Bakery Living

This building kept tidy and the maintenance staff is very responsive, but is too cheaply built to be worth the price tag of a luxury residential building.

There are about 40 units cramped into a single floor, with ZERO noise reduction. You hear your neighbors entering the floor, walking on the hallway, opening their door, walking towards the windows, closing/opening the blinders, and talking on the phone.

The property management staff (not the maintenance and security people) conveniently… pretends that the residents are to blame for all the noise problem. They will send you (or your neighbor in case you made the complaint) an email telling you to buy an area rug.

Don't be surprised to get a noise complaint when you are out of town, because the noise transfers through the thin walls and floors to the point that nobody can tell exactly where it's coming from!

So when you take a tour, make sure you bring somebody and insist on conducting some experiments.

First, leave one person in the unit and keep talking. See how much you can hear from outside.

Then, one of you should go to the unit that's right above, or next to yours. Reduce the ambience noise to the nighttime level.

* Walk like an average adult man normally would and see how much it bothers you.
* Stand close to the wall (imagine your neighbor placed a couch against it) and pretend talking on the phone about something exciting, at a relatively high volume.
* Turn on the kitchen sink grater.

If you are OK with what you hear (some units may be than the others), and confident that your neighbors will be fine with it too, then go ahead. Otherwise, I wouldn't commit to a long-term lease here. Read More

This new building is very well maintained and has excellent decor and a homey feel. It's right across the street from Bakery Square so it's easy to get to restaurants and shops. It's close to Target, Whole Foods, and Giant Eagle too.

The buses that stop there are a little inconvenient. The main one is 71C and it stops a lot and takes a while to get places. But it has a parking garage if you want to have a car.

Staff is helpful and responsive. The property is well maintained and there are… frequent events planned for residents. Read More