Apartment search FAIL.

[KamaAina]

So I see an ad on Craigslist for something I might actually be able to afford, a rarity here in America's Tenth Largest City(TM), a/k/a "Suburbia on Steroids". :P I figure since I'll be downtown anyway for church (UU), I'll head on over.

Okay, so I get off the light rail down by the movie theatre. Familiar territory so far. But as the blocks go past, we're into liquor stores where the hard stuff is kept behind the counter (and they ran out of ones, so now I have enough quarters for laundry tomorrow), sleazy motels ("Cheap Daily and Weekly Rates!", and, of all things, a fine dining restaurant with $39 entrees. :eyes:

Finally I reach the block itself. The place is all the way down next to the freeway. Strike one. A bunch of screaming children are running around -- emanating, as it turns out, from the very apartment where I was supposed to go to see the manager. Strike two, called. Then I look up. Laundry is hanging off the balcony railings like bunting at a 4th of July parade. Stee-rike three. Yer out!

FAIL. Didn't even bother to stop in. And now I know what I'll get for $850 -- nothing. :scared:

[Gormy Cuss]

1. What??? With all those quarters, you could've made use of the amenities in some of the motels.

:hide:

Apartment hunting sucks even in a down economy.

[busybl]

2. San Jose has some scary sections.

Used to live there long ago.

[EndersDame]

3. Hanging Laundry out to Dry is Eco Friendly as well as wallet friendly

I think alot of people need to stop being a little snobbish about this

[KamaAina]

4. That's why the FSM created back yards

for some of us, anyway.

[Chan790]

5. Its an urban no-no...

its also illegal in Yonkers, NY were I live... may be in SJ too. (Classified as a eyesore nuisance.)

[busybl]

7. true about hanging out the wash, but hanging

from the balcony is something else altogether. Most apt houses won't let you. Looks trashy.

[PeaceNikki]

11. I agree 100%.

It doesn't "look trashy" as stated below.

[busybl]

6. can you look iin surrounding towns or

are you limited by transportation needs?

[KamaAina]

8. You nailed it.

In any case, most surrounding towns (Sunnyvale, Cupertino, etc.) are as bad or worse. There are a couple of outlying towns that are somewhat transit-friendly, sort of a Plan B.

[busybl]

9. and places like Cambell are expensive.

You may be stuck with sharing.

[MsKandice01]

10. I lived in Campbell up until 2 years ago...

There are areas in Campbell that aren't very expensive.

[REP]

13. There's a light rail station in Mountain View and Sunnyvale; buses go to them

You can get a studio for about that in either city; I lived in a studio in downtown Mountain View for 10 years (and I love Mountain View).

[KamaAina]

14. I was in Mountain View a couple of weeks ago

very nice -- but that train ride's kind of rough. Tack on a bus and I might as well be back in NYC.

[madinmaryland]

18. Hmm. Sounds pretty elitist to me.

:shrug:

[REP]

21. Sounds fine to me - but I actually used to take the bus everwhere in a big city

It sucked. So did being mugged every now and then. If the commute takes up too much of your day, it's not worth it if you can avoid it. And buses stink and are slow and inconvenient.

[KamaAina]

32. I'm thinking in terms of commute time, Romo

:P

buses hereabouts generally come every half hour, whether you need one or not. The light rail ride from Mtn. View to the office itself is about 40 mins.

[MsKandice01]

12. I'd suggest you look in Campbell

It's pretty transportation friendly (buses anyway). Downtown is going to be pretty bad news, especially for the price range you're looking for.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

15. I don't know if this will help

but the last time I looked for a new apartment (just last month) I made a list.
I listed everything I wanted in a place and ranked it by Had to have, nice to have, etc.
In reviewing the list after I found my new place I saw that everything I wanted was satisfied.
Put another way, maybe since I had defined what I wanted ahead of time, I 'found' it easier?
:shrug:

[quakerboy]

20. I do that

But then prioritize and value each thing. My general outlook is that if you offer me a place for a hundred a month, I can put up with a lot of deficiencies.

[Odin2005]

16. Ugh, no why would I live there!

[REP]

22. We turned down nice and very $$ places due to screaming children

No thank you.

[zanne]

26. Try living across the street from an elementary school.

I've lived here for a very long time. About 15 years ago, they built the school. I figured "How bad can it be? Recess only lasts for about fifteen minutes." What I was unaware of is that recess is done in stages because the school is overpopulated, so recess goes on all day. So do the screaming children. And the parents come and make even more noise when they pick up the screaming children. I know, I know...I shouldn't be thinking NIMBY, but as I get older, the less charming I find those cute little kids. It makes me want to build a privacy fence around my yard, and if they came with soundproofing, I'd use that, too.

[tjwash]

17. Why am I reminded of that scene in the movie "coming to america" ?

"...now we got a little bit of an insect problem here, but you boy's are from Africa, so you're probably used to that"

[quakerboy]

19. Maybe you missed a gem in the rough

Perhaps the prior owner was a recluse who remodeled his own apartment in the utmost of style, with the most awesome soundproofing you ever heard, and decided to leave a thousand bucks hidden in each light socket and power outlet so that the next resident would think well of him(if I ever became ridiculously rich accidentally, its something I would do).

You will never know. Never. And don't you just feel silly now?

[REP]

23. Wouldn't you just buy the building and enforce "quiet enjoyment" laws?

Tear down walls to make yourself a super-apartment and make things hot for the lil screamers?

[quakerboy]

24. Eccentricity

can be illogical. Maybe you just want to be anonymous and far away from the pretentious.

[zanne]

25. $850 would get you nothing in my small city.

If you're looking into something decent in tiny Manchester, NH, be prepared to pay $1,000 a month. I can't imagine what it would cost for anything not roach-ridden in a large city.

[grasswire]

27. ah, but you have a restaurant in Manchester that makes...

...the world's greatest fried haddock. I had it once. Some kind of a lobster shack on Daniel Webster hiway. I never forgot it.

[zanne]

28. The lobster shack I'm thinking about....

Is now primarily a biker stop.

[TheKentuckian]

29. We need more good peeps here in Louisville. $850 2 bedrooms about anywhere

[Mist]

31. Same here--and it's a university town. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

30. Tell me, why did you leave Hawaii again?

I ought to slap you just for the notion of abandoning paradise like that. You're crazy, man.

[KamaAina]

33. As far as I know, my old job is still open

if you want to work for a "co-interim director" who shows up about twice a week, and has a limited grasp at best of the agency's mission. :eyes:

And, if you can get a place in my old building, prepare to spend (again) around 45 mins. each way getting across town (unless, of course, you drive).

Seriesly, the director here is nationally recognized, is widely considered a rising star in the movement, and is the co-founder of a feminist disability rights group. And the Bay Area does suck considerably less than the rest of the mainland.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

34. I can understand, but still....

...I would imagine a move from Hawaii to anywhere would be a step down.

Hell, you know how much I love Florida, and I'll freely admit even that would be a step down from Hawaii. Hawaii just looks so incredibly breathtaking from every picture I've seen and every account I've heard, and I've heard nothing to make me doubt that impression.