Shift Apartments — Local services in San Diego

Our son, Morgan and his wife, Emma, moved into Shift 3 years ago. We live in New York and have come to visit several times. Shift is only 4 miles from the San Diego airport, close to downtown, the San Diego zoo, Balboa park, Petco park and my favorite place to visit Coronado Island. In fact, you can see the bridge to Coronado Island from their apartment. I have never lived in a city or an apartment so I did not know what to expect at all but Shift was not what I thought it was going to be like. It is beautiful! The apartment is a good size, modern looking, great view, outside their door is a lovely courtyard with beautiful plants and little seating areas. People sit out on their balconies overlooking the courtyard. The front desk workers are very friendly and welcoming and know the kids by name. Morgan and Emma moved there to run community events for Shift through Apartment Life. Twice a month they do something to bring the whole building together doing something fun. Sometimes it’s a breakfast bar, sometimes a game night, sometimes a pool party or a holiday party like the New Year’s eve party. Shift has the perfect spot for these community gatherings on the roof where there is a pool, beautiful seating areas, BBQs, fire pits, big screen tvs and all outdoors with a magnificent 360 degree view of the city. There is also a large room available for indoor events. I think fostering community in a downtown apartment building is genius! Getting to know the people in your building, making friends, having things right there to do socially would make newcomers feel less anxious and more at home. San Diego is a big navy town and many are young adults who are far from home and needing a safe, welcoming place to live. We met two of the girls that lived there and became friends with Morgan and Emma because of the community life. For them getting to know people in their building they feel comfortable with can be very reassuring knowing that in case of any kind of emergency there is someone close by who can help and they can be there for their neighbors as well. I applaud Shift for going the extra mile as an apartment building and making community...

About to finish up my year lease here, and I just wanted to say that the best word to describe living at Shift is “easy”. And I moved here from the Big Easy…

Yes, the homelessness is really really REALLY bad, and it smells awful as soon as you step foot outside the front lobby… and tbh there’s not really anything to do in East Village except hit up Quartyard for a show or spend $$$ on mid beer and hotdogs at the Lost Abbey… but Shift at least made my time in EV bearable. The building was always clean (considering many residents have doggies), the elevators always worked, the spa was closed only a handful of times in the past 12 months, I was never accosted by anyone or felt generally unsafe, my parking spot is always there for me, I’ve received every package I’ve ordered, and maintenance requests were fulfilled in a very timely manner by some very nice people. Not sure where all the complaints about trash are coming from… maybe I was just lucky and the 7th floor never backed up. Security really does their best to make residents feel safe. They can’t help that the building is in the middle of an actual encampment. Countless times I have seen who I think is the main security guy talking to an unhoused, mentally ill person outside the building, protecting residents who are walking by.

The amenities are great. Top-notch. My friends are always super jealous once we get up to the pool. Awesome views and the pool and spa are always so clean. They really do take good care of everything. The gym is everything I need, and it’s never super busy. The view of the sunrise over the mountains in the gym is something I will miss.

All in all, Shift has done everything in their power to make living in East Village the best you can make it. I wish I could load up the building and staff and move it somewhere else. If you need to be in EV, this is the...

UPDATE: March 2022 - Things are getting worse. Management refuses to speak with residents as a group to improve the health and safety for all residents. Before renting here, check with San Diego Police for crimes in the building.

UPDATE: July 2021 - Things have not changed. Great build, but the current manager continues to allow implemented health and safety violations to continue.

The apartment itself is outstanding. Amenities are outstanding. Location is less than desirable with the increased issues with the homeless, but isn't management's fault, but things seem to be getting better.

Shift is touted as a high end luxury apartment complex in East Village. In reality, it has become a fraternity house (Kappa Kappa Shift), with students from local colleges that throw parties on the pool deck.

Very difficult to have the current manager have residents follow the established rules that everyone agreed upon when filling out paperwork to live here. This disregard for the resident rules decreases the overall appeal of Shift. Example - a sign on the penthouse deck on Super Bowl Sunday saying residents only, no guests, no smoking (or access to pool deck would be removed for anyone breaking the rules). There were over 200 people on the pool deck throughout the day, smoking, drunk, using drugs, security unable to do anything and the manager (who happens to live onsite) nowhere to be found.

Until there is either a radical change by the current manager to listen to the residents, fix the current issues and follow the rules that residents signed when leasing (guest policy, noise policy, no smoking, etc), or upper management steps in and fixes the many issues, my rating will remain two star. When that change happens, it becomes five star. ...