Birchwood Square Apartments

This is a nice place to live. Very quiet neighborhood because there are a lot of older people (30 +) and no pets. No pets also means no smells, which is good. (Except if you have a smoker in your building…) I have an upper apartment and it is great. I love the balcony and the high ceilings. The lady at the "front desk" (the model apartment) is very nice. There is a lot of parking and the grounds/ common areas are well kept. Snow is an issue if you live in Buffalo, but the plows are diligent. Everything is about 10-20 minutes away (like the Mall and a Wegmans). And there is recycling (which is important to me).



The only problems I have with the place are the noises. I was told when I first inquired about this apartment complex that the walls are good and you can't hear your neighbor using the same wall. This turned out to be true. But what I didn't expect is the floors to be a problem! They are very thin and squeaky. (Probably wooden floors that used nails instead of screws).



Like I mentioned, I have an upper apartment. Because of the very thin, squeaky floors, the woman below me constantly complains that I WALK too loud! She says my TV is too loud and that she can hear every word of it. (I don't actually have a TV, I watch shows on my laptop. And I don't use any external speakers). She also complains that is sounds like an earthquake when I do my exercise routine.



Because of this I have had to made several compromises and am constantly paranoid about how I'm walking.... Not to mention I can hear her and her TV through the floor as well. …She leaves her TV on all night, but you don’t hear me complaining. I have lived in other apartments before and I know that some level of noise from other people in the building is to be expected. (Also, I have never had anyone complain about me making too much noise before, so I know that my levels of “living” noises are normal).



Another noise issue is located in the bathroom. In everyone's bathroom. The toilet is very loud when it's flushed and the shower is very loud with it is turned on. I have lived in five other apartments (because of school) and I have never experienced a bathroom this loud before. I can always hear when someone else in the building is using their shower. Which may or may not be a good thing, because then I can avoid using the shower when someone else is. The water temperature is all over the place when someone else in the building is using their water as well.



Overall, this is a very nice place to live. One can probably get over the bathroom noises and the water temp. Just make sure to see if they have tighten the floors so they are not too squeaky and double check that you don't have a cranky elderly lady living under you (if you are looking at an upper) before you move in.