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Any ideas on any good apartment in the Tuscaloosa area? I will be moving here very soon. I have a two year old and expecting.

We lived at The Reserve in North River for 9 months and had an overall positive experience there. Great pool. Close to restaurants, dry cleaners, Publix (I walked there practically every day!). I also liked that area of town.

Second on the Reserve at North River. Ask for Gregg -- he's great. We're living here now and it's more upscale, both in terms of who lives in this part of town, and what the apartments are like. PM me if you want to chat more ... I'll post more later, but I have to run!

I'm back.

Okay, so the Reserve at North River is great for a few reasons. I've listed two already, and Kristi has listed some others. What we also love is that it is really quiet here. They don't rent to undergraduates, and in fact there is a substantial amount of faculty and staff for the University that live here (as well as graduate students, but the students who live here tend to be older.)

That being said, we have one daughter, and my 24-year-old sister lives with us. We have a "two bedroom" with a loft and a den. It's super, super spacious. The baby's room is the "den," which means it's a room without a closet. No worries; she has an armoire and she's too little to have too much stuff. My sister has her own bedroom that is literally down its own hallway, as well as her own bathroom. The living room is spacious as is the master "suite," and the idea that we have a (huge!) loft means we have a home office where we all three have desks and computers set up as well as a play area for the baby and room to spare!

The amenities are also great. Computer/business center, copying and faxing, pool, gym/weight room, a small playground for the kids, and tennis courts. Truly, I've lived in a lot of apartments in my life, in all parts of the country, and these are in the top two.

Now, all that being said there are certainly other places in Tuscaloosa/Northport. One thing that we learned the hard way when we first got to town is that the closer you are to campus, the more disruptive the train can be at all hours of the night. I am not a light sleeper, but the train "whistles" at EVERY intersection and you can hear it for miles. When it comes through 10 intersections and whistles two or three times for each, and this happens every 30 minutes all night long, it can begin to feel as if it never stops. It made for many sleepless nights when we first got here, and no one who had been here for any length of time even seemed to think it was disruptive. Maybe they were used to it, but it wasn't something I foresaw ever getting used to, so we moved.

So, if you're a light sleeper by any stretch, I'd caution you against living too close to campus because the trains will keep you up.

I hope this helps!

Advise from me is.... Go somewhere upscale, avoid campus and anywhere that has a lot of students. Don't listen to "there is a good mix" because thats not ever true. Check it out for yourself. Spend some time at the place you are interested in talking with residents and such. Avoid extremely large complexes. As bad as this sounds, the places that are "affordable" to most people are more than likely going to fall short of your expectations. And one last word of advice, AVOID The Links/ The Greens (I think thats what they are called) the management sucks and there are tons of problems that they won't resolve.

Oh yes def. listen to ashley_!! We lived at The Links when we first moved here and as nice as it seems the management SUCKS awful! Their names are Aaron and Jamie I think ask anyone they are not good at all! and I dont know who is for the greens now but I heard they were just as bad! So dont let the free tanning, big pool, hot tub, get you like it did us! lol We actually broke our contract bc it was so awful!

Lynnleesmommy, The Greens are run by the same management company. Lets not forget to mention that what the advertise, is NOT true. Ugh that place makes my blood boil. Glad to see we aren't the only ones who had a bad experience (actually I know about 4-5 people who HATED it there).

Oh my goodness yes! and not only were they awful with getting things done and ect... she (jamie the manager) made a comment to my next door neighbor (that worked up there at one point) about my daughter not being cute and to fat!

They just do not know how to run it. and they hired their staff on things that had nothing to do with business. Sry I get real upset when I talk about that place! Everyone that lived by me or that I knew lived there moved out asap!!

I live in Northbrook Apts and love them!

OMG I can't believe she said that! Well, yes I can, she is a moron. Everyone in my building also moved out ASAP. Its funny you say how upset you get because we do too. I have another good friend who she and her husband get so mad when speaking of that place. It was rather ridiculous. Sigh... What can ya do?