Sunday, April 30, 2006
We're back. There are pictures up on Flickr.
Friday afternoon we drove down to the area, did drive-bys of some of the apartment complexes on our list, then found a hotel (Holiday Inn) and went out to dinner (Bahama Breeze, a cousin of RL. I was quite impressed- it was quite yummy).
Saturday was a long day. We spent 9:45-4:00 driving around and visiting apartments. We stopped and toured five, just got brochures at a few more, and just did drive-bys of even more. Unfortunately there were no slam dunks- every place had its pros and cons. We did narrow it down to two, C and M (see pictures of exteriors). M is the most like where Ryan lives now. Some of the buildings had really cute well-kept exteriors, but some of the others looked more run-down. Inside, they're fairly large and carpeted. Its main con is the location- it would be a 5 minute drive to Ryan's work, but about 20 minutes during rush hour for me to get to the train station, after which I have about 40 minutes of non-negotiable commuting. I don't want an hour long commute twice a day.
Option C is in a fairly cute town (Collingswood), and the buildings are well-kept, but old (1951). They also felt small- I think the ceilings were lower than normal by 6 inches or so. They have hardwood floors, which look nice but squeaked some and weren't as cozy. C is only 8 blocks from the train station, though, so I could have a less than 5 minute drive or even bike ride.
So we're leaning toward C for now (they won't know availability for another month or so), although I feel bad that Ryan definitely prefers the apartments at M, but he doesn't want me to have a horrible commute. It only has to be for a year, though- maybe for the year after we can buy a mansion in Haddonfield (next town over from Collingswood, also has a train station). Or maybe just a house. . . we'll have to work up to the mansion I guess.
After all that hunting we did a test commute over to Penn, where I showed Ryan the campus briefly. Then we took the subway over to center city to meet Dan. We went out to dinner at the Independence Brew Pub, then walked over around Independence Hall and around random streets before heading back to Jersey and our hotel.
This morning we got up and did a little more driving around town before heading back. Now I'm tired.
Soooo. . . we'll see how I like living down there. I'm not looking forward to commuting, but at least the area we'll be living in is nice, regardless of which option works out.
Friday afternoon we drove down to the area, did drive-bys of some of the apartment complexes on our list, then found a hotel (Holiday Inn) and went out to dinner (Bahama Breeze, a cousin of RL. I was quite impressed- it was quite yummy).
Saturday was a long day. We spent 9:45-4:00 driving around and visiting apartments. We stopped and toured five, just got brochures at a few more, and just did drive-bys of even more. Unfortunately there were no slam dunks- every place had its pros and cons. We did narrow it down to two, C and M (see pictures of exteriors). M is the most like where Ryan lives now. Some of the buildings had really cute well-kept exteriors, but some of the others looked more run-down. Inside, they're fairly large and carpeted. Its main con is the location- it would be a 5 minute drive to Ryan's work, but about 20 minutes during rush hour for me to get to the train station, after which I have about 40 minutes of non-negotiable commuting. I don't want an hour long commute twice a day.
Option C is in a fairly cute town (Collingswood), and the buildings are well-kept, but old (1951). They also felt small- I think the ceilings were lower than normal by 6 inches or so. They have hardwood floors, which look nice but squeaked some and weren't as cozy. C is only 8 blocks from the train station, though, so I could have a less than 5 minute drive or even bike ride.
So we're leaning toward C for now (they won't know availability for another month or so), although I feel bad that Ryan definitely prefers the apartments at M, but he doesn't want me to have a horrible commute. It only has to be for a year, though- maybe for the year after we can buy a mansion in Haddonfield (next town over from Collingswood, also has a train station). Or maybe just a house. . . we'll have to work up to the mansion I guess.
After all that hunting we did a test commute over to Penn, where I showed Ryan the campus briefly. Then we took the subway over to center city to meet Dan. We went out to dinner at the Independence Brew Pub, then walked over around Independence Hall and around random streets before heading back to Jersey and our hotel.
This morning we got up and did a little more driving around town before heading back. Now I'm tired.
Soooo. . . we'll see how I like living down there. I'm not looking forward to commuting, but at least the area we'll be living in is nice, regardless of which option works out.
