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Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 4:18 pm
It's been nearly six years since my ex threw me out - been renting a room ever since (excluding a brief period of homelessness), and I figure it's about time for me to find my own place.
My must-have requirements are pretty light - I want to be close enough to work in the downtown so that I can take mass transit (or alternatively, at least close enough so that I no longer have to cross the Columbia river with the freeway nightmare that entails), I need a place to park my car, and it's gotta have a dishwasher. Washer/dryer hookup would be nice, onsite coin-op or nearby laundromat is acceptable. Other than that, it's just got to be in a reasonably safe part of town.
Easy, right?
Wrong.
OK, I haven't officially rented in nearly 20 years. Things haven't changed that much, right?
Wrong.
Advertisements lie. (OK, so that hasn't changed).
A hint to advertisers and property managers:
* A 30-60 mile commute to downtown is not "close-in". Nor is it "close to everything". I think it could more accurately be described as "way the fuck out" and "not anywhere near anything, ever".
* A 300 square foot studio for $900 "near" one of the more desirable areas (The Pearl), but actually in one of the least desirable areas (Old Town) is not a "great deal". It's more like prison rape than a good deal.
* The junkyard district is not a "great area".
At this rate, it's going to be weeks before I even find something I want to look at.
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 4:26 pm
A commute isn't so bad. If you can use a train you've got time to read a book or post on some shitty forum, if you have to drive you can spend the time deciding what to do at work. Or cuttting in front of middle-aged women.
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 4:32 pm
I always assume that every ad I read is total bullshit.
I'm rarely disappointed and almost never pleasantly surprised!
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 4:38 pm
(August 21, 2014 at 4:26 pm)Diablo Wrote: A commute isn't so bad. If you can use a train you've got time to read a book or post on some shitty forum, if you have to drive you can spend the time deciding what to do at work. Or cuttting in front of middle-aged women.
Sure. My current commute is 12 miles, public transit is not a viable option (the nearest bus stop that takes me to the train is over a mile away - and I'm disabled (the transit commute excluding the walking portion is 75-90 minutes). Driving that 12 miles often takes an hour, sometimes 90 minutes. That's one of my primary motivators - I want to spend less of my life sitting in stop and go traffic on the freeway, and I'd like to be more environmentally responsible.
Half an hour on a train or bus is about all I can take - I'm disabled enough that standing for half an hour is difficult, but not so disabled that anyone actually will give up one of the disabled-reserved seats for me. I might as well just get an apartment near where I live now if I don't get a shorter commute out of it - rents are far cheaper here than in Portland.
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 4:44 pm
(August 21, 2014 at 4:38 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: (August 21, 2014 at 4:26 pm)Diablo Wrote: A commute isn't so bad. If you can use a train you've got time to read a book or post on some shitty forum, if you have to drive you can spend the time deciding what to do at work. Or cuttting in front of middle-aged women.
Sure. My current commute is 12 miles, public transit is not a viable option (the nearest bus stop that takes me to the train is over a mile away - and I'm disabled (the transit commute excluding the walking portion is 75-90 minutes). Driving that 12 miles often takes an hour, sometimes 90 minutes. That's one of my primary motivators - I want to spend less of my life sitting in stop and go traffic on the freeway, and I'd like to be more environmentally responsible.
Half an hour on a train or bus is about all I can take - I'm disabled enough that standing for half an hour is difficult, but not so disabled that anyone actually will give up one of the disabled-reserved seats for me. I might as well just get an apartment near where I live now if I don't get a shorter commute out of it - rents are far cheaper here than in Portland.
Oh, I didn't know that. I hope I didn't upset you.
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 5:03 pm
Sheesh! 900 would get you a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with washer/dryer (machines not hookups) in a nice neighborhood here. Hope you find what you are seeking.
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 5:04 pm
(August 21, 2014 at 4:44 pm)Diablo Wrote: Oh, I didn't know that. I hope I didn't upset you.
Not at all, it's all good. 
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 5:22 pm
(August 21, 2014 at 5:03 pm)Zack Wrote: Sheesh! 900 would get you a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with washer/dryer (machines not hookups) in a nice neighborhood here. Hope you find what you are seeking.
At least in terms of real estate, Portland is the cheapest major city on the west coast. By far.
$900 doesn't get much anywhere here I've seen.
CD - have you considered further south, but still within a short commute? LO, Tigard, Tualatin and such? I used to live in LO and for a while took the bus up I5 to downtown. Ride was only about 20 minutes from the bus stop around the Bridgeport shopping area.
Not knowing your budget, it's hard to say.
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 5:28 pm
If it wasn't for the idjits I wind up next to, apartment living wouldn't have been so bad.
BTW, I lived in a motel for 15 months. It was as bad as anything I experienced. Even though the motel was mostly month to month, there was still much noise, weirdos milling about, and it was expensive for the amount of room I had.
(did my first year of sobriety at the motel, I could see sobriety as being a big drawback to the long term motel living experience)
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RE: Apartment hunting rant
August 21, 2014 at 5:29 pm
(August 21, 2014 at 4:18 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: It's been nearly six years since my ex threw me out - been renting a room ever since (excluding a brief period of homelessness), and I figure it's about time for me to find my own place.
You could try extending your search to the MAX-served metro area (assuming you haven't already, but you probably have so I'll just shut up...)
Otherwise, Vancouver is probably cheaper than Portland or the metro area. If you want cheaper areas around here you'd probably have to look at the far, far reaches of the MAX lines which also means loooooooong train rides, which, on top of being long, also means you're not close to "anything" which is seems you want to be. 
Apartment hunting sucks. My condolences.
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
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