Berkeley Arms Apartment -
Pros: High Ceilings, Hardwood Floors, Pet Friendly, Verizon/Comcast ready, Affordable Rent, close to both bus and train public transportation
Cons: No A/C or Central Air included, building controlled heat, variable shower temperature, loud street side due to bus stop right outside window

The Berkeley Arms is a very affordable apartment building in a great location in Rutherford that sacrifices amenities and quiet in order to offer one of the lowest rents per sq ft in... the area. For reference, my apartment is the 585 sq ft one bedroom unit on the street side @ $1270/mo w/o utilities.

The apartment itself is very large and open with hardwood floors and high 9ft ceilings. The walls are painted white with the option to repaint with permission from management. The apartment consists of four rooms: kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom. The space and the location are the biggest selling points for this apartment. The downside of the location is that the bus stop to and from New York are directly outside the apartment window. Great for commuters, but, at peak times, buses are pulling in and out approximately every 20 minutes. The buses are loud enough that the TV in our living room could not be heard over the bus engines. We also needed to get a sound machine for the bedroom as the buses would wake us up starting around 5am.

The apartment is not equipped with central air and no A/C units are provided. Due to the large space of the apartment, at least one 12,000 BTU A/C unit is necessary for the living room and an additional 5,000-6,000 BTU for the bedroom. Heat in the winter is entirely controlled by the building and no thermostat available to adjust manually.

Kithchen Amenities
Refridgerator
Oven w/ 4 burner stovetop
Sink
Four upper cabinets
Four lower cabinets
Two utensil drawers
Pros: adjustable drawers in refridgerator, ample cabinet space, open space
Cons: limited counter space, no dishwasher, no microwave, (we had to buy additional chef's in order to increase counter space and hold microwave)

Bathroom Amenities:
Sink with two door cabinet underneath
Medicine Cabinet with mirrored door
Tub and Shower
Industrial Toilet
Pros: Toilet almost uncloggable, tiled window sill in shower for storage of products
Cons: Toilet unattractive, minimal cabinet/storage space, hot/cold water fluctuates when showering

If you can sacrifice on the noise and temperature issues, the apt is a price/sq ft bargain. Read More