recommended.

Sometimes, more information is not a good thing.

I've been looking for a new apartment, because I'm not really in the mood to commute an hour and forty minutes every day; plus, I did honestly get this new job to be closer to Raleigh and a particular resident anyway. I've hunted for living space before, but this is the first time that I basically had only a couple of days to find something. Before I had weeks, even months to find the perfect spot and barring that, the cheapest one. I had no such luxury this time. Plus, I was disadvantaged in that I was hunting from long-distance. I could look up apartments on the internet, but in the end, I still had to visit them in person. Facing east and squinting just doesn't quite cut it when you're trying to examine a walk-in closet.

I discovered a web site that is aimed to help those in the market for rented living space, called ApartmentRatings.com. I found it not helpful, rather I found it depressing and discouraging. It seems that there is no apartment that doesn't have roaches, unfriendly staff, paper-thin walls, shady characters walking the grounds, and unfair policies.

I tried to justify it to myself that only people who want to complain bother commenting about their experiences. There are probably thousands of people, so happy and so shiny, thinking about how great their Raleigh rental is. They are off composing upbeat songs in tribute to their spacious living rooms, their fantastic views, their reasonable rent, and so therefore have not the time to get on a silly web site and reassure me.

Then I started thinking about my first apartment, way back in downtown Boone, North Carolina. I thought about the review that I could write.

This apartment is incredibly spacious and ridiculously inexpensive. The appliances are reasonably modern in that they are probably less than ten years old. No dishwasher, disposal, or drawers in the kitchen. Very little counter space. The management is reasonable and helpful if a bit aloof. If there is a lot of rain, it will flood. Luckily, the institution carpeting present is quite absorbent. Be sure to spend a lot of time out in the cozy and private courtyard, as you're going to want some sun, seeing as the apartment has only two windows. The floors are noticeably uneven and badly stained and scuffed. There are pipes from the upstairs apartments jutting out from the ceiling in the kitchen and back bedroom. They may leak, which will cause the maintenance man to arrive at your apartment and drill at 7 am every day for a week before just ripping the ceiling apart. There is a giant hole in the wall of the largest bedroom, but if you leave the cardboard that covers it, you won't even notice it after a while. As you stay, the mildew on the walls will get progressively worse, and you will develop a cold that will not go away. Officially, there is no parking, but you can park in the alley, where your car will be frequently blocked in by a stranger right before you need to go to work. Your car will rapidly depreciate in value as the scratches left by others increase. You may hear upstairs neighbors dancing, doing rhythmic dance, and/or fornicating. Not pet friendly (except perhaps for mice), but the management is forgiving about that if you act really sorry. Very safe, but mostly because you are in Boone, where the stranger on the street is more likely to offer you a joint than rob you.

Parking: 1 out of 5
Maintenance: 3 out of 5
Construction: 2 out of 5
Noise: 2 out of 5
Grounds: 1 out of 5
Safety: 5 out of 5
Staff: 3 out of 5

RECOMMENDED: Yes


And to think that I lived there two years. In my sweet, Ramen noodle college innocence, I loved that apartment. So I think I can deal with whatever comes my way in the new apartment, no matter what those other big complainers say.