While I was meandering around Vacancy.com, I, alas, could not find an apartment in or around Duluth, so I assumed that I was going to the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. I found an apartment that was nearly perfect for what I was hoping for in an apartment (for a first apartment, any way. I have big plans for that dream home!).
This apartment is owned by Bowers Real Estate Development (you can click on the owner's name to check out the Vacancy.com page for it). I picked this apartment because it fulfills my basic apartment necessities checklist and it fulfills a couple romantic notions of mine.
My basic apartment necessities checklist in a few years will more than likely consist of decent rent, enough room for two people (myself and a roommate), and access to public transportation (with optional lake and bike trail access). This particular apartment has a two-bedroom apartment available, which would make my hope of having a roommate completely possible (roommates make life interesting). With this dream roommate in mind, the rent would be much lower if we split it between the two of us. So that takes care of the first two things on my basic needs checklist. The last thing is access to public transit and/or lakes with bike trails. Though this isn't mentioned in the ad on Vacancy.com, I happen to know the area quite well. There are three lakes nearby complete with bike trails that connect to each other. I would definitely utilize these trails and lakes because by hobby, I'm a photographer that prefers to take pictures of naturally occurring things and I also like to ride bikes whenever I can. While I seriously question the origin of these lakes (I'm fairly certain at least one of them is man-made), lakes are things found in nature, and I appreciate that. As for public transportation, this would be the main way that I get around. I'm planning on studying abroad for at least one year, if not two, and also teaching in a different country (if not several) as soon as I obtain my degree for teaching English.
The point is, I don't believe I'll need a car for quite some time.
As soon as I looked at the lone picture on the Vacancy.com page, I noticed one really awesome thing. This apartment is situated next to, if not directly above, a Murder Mystery book store called Once Upon a Crime. Being a book blogger and lover, this could be a very dangerous living situation, however, I'm willing to take the risk. This was one romantic notion of mine. The second is having a lot of adventures. Taking a city bus to and from college means that I would come back to this apartment with tales of the many interesting people that I saw or met. I have a few already, and while they were scary at the time, they make for great stories to tell to friends now. Not only that, but with city bus access, there are many opportunities for going on adventures around the city and maybe even outside the city.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this apartment, but there are a few things that I would change upon moving in with my roommate.
First of all, I would change the color of the walls. In the picture, they show that the walls are stark white. Like a hospital. I hate hospitals. I don't want my beautiful apartment to look like a psych ward in a hospital. If my landlord doesn't let me paint the walls themselves, I'm collaborating with my roommate and we'll frame every picture we've ever taken of anything and hang them on the walls. They'll be the most interesting walls in existence between our travels, friends, maybe even times in high school or else a five year reunion, and artistic photographs. Also, bookshelves. Lots of them.
This apartment would be perfect for me and for a roommate of a similar disposition as me and there are very few things that I would actually have to change to make it feel and (hopefully) look excellent, which is only an added bonus.
My basic apartment necessities checklist in a few years will more than likely consist of decent rent, enough room for two people (myself and a roommate), and access to public transportation (with optional lake and bike trail access). This particular apartment has a two-bedroom apartment available, which would make my hope of having a roommate completely possible (roommates make life interesting). With this dream roommate in mind, the rent would be much lower if we split it between the two of us. So that takes care of the first two things on my basic needs checklist. The last thing is access to public transit and/or lakes with bike trails. Though this isn't mentioned in the ad on Vacancy.com, I happen to know the area quite well. There are three lakes nearby complete with bike trails that connect to each other. I would definitely utilize these trails and lakes because by hobby, I'm a photographer that prefers to take pictures of naturally occurring things and I also like to ride bikes whenever I can. While I seriously question the origin of these lakes (I'm fairly certain at least one of them is man-made), lakes are things found in nature, and I appreciate that. As for public transportation, this would be the main way that I get around. I'm planning on studying abroad for at least one year, if not two, and also teaching in a different country (if not several) as soon as I obtain my degree for teaching English.
As soon as I looked at the lone picture on the Vacancy.com page, I noticed one really awesome thing. This apartment is situated next to, if not directly above, a Murder Mystery book store called Once Upon a Crime. Being a book blogger and lover, this could be a very dangerous living situation, however, I'm willing to take the risk. This was one romantic notion of mine. The second is having a lot of adventures. Taking a city bus to and from college means that I would come back to this apartment with tales of the many interesting people that I saw or met. I have a few already, and while they were scary at the time, they make for great stories to tell to friends now. Not only that, but with city bus access, there are many opportunities for going on adventures around the city and maybe even outside the city.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this apartment, but there are a few things that I would change upon moving in with my roommate.
First of all, I would change the color of the walls. In the picture, they show that the walls are stark white. Like a hospital. I hate hospitals. I don't want my beautiful apartment to look like a psych ward in a hospital. If my landlord doesn't let me paint the walls themselves, I'm collaborating with my roommate and we'll frame every picture we've ever taken of anything and hang them on the walls. They'll be the most interesting walls in existence between our travels, friends, maybe even times in high school or else a five year reunion, and artistic photographs. Also, bookshelves. Lots of them.
The second thing I would change is putting in a garden. I don't mean that I would go nuts and break holes in the floor just to find a place to put dirt in. I'm fairly certain that that wouldn't go over well with my landlord and my roommate would probably move out. At least in my room, I would have a corner for plants. Because of a project that I have done this summer, I have discovered a love for gardening and now I don't think that I could not garden even if I wanted to.
The Ad for the Bowers Real Estate Development Apartment: http://www.vacancy.com/minnesota/minneapolis-apartments/bowers-real-estate-development/photos/
Thank you very much for reading!
--Megan Bernard
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