This is a in-depth and honest review of my time living at Forest Rim. I lived here for four years…read morein a second floor unit. I thought it was great at first, though you have to live here for a while for the cracks to begin to show in your first impression of the apartments.
The Upsides:
Appearance-
The interiors of the apartments look beautiful at first glance. My unit was recently refurbished when I moved in, with fresh paint and refinished kitchen countertops, and I loved the vaulted ceilings and big closets. The installed washer and dryer were great, especially after years of using a laundromat.
Management really cares about the appearance of the apartments, and they prioritize landscaping and maintaining the well kept exterior aesthetic of each of the buildings.
Location-
Forest Rim is in a convenient location and is a short walk from Nyberg Shopping Center, Browns Ferry Park, and the Tualatin River. There are several gas stations nearby, a Domino's Pizza, a McDonalds, Five Guys, Chipotle, Jamba Juice, and a 7/11 across the street that is open 24/7.
The Downsides:
The Price-
Though this isn't unusual in the Portland Metro, the cost of rent is far too high for a one bedroom apartment. Though it was reasonable for the first year I lived here, it has increased by two hundred dollars a month in the years following with no increase in the quality of life of the apartments.
Bad Neighbors-
The apartments are poorly designed since each unit has paper thin walls. This means you're at the complete mercy of your neighbors. I've been woken up at 3am by my next door neighbors in a shouting match, and my downstairs neighbor loves to crank up his music with the bass on full blast, sometimes enough to feel the stereo through the floorboards. One of my neighbors was a drug dealer that was escorted off the property by police. How he got approved to live here, I'll never know.
Although you are required to pick up after your dog, the rule isn't enforced and not everyone does, so you have to watch your step outside.
Parking-
The parking situation is terrible. If you don't want to pay the extra $50-100 a month for a reserved covered parking spot or a garage, you may want to be home by 7pm at the latest, otherwise you will be stuck walking. Sometimes this means you're walking from opposite side of the apartment complex, in the dark or the rain. I paid the extra amount to have reserved covered parking since I work a late shift job past 10pm, and several different vehicles started parking in my spot. After this became a problem over the course of several months, I tried calling the towing company that is advertised by the apartments, only to be told they no longer offer their services here.
Smoking-
If you are a non-smoker, you really don't want to live next to someone that does. Although the apartments are advertised as non-smoking, the rule isn't well enforced and because of the thin walls, your home can smell like a chain smoker lives there, just because of your neighbors. There's nothing worse than having allergies or having your home or clothes stink because your neighbors felt like smoking a bunch of joints or cheap cigars.
Construction-
The apartments may be periodically under construction, such as having someone replace the roof tiles or repaint the siding. There will be little announcement of this, as I woke up one morning to find a strange man on my outdoor balcony replacing my deck railing.
The Summer Heat-
The apartments have no AC, and since management bans the use of large window units, you're limited to using your personal small AC units. Every summer, even when keeping the windows closed and the blinds shut, my apartment would reach an indoor temperature of 80-90+ degrees with two AC units on full blast.
The Ants-
Another common sight in Oregon. Carpenter ants are an intrusive problem, and came out of the flooring, the cracks in the walls, and even the plug in sockets and light switches. Buying ant poison and ant traps are a must.
Management-
While they won't assault you with endless apartment inspections, the laid back attitude of the management office makes it seem like they don't actually care. When my car was broken into in the parking lot, when it was parked right by the front office no less, there was nothing they could do. Private security occasionally patrols the parking lot at night, but they never get out of their car and are ineffective at deterring petty theft.
While Forest Rim Apartments look beautiful and may seem reasonable, and are honestly more like 2.5 stars out of 5, the negatives outweigh the positives. While very far from the worst apartments I've ever lived in, there are too many downsides to honestly recommend Forest Rim as a great home.