Like all good things, my first retirement must come to an end. R.I.P. Ben’s first retirement (16 March 2018 – 19 May 2019).
On 20 May 2019, I start my new job. I don’t consider it my second career, since my new job description pretty closely resembles the one I had for the first nine years or so of my pre-retirement career.
Also, like my last job, it’s in the Washington, D.C. area. I swear that city is a black hole — its gravitational pull is simply to strong for me to escape. But unlike my last office, this one isn’t out in the ‘burbs. It’s right in downtown D.C. So at long last, my dream of living in the city (any city) and walking to work is poised to become a reality.
My task this week (specifically, 30 April – 4 May): Find an apartment within easy walking distance of said office. Even before I formally accepted the job offer last Friday (26 April), I began researching nearby apartment buildings (I was feeling pretty confident I’d get the job). I identified seven candidate buildings, all within 2/3 of a mile of the office and within my budget.
Yesterday (30 April), I flew to D.C. and settled into my Airbnb room. And today (1 May), I toured the first four of my seven new home possibilities. Here’s how it went, in pictures:
My Airbnb is in Adams-Morgan, which is one my favorite D.C. neighborhoods. Very diverse, fun, and a good mix of dives and upscale places (30 April 2019).The interior of my Airbnb apartment. I love that this placemat is in the bathroom (30 April 2019).When I left Maine, it was 47°F. The trees were just starting to bud, and only a few hardy flowers had popped up. On arriving in Washington, it was 78°F outside, the flowers were blooming, and all the trees’ leaves have returned (1 May 2019).Three of the four apartment buildings i viewed today were new buildings (built within the last 6 years) bursting at the seams with unnecessary (but cool) amenities. They’re also high-rises by D.C. standards, meaning they have somewhere between 10 & 14 stories (1 May 2019).Apartments in these new buildings have all the modern conveniences, like stainless steel appliances (1 May 2019).Many of the units I saw today had balconies or terraces, a feature I particularly like. This is one of my favorites. I’ve got pretty good seats to high school football games up here (1 May 2019).All of these buildings have roof decks with pools, deck chairs, grills, and views of the D.C. skyline (1 May 2019).The inside amenities are pretty ridiculous at some of these places. Free expresso, pool tables, foosball, air hockey, party rooms, TV rooms, (sometimes multiple) gyms. This building even had a virtual golf game where you swing a real golf club at a real golf ball, hit the ball at a screen, and the game calculates your distance and direction from the impact of the ball. But really, except for the gym, how often would I actually use these facilities? (1 May 2019).At the end of day one of apartment-hunting, the clear front-runner is the no-frills bargain: This building. It’s old (built 1949), has no roof deck, no pool, no gym (although the apartment manager told me one is in the works), no billiard room, no expresso machines, not even central A/C (note the window unit air conditioners). What does it have going for it? A location as close to my office as any of the others, with a price tag $400-$500 less than the other six buildings (1 May 2019).If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But in this case, I don’t think the low rent is too good to be true. In addition to the lack of amenities, this building doesn’t allow pets. That doesn’t bother for me, but it’s a deal-breaker for many prospective renters, I’m sure. I’m also sacrificing some convenience. The apartments in this building don’t have in-unit washers and dryers; there’s a communal laundry room instead. Notice there’s no microwave. Notice also there’s all of about one square foot of kitchen counter space. This is cramped urban living here. But it’s also an awful lot like (and it’s the same monthly rent as) my last D.C. apartment, which I was very happy with. And yes, I walked through the neighborhood both during the day and at night and it’s not sketchy. A little dull nightlife-wise compared to my last place, but safe (1 May 2019).
So that’s where we stand after day one of my apartment search. None of tomorrow’s three buildings can compete with my front-runner on price, but a couple of them are in a more lively neighborhood, which could tip the scales in their favor. We shall see!
Anonymous
Joan Murphy