Downtown Dallas Renters Ranting With A View

During the last decade, thousands of renters have bid adieu to the 'burbs and headed downtown for a taste of urban living. The trendy new loft apartments and growing base of restaurants and retailers in Dallas' core marks a comeback for a center city that until recently was one of the most lifeless in the country. High-dollar homes have replaced empty office space, and a series of planned downtown parks will soon give core dwellers new places to walk the dog and chew the fat. But alas, all is not sweetness and lattes in the lives of downtown renters.

If you don't believe me, just take a gander at some of the comments you'll find on Internet sites that rate downtown Dallas loft buildings. To hear some of those folk talk, it's an urban hell presided over by shoddy management and noisy neighbors. "I could tolerate the noise because I lived on the 14th floor, but the lack of customer service is absolutely pathetic," laments one loft renter. "When you consider the amount of money that we pay in monthly rent, you would expect some sort of accountability on their end."

And I loved the parting shot: "Oh yeah, my sink fell through the counter, and it took a month to get someone up to repair it." There are lots of complaints about parking, which I would expect. And panhandlers are a familiar peeve. Other common gripes are about trash piling up and a "frat house" atmosphere. "Half the people coming and going don't seem to live here. Parties get out of hand, and the police are called out," one reviewer of a Main Street building said.

A shocking number of complaints involve poop. It would seem that some downtown pet owners find it's easier to let their dogs tend to their business in the hallways than to get dressed and head to the park. "They let pet urine and feces sit around on the floor for days before someone cleans it up," one renter remarked.

Not the best leasing amenity, I agree. But before you decide that downtown living's not what it's touted, consider what one of my apartment analyst buddies had to say. Mike Puls with Foley & Puls isn't put off by what downtown renters have to say on Internet sites. "If you are going to write on one of these, it's going to be to complain."