I am baffled at the great reviews for Bucktown apartments, and I can only conclude that the positive reviews are for another apartment in the building. This review is for the main floor, 2-bedroom apartment, which I rented for a month and asked to leave the day after I arrived.

Laurie was not there to meet me when I arrived. When I opened the door to the apartment, I was overwhelmed by a noxious odor of natural gas and a strong chemical cleaner. I decided to open the windows and hope for the best.

There was no information in the apartment about services in the area, so I walked around the neighborhood, looking for a grocery store and the transit stops. There were no grocery stores. When I got back, I called Laurie and asked for information about the area. She advised me to look on the Internet for grocery stores and transit information. If you have ever tried to do this in a foreign city (and country), you will appreciate how unhelpful this was. I never did find a grocery store, only an expensive take-out deli. The blue line (subway) is about a one-mile walk from the apartment and I found it by asking someone on the street.

Things did not improve. The overwhelming smell did not dissipate, the dishes were dirty, the chairs at the living room table were so rickety that I could not use them. The kitchen was dark because the windows have a permanent paper covering. One of the bedroom windows did not lock. (On a main floor???) The living room has only semi-sheer curtains, which means that everyone on the street, and coming up the front stairs, can see into the apartment at night. There were too many rats to count in the alley beside the bedrooms. No one actually lives in the apartment because it is just a rental unit. That may account for its sad state.This is NOT a place that you want to rent.