Pro con pro con pro con

[nightengalesknd]

Some might call it indecision paralysis. I might be one of those some.

My initial plan for apartment hunting was to go to a group of apartments near to each other and to see a bunch, then go to another group, and another. There seemed to be three distinct clusters, one south of my soon-to-be workplace, one north and one northwest, with some outliers. I started to call places to see what they had available for March, thinking to narrow down the list to a visitable level, only to find they could only show me apartments by appointment. This had not been my experience in the past when looking at apartment buildings/complexes. So I scaled down, way down, because I had to figure out time and space.

I've seen 3, one of which I've ruled out, and have 1 or 2 more to see on Monday. (I have an appointment with one, and I THINK the guy at the one across the street said I could walk in, but I'm not convinced that he or I understood a word the other was saying.) Unless something Monday blows me away, I plan to go with one of the two I saw yesterday. And of course my brain is a mass of pros and cons, complicated by the fact that one is, on paper, the better choice and I am strongly leaning towards the other.

Things I want include not having to climb stairs, access to laundry without leaving the floor (in apt is better), a good kitchen, closet space and a way to get my medical supplies delivered. They shouldn't need a signature according to the senders but sometimes FedEx/UPS get a bee in their bonnets they need one.

Location is identical. They are on the same block, about 0.8 mile north of my soon-to-be workplace. They are 2 blocks north of a bus I can take to work. They are 3 blocks south of a grocery store and a bank with Saturday hours, and there is a Target just beyond those.

Apartment A is in a glitzier building. It is handsome on the outside. It is decorated on the inside. It has a doorman. It has a garageman. You enter the building and there is a lobby area and a flight of 6 steps leading up to the first floor. The doorman is there. He signs for packages if they arrive needing signatures. There is an elevator from the first floor to the floors with the apartment. The elevator goes to the basement where there is an exercise room and a personal trainer and a community room. And the elevator goes to the garage. To get out of the garage without a car, one can let onself out of the garage door. To get into the garage with a car, one gets a garage remote opener button. To get into the garage without a car, one goes to the garage and rings a bell and the garageman lets one in. One can't get a garage remote opener button without a car. The idea of having to be let into my own building to walk in without stairs (while car people and people who don't need to avoid stairs do NOT need to be let in) rankles.

Apartment B is in a less glitzy building but it is new and well kept. There are both stairs and a ramp to the front door, although the ramp did have some snow on it. There is a front door with an intercom system. If a package arrives that doesn't need a signature, the office can open the door remotely so the package can be left inside. This doesn't help with packages requiring signatures. There is no lobby, just an entryway and a hall to the rest of the building and a mailroom in the basement. There is no one managing the building on site. The management company is family owned. There is an elevator that goes to all the floors including the garage floor.

Apartment A is larger. The bedrooms are carpeted although the living room is not. There is a kitchen in a room. It is large. It doesn't have a ton of counter space but there is room to bring in a table or other auxiliary counter equivalent. It is a closed kitchen, meaning there are walls between the kitchen and the rest of the living/dining area except where the door is. It doesn't have a garbage disposal. There are no washers or dryers in the apartment but there are some on each floor. There is a fair amount of closet space. Heat is included and can be controlled.

Apartment B is a little smaller. It has the same number of rooms but they are slightly smaller. It is a little less bright. None of the rooms are carpeted. The kitchen has an open design with an island. I like open kitchens because I live alone and cook while listening to TV. There is a lot of counter space and cabinet space. It has a garbage disposal. It has a washer/dryer in the apartment. There is less closet space but there is enough room by the washer/dryer to put in shelves and enough room in one of the bathrooms to use as storage too. Heat is under electricity and can be controlled.

Apartment B is more expensive but both are within my budget.

Pro con pro con pro con pro con pro con

Comments

[sammason.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about each apartment? Does either of them speak to your heart?

