!! I just moved to a 2 bedroom apartment with a washer and dryer, central heat and air, AND a balcony and am paying $845 a mo for it, in Woodland. Davis Property Management companies absolutely rip students!!
2007-03-29 09:10:12 I just renewed my lease here, I've been very pleased with the whole experience. Yes, there's no central A/C, but if you buy an extra box fan, that problem is solved. The management is AMAZING. Sheri, the Manager is super-friendly, but is tough when you need her to be (she yelled at PG&E on our behalf when they overcharged us). Steve, the Matenece man will usually fix any problems the same day you put the work order in. Amanda, the assistant manager is the friendliest person you've ever met (no joke). The apartments arn't brand new like all the South Davis ones, but they are bigger for a much better price. —PeterAnselmo
2008-04-07 21:41:36 It's been a pretty nice place this last year. All the common facilities are nice. I agree the gardeners seem to be doing something every weekday morning but the grounds are some of the best around. My biggest complaints are 1.) the FREE INTERNET(aka crappy) IS THE SLOWEST CONNECTION I HAVE EVER SEEN! I've never been able to stream even a you-tube video. 2.) while the staff have been happy to take care of anything, their hours are are only 9:30-5:00...difficult for anyone that actually has to work normal hours. Overall a pretty nice place but I would consider either upgrading the "FREE" internet to a faster speed or getting it from a different provider. —drozelle
- Well I've never really done this, but ho ho...
Oh well just because its free doesnt mean it should be crappy you should be getting around 1200 kbps down and 300 kbps up and it should be able to do youtubing fine. I suspect there is something wrong. If you could take a few moments and give me a call at 758-0119 Id be happy to help you. —omrob
2008-07-06 12:46:53 Do the tenants at Cranbrook have to pay a water bill like all the Pinecrest tenants across the street are complaining about? Thanks. —LouisM
— Nope! The water is included in the rent.
2008-09-20 23:35:39 Hey, can anyone give me a review of the 2 bedroom apartment. Someone, who has been living there for at least a couple months. Thanks —bayer044
The 2 bedroom units have decently big bedrooms, there is a shared bath and the master has a walk in that I can lie down in so it's like 7 feet deep. The units we paint are good, and the head maintenance is very cool, the 2nd maint man down the tier went to DHS and one of the younger managers also attended DHS as well, it's a tandem property so you get lots of students, but the complex is more or less quite. What were you looking for in specifics? —StevenDaubert
2008-09-21 18:44:04 Thank you StevenDaubert. I'm wondering hos is it to live in the second bedroom with no AC and no direct heating. Also how are things with things going bad - plumbing problems, possible infestation, that kind of things. Basically, the more you can tell me the better. Thank you in advance.
2008-11-30 14:22:33 I'm moving in soon. What's provided along with the apartment? I heard the folks at Adobe get a mini-fridge, is that true? I'm from India, so am not used to really cold winters- will there be heating? —varunshankar
2009-01-12 11:26:27 I lived here from September 07- August 08 and I liked it but there were some downfalls. Cranbrook is a bit out of the way, it is pretty close to Nugget but that's about all, plus the little punks from the Junior High kept making a racket on their way to school early in the morning. I decided not to renew my lease because of the size disparity between the bedrooms in the 2br units (I wanted to switch from a 1br to a 2br when I got a roomate). One room is 100 square feet, the other is 143 square feet, and my roomate and I decided it was not the ideal situation. Management is awsome, especially Melissa. —NicoleHuff
2009-02-05 13:23:03 Ok, I'd have to say overall we have really enjoyed our stay at Cranbrook. We are moving, mostly to get a bigger place - but as of now we are still here so I don't know how good they are about leaving and returning deposits. I do think my satisfaction has a lot to do with where my apt is in the complex. We are right next to Covell, sort of btwn the railroad tracks and J st. As such, we have a nice view: you can see the Covell traffic a bit, but the rise in the ground makes the view mostly trees and soil (so its pretty). This is also helpful for the noise, I imagine. I wouldn't want to be on the corner apartments where covell and j st meet, nor closer to the tracks where the high problem block a lot of the light and the trains are probably louder. Note, another reason we are moving is because I think the apartments have asbestos and lead. You can see warning signs for carcinogenic chemicals all over the place, and they gave a some-what unclear brochure on it when my boyfriend moved in (or signed the lease - one or the other). Could I be wrong about the chemicals? Yes, so look into it for yourselves. I'm not sure, but I think rent increased $20 for our second renewal of the 12-mo lease. This time it would increase by only $4 (making it $958/mo for a single bedroom apt).
