I am still in my old apartment. I spent the better part of april, may and almost into june looking for an affordable rental in NDG and for the second year in a row, came up empty. I ran around fruitlessly looking for apartments all over NDG, with one or two regional boundaries: nothing below the tracks where it's hard to find public amenities, and certain areas like the Walkley strip. I would have preferred a place with a balcony and I always try to make sure that there are as few children as possible in the area. If i see a building where every balcony is filled with kiddy crap, I avoid it.

After 3 months, I discovered taht for that most part, NDG rentals are in terrible shape. Years ago, my ex and I were lucky to find a nice lower duplex in Monkland village for 825. Heated. That very same place is probably now at least 1200 a month, as as most duplexes. If you can find one for less than 1000, it's usually unheated. Property taxes have increased extra terrestrially since then.

I did see one duplex a couple of streets over, described as 'cute' in the ad. CUTE can mean small, cramped and run down, so I went with caution. The front steps were crooked; the indoor steps were rickety and covered with moldy carpet. The duplex inside was in need of painting, plastering and the carpets in the back laundry room needed to be replaced. Outside the window of the kitchen- a scaffold that had been there a year, as the brickwork was being replaced. It was more like the kind of place I would have rented in the plateau 20 years ago for 500 a month and would share with 3 other people.  About a dozen people were filling out forms, which required no less than 3 references. Most of them looked like young students. I left without filling in an application because my allergies were starting to act up from the mold.

I also visited a nice duplex on Beaconsfield, but the tenant told me her landlord who lived upstairs, had a noisy 8 year old who ran around. The rent was OK but not worth the headache. My sister told me about another triplex on the street behind hers, which was also clean and affordable; alas, she told me about a large Italian family that lives next door with lots of kids who scream in the yard all day and into the night. I know that kids need to play and have fun, but I don't want to have to keep my windows shut all day in the summer.

Another rental sounded interesting: the coach house behind a home, set behind the house surrounded by trees, about to be renovated. The main problem was no washer dryer hookup which would have meant going to a laundromat, which was nearby- but not a pleasant thought when looking ahead to winter. I had to use that laundromat last year when my washer dryer broke and before I found a replacement and had no desire to sit there again, waiting for my laundry, or having to use the delivery service in bad weather. I did see two, lovely, clean apartments in a six plex with very low rent and was strongly considering them- great location as well. But when I got home, I was sitting and watching tv and realized there was no room in that apartment for a living room. I would have to cram all my furniture into three tiny rooms and would be a caged animal.

It came down to spending up to 300 more for apartments that were not much bigger than mine. There are several duplexes for rent on my street, through real estate agencies and none are less than 1200. One of them had been some sort of residence for the mentally disabled. It had closed down and the new owner renovated it; it had been rather run down, probably receiving government funding. The basement, when renovated, rented for 925, unheated  and the upper for 1200, the lower 1400. I realized that what I have here is a prime piece of real estate. Great location, no noisy neighbours, buses, 15 minutes from downtown and near 2 metro stations. It's a small basement, with low ceilings, it has limited closet space and can be chilly in winter. But I have my own washer and dryer, quiet neighbours and yes, a living room.  Not long ago, I asked someone how he liked his neighbourhood. He said, "It's like my bedroom basically. I don't spend much time in the area, I go home to sleep and watch tv or eat." It's just walls, in other words. When I thought of my place that way, the search for home became much easier.