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

The kitchen of apartment B is a dream

[weirdquark]

If you don't see anything you like more in the next batch, I'd go with the one you're leaning towards even if it's not as good on paper. If you like it better, you like it better, and that'll make it more pleasant to live in.

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

That's what I keep trying to tell myself.

The next batch are smaller and slightly further away so it's almost definitely going to be one of these. And. . . yeah. Brain on overdrive.

[q10.livejournal.com]

can you tell me anything about where they are, who manages them, etc.?

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

Apt A is at 401 Shady and manages itself, not part of any larger company

Apt B is at 430 Shady and is managed by Rockwel.

[q10.livejournal.com]

yeah i've got nothing. i think i saw a Rockwel place or two but i don't remember hearing anything about them one way or the other.

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

Mmm. It's family owned. I spoke to a human when I called, rather than dealing with a phone tree or being shunted off to someone's voice mail. (One of the phone trees was for a company that apparently also does some sort of health management?!) They seem to manage multiple properties but not trying to take over the entire city.

Either way, there's a 99% change I'm going to be living on Shady just north of Fifth.

[songblaze.livejournal.com]

Would apt a be willing to give you a garage opener, as a reasonable accommodation for your disability that makes stairs very difficult? If they say no and that would make the difference for you between the two, tell them that - it may change their minds if they are going to otherwise lose you.

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

Not without my making a gigantic fuss about it. I didn't use the words "reasonable accommodation" but I did say that I had difficulty with stairs and specifically would not be able to carry anything up and down the stairs and asked if I could have a garage opener without a car. (I even asked if I could have a garage opener if I brought a bicycle) The answer was no. From their perspective, I could just ring the bell 24 hours a day and the garageman would just let me in 24 hours a day so it's perfectly accessible. I'm not sure they've ever had anyone suggest WALKING in through the garage entrance before and it really did not seem to compute.

If I otherwise loved everything about the apartment it might be a gigantic fuss more worth making. But it also doesn't have the washer/dryer.

I am going to call the people who send me medical supplies tomorrow and make sure I'm right that I don't need signatures.

[songblaze.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you definitely need to decide how you're going to spend your advocacy, especially if you're someone who has a more limited amount of it. Me, well, I became a lawyer for a reason - debating and arguing and pushing are very much a part of who I am and a persona I find energizing to put on. I get pumped up when I need to take on a challenging 'opponent'. I recognize that this is not the norm, however.

It sounds like you made the decision that goes with your gut feeling on which one will make you happier. I've definitely chosen places to live based on that instinctive reaction that 'this is a good place'. My last apartment was one (it cost more than we wanted to pay, but it was soooo nice, and we really did like living there). My townhouse in Santa Barbara a decade ago was another, and man did I love that house - it was big and light and airy and because the downstairs was open-plan, it was lovely for entertaining. I liked to throw get-togethers for little or no reason, have good food and good company and sometimes games or movies. It was a very pleasant place to be. I can't remember anywhere I chose on gut instinct that I ended up unhappy with. The closest I can come is the place I'm currently in, and that's almost purely financial. A few details about the house, we only discovered after we moved in (we're in a helicopter flight path, probably for the Navy, and the sound insulation SUCKS), but if it weren't for the high rent, we'd be happy here for several years. As is, we're debating whether we're going to move when our lease is up, simply because over a third of our income is going to keep this roof over our heads. OTOH, if I'm working and getting clients at that point, this house will be good for that as I have a room dedicated for my office. (we're still debating whether the library will end up in my office or the guest room. I'm pushing for the latter, the fiance wants the former. Guess we'll figure it out when we buy bookcases!)

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

I spend a lot of advocacy spoons in the medical field - advocating for my patients in specific and for improved treatment of PWD in health care in general. It's generally a combination of the interpersonal approach and full-on fighting, storytelling, an appeal to reason, an elaboration of the law. And a re-elaboration of the law. About once a week a family tells me something a school said or did that is illegal.