That said.....
PROS: HOT WATER, DSL (with the modem), WATER, trash, sewage, and parking are included in rent!!!! We only pay for gas, electricity, and the phone bill. The heater is gas. The gas+electric bill is usually spacious, huge windows, good sound insulation in the walls, very quiet neighbors (they aren't home much either, actually), all our sliding doors are mirrors! In fact, the bedroom mirrored sliding doors are massive, adding a lot of light and sense of space. There are two closets, one being a walk-in, providing tons of closet space. Decent fridge and dishwasher, decent sized kitchen, very nice office folk with regular office hours, new carpet and freshly painted walls when we moved it (it was totally clean, too). They will let you put up your own curtains. Yard keeping is done later in the morning/afternoon, so it doesn't wake you up. Likewise, I have never heard the garbage truck. Maintenance is now very fast and fairly competent. They completely replaced the inside of my toilet tank and clean the corrosion in 15-30 minutes. (Before the new guys, the old repair guy lengthened the chain to "fix" the leaking toilet; this not only failed to obviously fix the problem, but also made the toilet not flush. We had to readjust the chain ourselves). Very rarely do I hear the trains - and I think only when they blow their horns. From where I am, it's distant sounding, like a fog horn on a bay. You can hear the people above you walk around sometimes, but its very quiet. The interior and exterior look decent - NOT old or rundown...light color. The washers and dryers work great, there are lots - plus a water-saving washer that can take bigger loads. Washer cost: $1.25, dryer minimum: $1.00. The laundry rooms (2) are kept very clean and have a very large high folding table. Personally, I really like the area. You can bike to shop at Nugget, Safeway, and Savemart. It is very close to the covell greenbelt biking paths. If you don't like biking on streets, you can bike to the grocery stores using those paths, and rarely are on a street. There is a bike path along side the complex on covell. The two parking lots have plenty of space, and the one nearest to the office is easy to maneuver in. I think the second lot is tighter and less open...but still ok. The doors have peep holes. I don't know about other areas in the complex, my neighbors and I usually attach our bikes to the frame of the stairs, which works well without looking too cluttered. Oh, all the cupboards/cabinets, walls and ceilings are off-white, as are the linoleum floors. The carpet is tan. There is storage ABOVE the cabinets in the kitchen. We put our appliances there, but it could be nice for decoration too. I'm not sure what others consider fast internet. The internet used to be slower, but that may have been a modem problem. I can usually watch streaming shows on low quality just fine....sometimes it's too slow for that. Obviously, speeds are faster at certain times of the day. We have NEVER run out of hot water.
