The Ridge At Clear Creek

I came to think that the residents of Flagstaff AZ were the nicest people I’d met. Always courteous, friendly, kind & patient until I met the staff at The Ridge at Clear Creek. My experience the day I walked into their office was one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve had. There were 2 employees at their desks, neither greeted my son or myself (and we are both very friendly people). I had to say that I was there for my son to move in. One employee stood up & walked away without saying a word, the other wouldn’t make eye contact with me. The employee that walked away came back asked for my son’s ID, handed him a key and parking sticker and was done with us. I had to ask «where is the apartment» she responded «over there up the hill». Note that there are over 15 complexes on the premises. I asked if we could take a tour, she responded «there nothing to see, the mailboxes are over there & the community room over there» she just pointed. Not a welcome to our apartments or a thank you. I’ll never again be able to say how wonderful the residents of Flagstaff are after this experience.

Didn’t even want to give them one star! First apartment I have ever had and it was absolutely terrible! If you are a college student they will take advantage of that and try to screw you over! The women in the office were rude, they roll their eyes, don’t listen and are EXTREMELY UNORGANIZED!!! they will try and get as much money off of you as they can and everything is so cheap in the apartment! Stuff breaks easily so be careful and it will take weeks to get Maintence to come fix it. Also it has a terrible bug and rat infestation if you are on the first floor! I HIGHLY recommend not living at the ridge at clear creek! (not ethical management practices)
— college student from NAU

The apartments are nice, the management is awful.
The management team, and their policies are ridiculous.
I need to watch my family’s dog for 4 weeks. To get this done I have to pay $ 500 deposit (250 is refundable, AT THE END OF MY LEASE) and $ 30 per month pet rent. Essentially, The ridge is charging me $ 280, and holding $ 250 for a year, to have a 15 pound schnauzer in my apartment for a month. I asked them if there was a way around it and I got a «Sorry that’s the policy.» Day one of business communication 101 the Prof says, don’t hide behind policy, give a reason. They skipped that day I guess. This is one of many examples.
The relationship between tenant and management is adversarial. Every time I talk to them it seems like it is ‘them verse me.’ I thought a business was supposed to help its customers. I look forward to the end of my lease.
UPDATE:
I moved out and they kept my entire $ 1000 deposit. 200 of that was a cleaning fee, which was close to fair (My roomate left some trash and didn’t scrub his toilet)
They charged me $ 700 to replace carpet because of 6 stains that were the size of pennies. The stains we all within a 6 inch circle. I assumed that I would be charged 50 bucks or so to steam clean it, nope 700 dollars. This is totally unethical. If you move in here, just assume they will eat your deposit. I spoke with my neighbors, apparently this is a pattern at The Ridge.

PROS: I moved into a brand new building in 2011. The apartments are spacious and there is so much room for storage. I lived in the same unit for 3 years. Every time I needed a maintenance issue taken care of, it was done so within a reasonable amount of time. No complaints about noisy neighbors. Great amenities. Never had any issues with the utilities being broken. I would definitely recommend getting Suddenlink for cable and internet.
CONS:
I lived on the first floor on the side near the open forest and freeway. For this reason I put wooden bars in the window track so that incase someone tried to break in they would not be able to get in. I would recommend any resident to do this. After I went away for vacation I returned to notice that my bedroom window had attempted to be broken in to. The screen had been taken off and was bent. I went down to the office and they showed no concern for my safety. All they did was have the screen replaced.
I will also never forget the first few months after my move in date. I noticed several bees inside my apartment! Can you imagine how scary it would be to stay somewhere infested by bees?! I went outside to check where the dryer/​vent opening is on the exterior wall. A HUGE bee hive was over the vent. I took photos and went down to the office. This was a Saturday and they said, «I’m sorry but because it’s a weekend, the insect guy is not working. We use the guys out of Phoenix». This makes me upset that they weren’t using local businesses. I begged them to please make an emergency call. They said there was nothing they could do and I would have to wait until Monday. I spent the next few weeks living with bees in my apartment and picking up dead ones all over the place.
The staff (not the managers) in the front office were so disappointing. In 2011 – 2012 the girls were not educated. Eventually I found out that they hired new staff. These girls were better but were still not the friendliest people you would meet. They weren’t necessarily rude but they could care less about any problems a resident had. They seemed like they do not like their jobs.
The gym has fallen apart over the past 3 years. Equipment has been broken and never fixed. For example, shoes straps on a bicycle, a broken wire on a weight machine, never replaced the old matts that have been abused. The fans on the treadmills didn’t work. There was no up keep on the machines so they weren’t working properly. The sanitary wipe dispensers were empty and never refilled. Sometimes people broke the basketball hoop and the owner took forever to replace it. The clubhouse worker would only come into the gym and offer a towel if there was a really good looking girl in the workout room.
During the winter a poor job is done with snow removal. The hills are too steep and cars would always slide back down. The roads weren’t cleared all the way, just had the rock put down. However the sidewalks were also taken care of which was nice. Big heaps of snow turned into ice that built up on the edge of the roads and would block parking spaces. No efforts were made to remove them.
IN CONCLUSION:
I did end up renewing my lease twice because the apartment itself was nice and in a great location. So if that says anything, it is a good place to live if you’re not really involved with the staff. Keep to yourselves and you’ll never have any issues. Because of the cons above it wasn’t the greatest experience and that is why I rate it 3 stars as «Okay».