I was asked to give a talk to my department last month on disability advocacy. There I was as the most junior attending in the department, surrounded by people who have been providing clinical care for disabled children for decades. They knew a few vague things about the ADA, IDEA and Section 504 as they directly pertain to our patients and could name a few famous actors who increased awareness for specific disabilities. But they knew nothing about actual disability advocacy and activism, the organized disability rights movement, advocacy groups run by disabled people rather than by parents and professionals. It's a different sort of advocacy than an all-out accommodation battle, but I can see the trickle-down in patients helped and students taught for decades to come.

There's also the difference between challenging the system, and challenging someone with whom one needs an ongoing relationship, where one may win the battle but now has a professor/landlord/boss who is going to be surly for the foreseeable future. So I fight for things I need (like all the garbage in medical school, or checking in at the airport, which I have to do AGAIN today, or my current cell phone issues with my new job) but not necessarily things that I can solve by taking my business elsewhere. There's going to be another fight tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after.

[mst3kforall.livejournal.com]

I can say that in my own history, things that looked better on paper weren't actually necessarily better, and that for me going with my instincts has always been my best choice (I can sometimes think that certain things look better on paper, but when I feel that pressure of "oh, I should pick x" that's never been the right decision for me).

Have you had any luck in the past / have a history you can look back on which gives a clear illustration of which, if either, of "on paper better" versus "like better" have worked out better for you in the past?

Sorry I can't be of any actual help;-(

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

I guess the question is if the things that look better on paper actually matter to me. They often don't. Swimming pools, for example, hold no appeal. But carpets do.

I have been happy in other apartments I've picked out, but they were generally more clear cut choices.

I had an epiphany about a week ago, though, that even if I live in Pittsburgh forever, I don't have to live in whatever apartment I choose forever. If in 2 or 3 years I decide to look around, without as much time pressure, I could. . . actually move. My anxiety level went down a lot after I figured this one out.

[gallian.livejournal.com]

That realization is huge. (Says the girl who lived in three apartments in the Boston area over 9 years.)
And why it took 2.5 years of looking before we bought a house.

[gallian.livejournal.com]

I find the delivery companies are better about leaving things without signatures if there is an inside private place they can do so.
They will leave things on my screened in porch that they never would have left in my (unlocked) apartment foyer. The locked foyer is probably enough to appease the delivery companies enough to leave you your packages.

If it were me, I'd go with apt b without worried about the price difference. It's all about weighted priorities and ease of access (entry, washer, kitchen) are my top priorities.

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

The price difference is really not on my mind at all.

It's mostly the package thing. And somewhat the carpets and the bigger. But washer and kitchen are huge.

. . .

Finds FedEx location a 5 minute bus ride from apt/8 minute bus ride from work

. . .

Calls said location. Asks if packages can be delivered THERE if needing a signature. They can hold packages there so long as that is specified on the sending instructions.

. . .

Found another location a 4 block walk from work

. . .

Ah, problem solving skills. . .

[jedibl.livejournal.com]

For me, in-apartment washer and dryer and open kitchen would almost certainly push something into the "being better on paper" range.

I know you said that price is not an issue, but it occurs to me to make sure you know about the 4% (?) city wage tax. That was one of the deciding factors for me choosing to live just outside the city limits. I realize that living outside the city is not an option for you, but want to make sure you're including it in your budgeting.

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

I didn't know, thanks. It doesn't change my decision - lease signed! - but good to keep in mind.

[meanfreepath.livejournal.com]

I don't have any useful information or advice to contribute, but best of luck. As other people have mentioned, you could move in a year or two when you've had the chance to get to know the area better. I suppose one criterion I sometimes apply in making decisions like this is: what would I find the most annoying?

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

Which con is the con-ier con? That appeals nicely to my pessimist nature.

I've signed with Apt B.

[meanfreepath.livejournal.com]

Congratulations -- good luck with the moving!