Apartment Hunting Part 1

I've been searching for apartments in San Diego online. My goal is to get an apartment that is in a central location, close to both downtown and where I'm going to be working. I don't want to have to drive more than 30 minutes to work, preferably no more than 20.

I don't consider myself to be picky when it comes to places I want to live, but the amenity I MUST have is my own washer and dryer. For two years I had to deal with not having my own washer and dryer. Not only do you have to compete for machine usage, but you have to deal with other people taking out your clothes. For this reason, you have to be up and around waiting for your clothes to get done. Worse still is the cost. You have to pay money every time you want to wash and it's even worse if your clothes don't get completely dry on the first run.

My first apartment came with its own washer and dryer and it was awesome. I put my clothes in the washer and go to sleep or, better yet, leave my apartment and do other stuff. Much to my surprise, this amenity isn't very common in San Diego. The only apartments that have it seem to be the very upscale ones, and they have high rents because of all their other amenities.

While I'm on the subject of amenities, you have to wonder about some of them at these upscale apartments. Some of them are important, like high speed Internet, air conditioning (yes, this is advertised as an amenity in California), or hardwood floors (God help if you have carpet in your living room or bathroom). Others are just make me wonder if they have them just so they can charge you more. For example, two of the apartments I'm considering have both a residents' lounges and a clubhouse. Why do you need both? They could easily be combined into one by simply putting a bar and sink into the residents' lounge. That's what we do in Texas. I'm living close to downtown so I can go to clubs. I don't need to pay for one as part of my rent. Worse yet, fireplaces. Honestly, when was the last time it got cold in San Diego? Want to cook over a fire? That's why barbecue grills were invented. Okay, rant over.

When searching for apartments, make sure you check out reviews of the place. There was one place I really liked (good price, nice floor plan), but once I read the reviews of the place I scratched it off my list. Apartments are like movies: critics say one thing, but you are more likely to relate to the reviews of the common people. Besides, if I'm going to be shelling out $1500-$2500 a month for a place to live, I damn well better make sure I'll enjoy it. Sadly, the place I wanted to move into the most is reserved for people serving in the military. It has all the amenities I want, a great location, and costs hundreds less than the others. Oh well, I guess I better go back to deciding how I'm going to decorate my fireplace.

By the way, I went to Future Fest last Saturday. Expect a field report soon!