I recently moved out of this place after living there since 2012. I don’t know how most people have had such positive experiences at The Ridge since mine was anything but.
Parking: It’s typical apartment parking. This would be fine, except it’s really not regulated enough. Parking is basically a free for all between guests and people who actually live there, since every apartment only gets one assigned spot. Getting home late at night? Good luck finding a spot that’s within 100 yards of your front door.
Grounds: This isn’t a huge deal, but The Ridge is just ugly. I mean, the awkward brown color and dark green? And would it have killed the people who built/​designed this place to leave a few of the beautiful trees standing that were there long before The Ridge was? It would have been nice to have a view of something other than other people’s living rooms when I looked out my window. Like trees, other plants, and maybe a few flowers.
Construction: Things fell apart after regular use and a couple cabinets in my apartment weren’t even assembled properly. The stove didn’t work properly and the washer was ridiculously loud. There were some wiring problems and having the light and ceiling fan on at the same time in the master bedroom would trip the breaker after a few minutes. The rooms were an average size (a little on the small side), but the dimensions listed on the brochures were a lie since they included the dimension of the closets as part of the rooms themselves. Between the dining room, living room, and kitchen, there’s one window. Granted, it’s a sliding glass door and a good size but it lets almost no light in. The apartments are dark, crappy quality and not all that big.
Facilities: They’re actually pretty decent. There’s three hot tubs (kind of pointless), a decent gym, saunas, a small playground, racquetball courts, and a pool table.
Noise: If you don’t mind parties literally every night of the week and all hours of the night (both in the units and in the hot tubs near the office), the noise at The Ridge won’t be a problem for you. If you expect people to have common courtesy and realize that some people need to sleep at night because they have to go to work or school in the morning, then The Ridge will definitely be a problem for you. Also, at its farthest point from the freeway, it was just over 200 yards. My unit was about as far away as you could get and the freeway was still pretty loud, especially at night.
Location: Overall, the location is okay. Being that close to campus is a double-​edged sword. If you’re a student or employee at NAU, the proximity to campus is really convenient. If you’re neither, then you just end up living around a bunch of obnoxious college students. Other than that, The Ridge isn’t particularly close to any stores/​restaurants so traffic on Pine Knoll and Lone Tree are never that bad but it’s not especially convenient for running errands and whatnot.
Staff: They’re nice, friendly, and completely incompetent. They’re untrained and ignorant. Just getting the paperwork to my cosigner was a huge hassle because the office staff kept sending it to the wrong email address. They also don’t take responsibility for their mistakes. They give you attitude when there’s a problem, even when they’re at fault.
Rent/​Other fees: Like everywhere in Flagstaff, rent is outrageous. If you can afford it, it’s $ 500 to have a pet, plus $ 30/​month. $ 250 of the $ 500 is a pet deposit and is refundable. I wouldn’t say they’re pet friendly. It’s more like they allow pets if you can afford it.
TL; DR: This place sucks, especially if you need peace and quiet to sleep and if you appreciate a helpful staff.

The apartments themselves are nice and seem pretty new. The complex is huge and has some cool amenities like the hottub, fitness center, and trails near by.
Parking is strict (notices, towing). This can be good for residents who don’t want others to park in their spots or to come home to no parking because of a college party. But its a pain for everyone else, mainly guests, who just want to park for a few hours.
The paperwork needed to lease an apartment is my biggest concern because the amount is ludicrous. The front desk staff is friendly enough to make it as painless as possible.

The only good encounter I had with the staff was on the day the lease was signed. Every other time, the staff always appears unwilling to hear from their residents and to work with you.
On multiple occasions, I have had to put in a work order for maintenance. Each time however, I have had to call again because they did not show up to fix whatever needed to be repaired.
Most apartment complexes will solve any noise disputes between neighbors. It is the written policy of The Ridge to not mediate any complaints but is in their policy to charge their residents $ 50.00 for every complaint.
On occasion they will send a flyer reminding their residents of the punishments should they do something wrong (IE the $ 50.00 noise violations or the $ 100.00 per person fine if you are caught a minute past closing in the Hot Tub or the fitness center
Many of my neighbors around me have had arguments with the staff regarding them losing rent checks. On one occasion, the staff acknowledged to one of these residents that they lost their check, but were still going to charge him the late fee. That resident had to go all the way to upper management to get that solved.
Overall, I strongly discourage from renting an apartment through the MEB network.

Every apartment I had lived in up to living here was great. Staff was friendly, policies were acceptable, and the living experience was great. So as person used to living in apartments it goes without saying that this place is horrible.
The staff is the biggest problem. They unilaterally decide to take action against their neighbors. Against apartment code, they continually want to charge their residents $ 50 for every noise complaint. If you are caught one minute after hours in the hot tub or fitness center, they’ll charge your apartment $ 100 for each person. They constantly make threats to get rid of the rash bins, and despite the complaints of the handicapped residents, they remove their ADA spots for new residents.
Every other apartment complex will mediate any dispute between neighbors if and when they arise. This apartment will not help you at all. They will tell you it is not their problem. This all despite their complex being one of the most expensive to live around campus. For being such an expensive place to live, their roads are very poorly designed. There have been four car accidents I’ve witnessed as a resident here because they have made their roads very narrow. And most of the apartments have a great view of the highway where you can hear highway traffic all night long!
Many of my neighbors have complained about The Ridge losing rent checks and then charging late fees. The staff at The Ridge clearly do not wish to take responsibility for their actions. And if you have any complaints about the staff, don’t do so on their Facebook page. They will even take down constructive criticism from the page. They want their residents to be obedient and will silence any form of dissent.
There are plenty of other great apartments for college students to live in. But avoid MEB at all costs! (The Ridge, Clear Creek Village, and University West) I would give zero stars if Unilocal allowed me to.