Thursday, May 06, 2004
Yesterday I had to go to the dentist, and my dentist is located at the U Penn Dental School. So after my rather painful dentist appointment, I took a stroll down Locust Walk. WWW aside, yesterday was the first day in a long time I walked around on a college campus. The students looked the same as when I went to school, but everyone was talking on cell phones. It was weird to see bummy students in flip flops talking on cell phones.
Penn's campus is actually pretty nice; lots of big old trees, plenty of green spaces. It's like this little oasis in urban Philadelphia.
I didn't like the apartment I saw yesterday. The quality of the construction reminded me of extended stay motels in the south. The interiors were redone two years ago, and the walls reminded me of a dorm hallway they were banged up so badly. The apartments were alright. But the character wasn't there. I wouldn't pay $900 -$1100 to live there. The neighborhood was very nice though. The apartment is in Old City, and many of the streets I walked on were cobblestone. It's really charming in that part of the city. Oh, and I walked by the Real World house, but nothing was going on.
The leasing office of the apartment I like the most is very difficult to get in touch with. When I call inquiring about deposits and applications, this idiot says, "Kathy handles the leasing of that building, could you call back in 10, 15 minutes?" I've gotten this response on three occasions. I guess their office doesn't have message pads. I've never had to work so hard to try to fill out a rental application. But I think this may be a sign of the responsiveness of the management. The leasing person at second place I saw was much more professional. I also think she'll be open to coming down on the price, since I said I wanted to sign a 2 year lease. She mentioned she may be able to match the rent of another building. She said, "Don't sign another lease without talking to me first. I'm sure we'll be able to match whatever you find." This building is brand new construction, which is nice. No one will have funked up the bathroom before I move in!
I have a couple more places to see tomorrow, and I hope to arrange to see some brownstones next week. Apartment shopping is fun!
Penn's campus is actually pretty nice; lots of big old trees, plenty of green spaces. It's like this little oasis in urban Philadelphia.
I didn't like the apartment I saw yesterday. The quality of the construction reminded me of extended stay motels in the south. The interiors were redone two years ago, and the walls reminded me of a dorm hallway they were banged up so badly. The apartments were alright. But the character wasn't there. I wouldn't pay $900 -$1100 to live there. The neighborhood was very nice though. The apartment is in Old City, and many of the streets I walked on were cobblestone. It's really charming in that part of the city. Oh, and I walked by the Real World house, but nothing was going on.
The leasing office of the apartment I like the most is very difficult to get in touch with. When I call inquiring about deposits and applications, this idiot says, "Kathy handles the leasing of that building, could you call back in 10, 15 minutes?" I've gotten this response on three occasions. I guess their office doesn't have message pads. I've never had to work so hard to try to fill out a rental application. But I think this may be a sign of the responsiveness of the management. The leasing person at second place I saw was much more professional. I also think she'll be open to coming down on the price, since I said I wanted to sign a 2 year lease. She mentioned she may be able to match the rent of another building. She said, "Don't sign another lease without talking to me first. I'm sure we'll be able to match whatever you find." This building is brand new construction, which is nice. No one will have funked up the bathroom before I move in!
I have a couple more places to see tomorrow, and I hope to arrange to see some brownstones next week. Apartment shopping is fun!
