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4 votes
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Why we can’t build family-sized apartments in North America
33 votes -
My new apartment’s most aggravating feature (latch smart locks)
50 votes -
Exploring Art Deco architecture's evolution from its 1920s roots to its modern resurgence in Art Deco 2.0
5 votes -
Not your grandma’s granny flat: How San Diego hacked state housing law to build ADU ‘apartment buildings’
16 votes -
Joe Biden administration offers $35 billion in low-interest loans to support US transit-oriented development
24 votes -
Graduated and moving to an apartment in a major city in the US, advice/tips?
I graduated in the spring and spent the last few months at home with family. I'm hoping to find an apartment/job in a major US city working as a legal assistant or paralegal. I've never rented...
I graduated in the spring and spent the last few months at home with family. I'm hoping to find an apartment/job in a major US city working as a legal assistant or paralegal.
I've never rented before, so I have questions, but due to circumstances related to the ones pushing me away from staying at home any longer, I don't have any parents or older siblings to ask for help, so I'm hoping to crowdsource wisdom here. I have specific questions, but also happy to hear any general advice for someone renting an apartment for the first time.
Some relevant context:
- Studio apartment is nonnegotiable. I don't know anyone I trust enough to be my roommate. If that weren't enough, I'm one of the only people still wearing a mask and trying not to get COVID, so it's gotta be a studio for me to be able to relax.
- I'm looking for a walkable neighborhood and good public transit in addition to affordability, so really looking at Chicago and Philly right now.
- I love to cook, but I know studios often have really lackluster kitchens. Hoping to find one with a usable amount of counterspace.
Those questions I had:
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If you offer to pay a landlord the cost of the lease in full, is it typical for the landlord to waive the requirement that you provide proof of employment, or if you asked them to waive that, would they be likely to say yes? I would really like to take some time off, and coming home was intended to be that, but toxic family means I've just been stressed the whole time, so being able to get a place without needing a job right off the bat would be a fantastic setup to make sure this new start goes well. (If I save up part-time earnings for the next 2-3 months, I'll have enough to pay a lease on a $1200 studio in full, furnish it with the necessities, and feed myself.)
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Recently I realized that when apartments are listed as unfurnished, that means no bed or mattress either. (I kind of see now why futons are a thing.) How do people usually address this issue? Do you buy a mattress and bed frame with the expectation that you'll take it with you whenever you move out to the next apartment?
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Since I don't live in the city I'll be moving to, I most likely won't be able to see the apartment in person before committing. Any particular ideas on how I could handle this or what I should be wary of? I've heard of services where you can pay someone to show up to a tour and video call you so you can follow along (https://www.gandertour.com/). $50 doesn't seem too steep, but I don't know if that specific service is trustworthy, or if there's a cheaper or simpler way to deal with this.
Those are my questions, and like I said above, any advice not 100% related to these questions is welcome too!
38 votes -
As rooftop solar debate flares, builders, landlords and renter advocates are taking sides
15 votes -
A closer look at Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, the most densely populated place that ever existed
40 votes -
So you want to turn an office building into a home?
41 votes -
In defense of Shattuck: Housing in downtown Berkeley
4 votes -
So you want to turn an office building into a home?
10 votes -
Why everywhere in the US is starting to look the same
14 votes -
When private equity becomes your landlord
12 votes -
Amazon’s mission: Getting a ‘key’ to your apartment building
9 votes -
Facing a housing crunch almost a century ago, Stockholm built 'barnrikehus' for low-income families – today they are some of the city's more sought-after properties
9 votes -
What I rent: £700 a month for a one bed flat in Kings Heath, Birmingham
11 votes -
Novel idea: The Apartment
Just finished (re-)watching the Friends TV series ... End of the last episode, sitting in the empty apartment (Joey: "Has it always been purple?" Phoebe: "Do you realize that at one time or...
Just finished (re-)watching the Friends TV series ... End of the last episode, sitting in the empty apartment (Joey: "Has it always been purple?" Phoebe: "Do you realize that at one time or another, we've all lived in this apartment?")
Got me thinking, more as a plot contrivance than the actual plot, a story about an apartment, spanning a century or more, and the various people that lived in it, jumping back and forth across time, linking them together through history ... perhaps even, a la "Ship of Theseus", spanning multiple centuries and multiple homes/dwellings that occupied the same space.
So specifically, I'm wondering if anyone can think of any novels that adopt this idea, or anything similar, as a primary vehicle for their storytelling?
I have a vague recollection of a short story or novella in 2ndary school, about the life of a redwood, and the various people and animals that lived in and around it over the centuries ... and also I recall reading "A Winter Tale" by Mark Helperin -- a semi-fantastical novel about the city of New York ... oh look, apparently, they made it into a movie, too.
But those two are the only examples I can think of that come close to this idea.
PS: I love to write fiction, and someday I may even finish a novel ... but generally, I get about halfway through, figure out how it's going to end, and then lose interest ... so if anyone with more ambition likes the idea, you're welcome to it.
ETA: I'm not looking for the 10,000 variations of "oooh, haunted by the ghost of a person that died here 20 years ago". Broader, covering a longer timeframe, multiple substories interwoven into the same living space, you get the idea.
10 votes -
Talking to your neighbours is mandatory if you live in this block of flats – it's all part of a plan to help tackle loneliness
9 votes -
Minimum wage still can’t pay for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere
27 votes -
Affordable housing crisis: Why are US cities struggling?
5 votes -
How we turned our apartment block into a community
8 votes -
Finding apartments is impossible
I am currently looking for an apartment because I am moving away for my masters. My girlfriend and I have contacted 15-20 people and we have received 2 answers. Both tried to scam us. I noticed he...
I am currently looking for an apartment because I am moving away for my masters. My girlfriend and I have contacted 15-20 people and we have received 2 answers. Both tried to scam us.
I noticed he was scamming because of the way the message was formed, it has a very typical structure. If anyone wants I can share it. I also noticed the pictures looked too good, a reverse image search showed that it was from a hotel.This time I had the email address, so I sent him a mail asking whether this link also contained pictures of his apartment. Behind that link there was a picture of goatse lol. I am not sure if imgur counts my views twice, but so far it has had 3 visits. Just felt the need to share
12 votes