CONS: It can take a long time to get hot water, and during the seasons they water the place, do NOT take a shower around 12-1...there will be ONLY really really hot water. I think Davis has semi-hard water. We do have to scrub the dishes before we put them in the washer if you want to ensure they will all come out clean. Vertical blinds - I hate them in general! Ours won't close, either. It can be difficult to cool and heat the bedroom since the heater and ac are in the living room. Windows: the sound doesn't come OUT of the apartment, good for privacy - but for some reason sound comes in well. The street traffic is fairly quiet even though it's so close (sounds like soft white noise), but you will hear people talking outside. People walk in front of our apartment often, but are usually silent. But the kids walking home from school are noisy sometimes. And you do hear sirens passing in the day every now and again - once a week? However, the area is usually very quiet, and those noises only really occur in the day. Our front door is seriously bowed, so a lot air leaks into the apartment. Also there is air leaking through and around the AC unit. The hinges on the bedroom door are bent, so with my hanging shoe rack on the door it squeaks quite loudly..but I don't think it did before the shoe rack was on it. There is a black mold in the apartment...on the trim around the ac, toilet seat (which is very badly corroded), and shower curtain. I have to bleach/clean the curtain every now and again. There is also some mold starting to grow on the bathroom ceiling and walls. I'm not sure the bathroom fan works very effectively, but I'm not sure they ever do. Also, I know its common to have the bathroom lights and fan on the same switch, but I would prefer otherwise. I think the kitchen exhaust works alright. I think the trees in the parking lot, attractive as they are, have finally stopped dropped crap loads of pollen on my car. Other cars in the lot seem so much cleaner...I don't drive much and rarely wash my car, so the pollen builds up on my car especially. but there is a lot of pollen deposited regardless. I would still opt to have the nice trees, however. I think the stove/oven is slightly smaller than standard house ovens...I'm not sure about the dishwasher. Both, however, are still good sizes. The cabinets are definitely too high. I did see a mouse outside once...but I have also seen rodent bait. And the few local cats may have helped. Definitely have some bums dumpster diving....sometimes they leave the trash a mess, but usually this is not a problem. The interest return was changed in the davis model lease, but without their initials and the renters initials by the change it is not valid....I'm not sure why they didn't know/do that. Oh, the bedroom window latch is broken, so we continue to use the large dowel to keep it locked (here when we came). When the dishwasher drains, some of the water comes out of a thingy in the sink. This is annoying because it will get about a cup of water on the counter each time. You could find a cheaper place than this for the size, and with a patio...would it be crappier? I don't know. Some of the horror stories of other complexes scare me. And remember that rent includes your internet, water, and hot water.....
Overall, if I'm wrong about the chemicals then I would recommend this place if you like a quiet, clean place, with good management - and overall reliability I think as well. I have yet to view other apartments, so I can't make comparisons yet.
—JW
2009-02-05 15:23:15 ...and in response to the question a few comments above: there is a full-sized fridge (with a freezer of course), nearly full size oven, and I think the dishwasher is standard size. The air conditioning is an electric wall unit in the living room (there is a ceiling fan above the dining room, and in the bedroom), and there is a gas wall heater in the living room. No microwave, no furniture. —JW
2009-03-06 11:40:54 Correction for above - our rent increased by $29, not $4. —JW
2009-03-15 18:03:25 We didn’t actually see the unit we were moving into, we got to pick it off a map. We did see the model which seemed slightly better quality than the unit we ended up living in. That’s what you get for choosing housing the end of May. On our first day things were off to a rough start. The carpets had bleach, red wine and black stains on them. The carpets seemed like they should have been replaced since a regular carpet cleaning didn’t do the job. The ‘free internet’ was difficult to get working because the first 3 modems given to us did not work. On the fourth modem, we lucked out for about 4 months then the connection got slower and slower. We decided to go with another internet provider and haven’t had any problems since.
The apartments were pretty quiet but recently things have been getting louder late at night; music and parties. Since we’re very close to the train tracks random people wander though, they’re harmless but it may bother some. The office is open M-F 9-5 so it is difficult to speak to the management if you work regular hours. One of our roommate’s cars was randomly vandalized in the parking lot, annoying. The pipes make a lot of noise when neighbors shower, which isn’t terrible but it gets to you after a while. Occasionally, you can hear rats running behind the walls at night. The parking lots do fill up quickly, so you may end up walking further than you’d like. Overall, I’ve lived in numerous apartments and this complex has been the most generic and awkward in layout.Every window faces the neighbors directly across the way, so either your neighbor can check out whats going on at your place or you have have to keep the blinds closed all the time (it gets old sitting in the dark all the time).
