As many of you know, my apartment building was sold to a new owner who revealed his plans to turn the units into condominiums earlier this year. Since I don't have $250K handy, I moved to an apartment located in the Lloyd Center/Irvington area that offers more amenities but is of course more expensive. If I hadn't been forced to move, I would have stayed until I left Portland because there are some decided advantages to my old apartment:
- Being within walking distance of Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Powell's Books, REI, Hot Lips Pizza, the main post office and the Northwest/Pearl/downtown area in general.
- Taking the tram to work (although not having to listen to the tram operator with the reading skills of a second grader when she reads out loud from a book about Portland's bridges to her captive audience is actually a bonus).
- Cheaper rent, to the tune of $200 per month. Ouch.
That being said, there is much that I won't miss about my old apartment:
- The lack of screens on the windows to prevent overly curious cats from exploring the window ledges in my fifth-floor apartment, thus allowing the afternoon sun heat up my apartment to sauna-like conditions.
- Having to send packages to work because the building management stopped accepting packages for residents.
- Scrounging for quarters to do laundry.
- Using dial-up internet.
- Being over half a mile from the nearest grocery store - it's never fun to lug 501,270 lbs of groceries home.
- Not having any restaurants that do take-out nearby in case I didn't feel like making a meal.
- Needing to plan special trips for cat supplies.
- Planning my day around getting to the gym before its ridiculously early closing times.
- The way my neighbours could see right into my bedroom, living room and balcony - I'm not much for privacy and I hate having the blinds closed, but when I can reach out and touch my neighbour's windows from my balcony...
- Needing to transfer to a bus or the tram to get to work.
Goddamn. I should have moved earlier!
3 comments:
Aside, from the rent hike, glad to hear you've found a place much better for you.
Aside, from the rent hike, glad to hear you've found a place much better for you.
Thanks! Now I just have to detach myself from the wi-fi so that I can actually unpack...
ha! at least wifi actually exists in your part of the world! okay, i'm being harsh. but really, let's face it, oz is at least 6-12 months behind in technology
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