Settling into apartment life is interesting to say the least. There are benefits and detriments of course in the life. This episode I will be just have some random observations.
The people
We are lucky that all our neighbors are pretty friendly. We wave and say “Hi” and they all say “Hi” back. This is easy for us, as we generally try to befriend our neighbors wherever we are.
The complex is mostly Hispanic, but really quite a mix of ethnic groups from Indians to African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Probably the best thing though is all the kids. There are lots and lots of school age kids, and a few teenagers. Every time we walk our dogs, we see groups of kids. Kids on scooters, kids playing football (we have large grass areas), kids playing soccer, and kids playing on the playground equipment. Lots of kids playing outdoors and being kids. Reminds me of my youth spent playing out in the neighborhood.
The really cool thing is that our greyhounds are the center of attention. All the kids interrupt what they are doing and flock to them to pet and love on our dogs. Naturally, the dogs love this attention, and eat it all up.
Trash and Recycling
Naturally with shared resources like trash, we have centralized stations with large dumpsters. 3 for trash, and one for recycling. Naturally, the recycling prowess of the tenants isn’t very good. A lot of furniture ends up in the recycling, and a fair amount of food trash.
Something that is new to me, often when I am out walking the dogs, I will see people pawing through the trash looking for valuable things (i.e. aluminum cans). Every day, there are several groups of people who are rifling through the trash.
Oh, and often people are pretty poor at getting their bagged trash into the cans. For the love of god, please be sure to get the bags into the cans. (to be fair, sometimes the scavengers are guilty of dropping debris around the cans.
Fortunately, the trucks come several times a week, so the trash can areas are well serviced, and the apartment maintenance staff do keep up the area, so it is a lot better than it can be.
Parking
As tenants we get one marked space, and one parking permit. My S2000 is parked in the lot, that leaves Barbara to fend for the on street parking. Clearly, the competition for the on street parking, combined with the 4-plexes across the street is aggressive.
There are some “extra” parking spaces, that cost $35 a month. The problem is that there is a waiting list, and the spots only come up when someone with a second space moves out. We are on the list, and Barbara keeps her fingers crossed, but we intend to be here no more than a year.
Pet Friendly
We chose our complex for two reasons. First that they had a 3 bedroom unit available, and second, that they allow dogs. While the lease said < 25 lbs, they have relaxed that requirement. We have two greyhounds, and they are big couch potatoes. Perfect for apartment dwellers.
True to form, the complex welcomes hounds, and the other residents are super friendly to our dogs, from the adults to the plethora of kids, we feel extremely welcomed.
Next up
I will talk about our unit. We have undug most of the stuff we moved in, and are getting our living situation under control.