The bike ride to campus is a reasonable 15mins. The rates are a tiny big steep for what you get but fair. The best redeeming feature is the Rec. room, a nice alternative to running outside or in the rain. They have a club house with WiFi, which is very convenient when your ‘free’ internet in your apartment isn’t working and you can’t pick up a new modem until Monday.
We’re moving this next year. Most importantly, if you have more time to look at other apartments, take it. Ask to SEE the unit you’re signing a lease for because you don’t know what you’re getting into.
2009-06-02 16:39:58 I lived here for one year and overall, I don't have much to complain about. My pleasant stay was largely due to the friendly management - Melissa, Krissy, and Steve. Wonderful people. They are extremely helpful and welcoming. No matter what problem I came with, they treated me very well and had the problem fixed in the same day. They make the resident feel important and they really care about your livelihood in the apt. (They even came in and killed a bug for me because i have a huge phobia for insects. Embarrassing, but true.) I enjoy going to the office because krissy and melissa are always smiling and full of energy, and they don't ask a million questions. You just go in, say your greetings, have a small conversation, tell them your problem in five words or less, and they take care of it right away. It made everything really easy and simple, especially for a law student who's always absentminded and busy.
As for the apt, I actually liked the 1 br/bath layout. The size is perfect - not too big and not too small. And when i moved in, the apt was very clean, freshly vacuumed. I was on the second floor at the edge by Covell Blvd. and the noise wasn't that bad. (and i need silence when i study.) Except for a few cars revving by and the occasional siren, loud noises were rare. Someone mentioned above that sounds came in from the outside, and I have to agree. Sometimes, at night, I could hear the conversations of people walking by as if they were in my room talking to me. But, again, it wasn't frequent and i'm sure if you tell the office, they will probably take some kind of action to remedy that. I was just too lazy to bother. And it's rarely ever loud. My neighbors were quiet and private, which i appreciated very much. And it's true that you can hear the pipes when your neighbor takes a shower but that didn't bother me. The sound wasn't loud, and few people ever take showers during odd hours at night.
Since i was on the second floor, I rarely closed the window blinds which let a LOT of sunshine into the apt. I hate closing the blinds, and it was nice to be able to keep them opened for the most part. Someone above also commented about the ac/heater unit only being in the living room and not in the bedroom as well. At first, I was hesitant about that, too, but I soon realized that the ceiling fan does a good enough job in cooling down the bedroom. Sometimes, it gets too cold! Plus if you open the windows in the early morning from 6 am to 11 am - nothing but fresh cool wind drifts into the apt. The heater is between the living room and the bedroom so it's not too bad during the winter, I stayed warm enough.
I don't know about cars being vandalized, but I never had that problem. Sometimes, in the morning, I find out that I left my car unlocked overnight! But nothing was taken or broken. And there was always plenty of parking spaces in front of my apt. So, i honestly don't know what previous commentators were complaining about. Maybe it's because we lived in different parts of the property.
I never use the dishwasher so i don't know of any problems. My stove and oven worked just fine, also my fridge started to leak towards the end of my stay. But Steve came and fixed it on the same day i reported the problem.
Overall, Cranbrook was a convenient and comfortable place to stay, especially since it's within walking distance to Nugget. I think for me, the management (Krissy, Melissa, and Steve) is the main reason why Cranbrook is worth it. You won't find friendlier faces anywhere else. —Lkimuchi
2009-09-01 23:59:27 This is a top choice for anybody who wants to have friendly and helpful staff and great management — best for 1-2 bedrooms and if you want peace and quiet. Overall it has been great to stay here.... just go in and judge yourself. They are professional and really run a "tight ship". They really do care, very strange concept for me since I lived NY, San Francisco / Bay Area before this. And yes, this is a real person, not an ad. Only downside is the size of the units/price. It doesn't hurt that Melissa at front desk is a knockout either! —maine
