Apartment hunting rant

[Jackalope]

You are a software guy aren't you CD? If so there are plenty of jobs for people like you in Huntsville. You could get a really nice apartment for $750 and cut your commute time to 10 minutes. Of course you'd have to shoot the duck and adopt either an elephant or a war eagle, but that's the price you pay for a better QOL.

Yeah - I know Huntsville, used to be stationed at Redstone.

Can't move from the area, I've got a kid to consider.

[popeyespappy]

When was that?

[Jackalope]

When was that?

Mid-80s

[popeyespappy]

Things have changed... About the only thing the same would be the weather. We still have four seasons. Almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas.

Were you at the air defense maintenance school? If so that is gone now. These days Redstone is home to the Army Materials Command, Army Aviation, and the Missile Defense Agency. Plus NASA is still a huge presence. Not as big as it was in the 60s and 70s but probably bigger than it was in the 80s when you were there.

[Clueless Morgan]

No. The $900 example was just an absurd example of what a 300 sqft studio goes for just outside the (very nice) Pearl district in the (very shitty) Old Town area. (The place in question is near NW Everett and Broadway, smack dab in the middle of homeless central).

Eep. Back away slowly and try not to make eye contact...

Ah, you don't have to pay for parking. I have been staying at a friend's place during the week (Buckmann neighborhood, close-in SE, 10 minute bus ride from work). I started doing that because parking is $12 a day, or $180 to "how much you got" for monthly parking. I went through about a tank of gas a week as well, most of it burned up while crawling at 5mph on Interstate 5 in rush hour.

I actually work a couple blocks from OMSI and my office pays for parking passes. And in any case, my job is such that I do need to drive for meetings and things, and with me getting more of my own projects (not assisting others such that we can carpool to meetings) then it's almost a requirement that I drive myself quite a bit.

I can carpool with my folks a couple times a week, though, which is nice, as it's about the only time I see them since I moved.

Easy choice - but transit is a non-starter coming from Vancouver.

Aw, CD, you're making me nostalgic for the times I would listen to my dad rant about shitty Trimet trying to elbow their way into Vancouver and how the 'Couv is so admirable for not cowing to The Man!

[Jenny A]

I forget the Portland/Salem difference. Not too many years ago we kept a rental home of about 1500 sq. in a nice neighborhood that we got 700 a month for. We sold it at the height of the housing boom. But that's here not in the tri-counties. ----- 25 years ago moving from Salem to Portland I remember being shocked at the the rental cost.

Good luck with your search.

[Jackalope]

Things have changed... About the only thing the same would be the weather. We still have four seasons. Almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas.

Were you at the air defense maintenance school? If so that is gone now. These days Redstone is home to the Army Materials Command, Army Aviation, and the Missile Defense Agency. Plus NASA is still a huge presence. Not as big as it was in the 60s and 70s but probably bigger than it was in the 80s when you were there.

No, I was in the anti-tank missile school (TOW and Dragon).

[Jackalope]

On the good news front, I found a nice 1BR 700 sqft retro place about four miles from work for $795. Not quite as close in as I want but it mostly meets my requirements and it's in a cool neighborhood with lots of stuff in walking distance. Hopefully I can take a look over the next day or two.

[Welsh cake]

Sorry to hear you're hurting CD.

It fucking sucks not having somewhere decent and affordable to live.

The standards and cost of living is just... getting... too... ridiculously... high. >.<

[popeyespappy]

No, I was in the anti-tank missile school (TOW and Dragon).

One of my high school buddy's dad was the army program manager for tow in the late 70's. Last name Cobb. Don't know if he had moved on by the time you were there or not.