It is interesting (read: suspicious) that Ryan S.'s review is blocked. Like Erika B., I basically agree with everything that Ryan S. wrote. I wish I would have headed his/her advice before renting!
I am woke up at least two nights a week at 3-4 a.m. by my upstairs neighbor because the walls/ceilings are so thin. The ceilings make a loud creaking sound. Do not lease a downstairs unit. I will not be renewing mine.
I agree with Erika B. that:
By far the biggest issue for me is how thin the walls and windows are, especially having a bottom floor unit. Lately I wake up to whoever may be talking outside my bedroom window which looks out to a small little courtyard and 2 other apartment doors (which also unfortunately means I always have my blinds closed)... Because of the layout of the buildings anything in that area echoes to the point it sounds like people are literally yelling inside my bedroom. I've been woken up by people moving stuff at 8am walking back and fourth talking, a few people casually talking at the front door and a barking dog, and multiple times by kids playing even further down the hall. Which still sounded like they were in my room. I can here word for word what everyone says and it's probably 2x louder than they are talking.. I've had to move to the living room and sleep the rest of the morning on my futon a few times.
It's really hard to get natural light into the unit, but it's also partly that leaving your blinds open on any of the 3 windows feels like everyone can see really easily everything inside. I guess I didn't think about that with having a bottom unit.