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rynlingA friend of mine is planning a week-long trip to Tokyo, and he was asking people on Facebook for advice on where he and his girlfriend should stay in the city. He's a big fan of Durarara!!, so he wants to stay in Ikebukuro, but everyone in the comment chain was telling him what a cesspool that area is. Since he knows I love Ikebukuro, he asked me what was going on.
In my response, I told him that I'm biased, as I lived in Philadelphia for years and find decrepitude charming. I've also grown to find extreme human density and culturally mixed slum neighborhoods comforting, so much so that I actually feel that clean and well-ordered neighborhoods are strange and alienating.
Yesterday I strong-armed a friend into going to the Japanese Street Fair on Pennsylvania Avenue with me, and while we were there some dickhead shot himself on the steps of the Capitol Building. It was a mess. We walked back to Dupont Circle, and I spent almost the entire time grumbling to my friend about DC and how weird and expensive it is. She was like, "Yes, absolutely, that's why I live in Baltimore."
After spending the evening doing research and doing math, I realized that it would be way cheaper to live in Philadelphia, drive to Virginia, and stay in a hotel two nights a week than it would be to continue living here. Also, if I lived in Philadelphia, I could afford a much better living arrangement. And, you know, I would have friends and a community, not to mention access to a huge university library.
I have the summer and fall off on paid research leave anyway, so it makes no sense for me to stay here after April. I already notified my building manager that I'm not going to renew my lease, and then I got in touch with my realtor friend in Philadelphia. I also got a few quotes from movers, figured out where to get free cardboard boxes, and sent out feelers for subletters to take over the remainder of my lease. Snap snap motherfuckers.
Let it never be said that I make enormous life decisions after allowing for adequate time spent in careful deliberation.
In my response, I told him that I'm biased, as I lived in Philadelphia for years and find decrepitude charming. I've also grown to find extreme human density and culturally mixed slum neighborhoods comforting, so much so that I actually feel that clean and well-ordered neighborhoods are strange and alienating.
Yesterday I strong-armed a friend into going to the Japanese Street Fair on Pennsylvania Avenue with me, and while we were there some dickhead shot himself on the steps of the Capitol Building. It was a mess. We walked back to Dupont Circle, and I spent almost the entire time grumbling to my friend about DC and how weird and expensive it is. She was like, "Yes, absolutely, that's why I live in Baltimore."
After spending the evening doing research and doing math, I realized that it would be way cheaper to live in Philadelphia, drive to Virginia, and stay in a hotel two nights a week than it would be to continue living here. Also, if I lived in Philadelphia, I could afford a much better living arrangement. And, you know, I would have friends and a community, not to mention access to a huge university library.
I have the summer and fall off on paid research leave anyway, so it makes no sense for me to stay here after April. I already notified my building manager that I'm not going to renew my lease, and then I got in touch with my realtor friend in Philadelphia. I also got a few quotes from movers, figured out where to get free cardboard boxes, and sent out feelers for subletters to take over the remainder of my lease. Snap snap motherfuckers.
Let it never be said that I make enormous life decisions after allowing for adequate time spent in careful deliberation.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-13 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-13 01:44 pm (UTC)My monthly rent for a tiny one-bedroom is $2250, parking is $350 a month for home and $250 a month for work, my building's pet fee is $75 a month, and let's not even talk about utilities. And I'm living in one of the "up and coming" (meaning still a little ghetto and still relatively inexpensive) neighborhoods of the city.
Buying groceries here is like shopping at Whole Foods every day. Every single service you can pay for, from picture framing to puppy booster shots to dental cleaning, is three times more expensive than it would be elsewhere. To add insult to injury, the local income taxes are beyond belief. Like, I almost fired my accountant because I thought she must have been fucking something up.
Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful place full of beautiful people, and there's always a lot going on, but I also feel like this city is for people a little older and wealthier than I am. Or, um, maybe a lot older and wealthier. All of the younger people have been moving to the poorly regarded "mixed" (as in race, because this the still the South) neighborhoods of Alexandria and Tacoma Park, but I don't think I'm ready for life in the suburbs just yet. Also, those neighborhoods aren't that much cheaper.
And I miss being close to New York, so there's that too.