Kaonashi Ga Suki

Yes, I’ve been quite busy. I apologize for not posting as often as before. Things have just been very hectic for me these past couple of weeks, what with my research, my class projects, readings, and apartment hunting. At least one of them is going sort of ok so far.

Apartment hunting has had its ups and downs. The main problem my boyfriend and I had was that not only do we work/go to school on opposite ends of LA (east and west), but his job is southwest while my school is northeast, and it’s been tough trying to find a happy medium.

Those of you who don’t live in the LA area may not get what I’m talking about, but picture the southern part of California with Downtown LA in the middle but a little bit north. Now picture smaller cities east and slightly south of downtown. Those were the areas we checked out first, and I tell ya- they were not worth the price of rent. They were charging these ridiculous amounts for the crappiest apartments in not very nice neighborhoods. We gave up on those areas immediately.

The second option was to be more south but east as possible, which is around Long Beach. Sure, my boyfriend was to have only a 15 minute commute- but mine would be a whopping TWO HOURS ONE WAY. Holy shit. That’s just absolutely ridiculous. Admittedly there were some nice areas for relatively reasonable prices, but I do not want to be on the freeway four hours every day.

We then decided to try north of Downtown, and a light bulb went off our heads- Pasadena. Home of the Rose Bowl, the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Gamble House, and Old Town. It’s only about 30 minutes away west of my school and about 50 minutes north of my boyfriend’s work. We’ve always liked the area, and we wanted a place where we can just walk around safely on weekends or after work/class in a nice, quiet neighborhood, but close enough that we can stroll into Old Town for dinner and and shopping. It was perfect.

The big question then became- will we be able to find a great, affordable place? After all, Old Town is a very touristy area, not to mention that Pasadena is home to both Pasadena City College and Cal Tech, so many areas are pretty pricey. However, much to our surprise there are quite a few places that are decently priced but not crappy. Granted, all the places in our price range are old apartments, but we’ve seen plenty that are in more than decent shape.

We have some stiff competition though. For example, last weekend we found a great little place in a residential neighborhood. It was within walking distance to Old Town and on a quiet street with plenty of street parking (alas, since parking is usually limited to one per apartment, one of us will always park on the street). We really liked it a lot, but someone had beaten us to it. Apparently, there are quite a few people with terrific, high paying jobs (doctors, professors, movie directors, nurses, etc.) who are vying for these same small, cheap places as we are, but we are at a disadvantage since not only do I just work part time and am mainly a student, but my boyfriend has a regular job, not a high paying, illustrious job. I worry that we’re going to keep getting beat by people with better paychecks.

Today I didn’t get to go scouting with my boyfriend since I was busy with schoolwork, but he had found another terrific place. It’s still old (built in the 60’s), but the place he said, was immaculate. It was kept very well- fresh paint, new carpets, pristine kitchen and bathrooms (no cracks in the tile or tub). There was central heat and AC, and ample closet space. It’s on a busy street but in a quiet neighborhood and plenty of street parking available. It’s gated and there’s underground parking. The neighbors are pretty quiet too. It’s about a half hour’s walk from Old Town, which is good since we welcome the exercise. I really hope we get this place. Religious people, pray for us that we get this place. Non-religious people, cross your fingers for us