482 Nostrand Avenue,

Brooklyn, NY 11216

Great location—you're right by a good subway line, walking distance to another subway, near lots of bus stops and grocery stores and restaurants and bars. It's right across from a fantastic spice shop/small grocer. The apartment was clean and bright with good water pressure on the shower and a nice oven. I never saw a mouse or a cockroach! It was also a really great price for the size & neighborhood, and until the very, very end of my 2 years there I received all my packages safely (I lost one or two toward the end but that could've been anything). Neighbors were all fine, no complaints there. Rent was paid through a convenient online portal, which I appreciated and management is super responsive when it came to lease questions.

The big issue with the place is the radiators don't have a knob to turn them off so the apartment gets HOT and there were not very many windows for airflow. The minute they turn those radiators on in fall, the whole apartment is like an oven. I ran my AC all winter long, as well as the summer. The apartment was street facing (and the whole building's above a great bar) so it did get quite loud. The AC was usually an effective white noise neutralizer for me, but it's a lot of young, drunk people and LOTS of street noise (cars/motorcycles).

Major maintenance issues were addressed pretty quickly by the property managers, but small fixes like a window of ours that wouldn't stay open never got addressed. The big stoop on the building did mean people would hang out on it, mostly people waiting for the bus that stops right in front or Ubers from the bar nearby, but sometimes houseless people or people who were passed out drunk—as a woman solo, this was sometimes reason for a little apprehension/alertness but I never had any issues. Just something to be aware of.

* Large apartments with incredible sun
* Super responds to maintenance requests fairly quickly
* Common areas kept cleanly
* Quiet, nice, and private neighbors
* Neighborhood is slowly developing, with new restaurants and shops popping up
* Express subway very close

* Super has a history of turning water off without warning, despite frequent requests for proper warning. Not often, but still very frustrating.
* The heat is crazy. Maybe it's just that heat rises, but our apartment on the 4th floor is a sauna during those uncomfortable fall/spring months with mixed weather.
* There's, unfortunately, a clear homelessness/mental illness problem in the general area. Very few people, if any, will be aggressive with you, but it can be unsettling