Ledger

Remember when being a grownup was something to look forward to? It used to be an elusive, foreign concept that produced simultaneous foreboding and glee within. As one of these imaginary adults, you could choose your own curfew, decide for yourself what food you eat, even what clothes to wear. If you wanted to eat peanut butter from the jar while reading the newspaper in your underwear, more power to you. Adulthood is often associated with such freedom and the right to lick peanut butter from spoons, but every superhero knows that power comes with responsibility. Sometimes responsibility means choosing to move on and move out. After all, the old bedroom at your parents’ house won’t be practical forever—you know, the room with the kitten posters, action figures, and broken lava lamp. For one thing, friends rarely want to visit you and your parents. Also, some kind of mysterious funky smell lingers in that room today, possibly from the lava lamp’s untimely death. Eventually, around the time you begin pondering the purchase of a swankier lamp at IKEA, one question will start to rear its ugly head: Where can I live my idyllic life?

Finding affordable housing, however, is not easy. Take Court 17, the new apartment complex developed specifically for students and faculty of UW-Tacoma and situated right next to the campus. Even the smallest studio apartment in the building costs $835 to $950 per month. That’s about 500 square feet, roughly the size of a one-car garage. Would Alanis Morissette say it’s ironic that students are the last people who could pay so much for one of those apartments? At least your parents charge you only $400 for living in their garage. Besides, if students could afford nine hundred bucks a month for rent, would most of us be searching still for part time jobs?

Court 17 is one of a few new apartment buildings that situated itself near campus in the hope of luring in young renters. Urban renewal has certainly perked up the downtown area, even with the odd hobo or two parked on your front steps. The apartment tour guides especially like to dazzle potential renters by showing them the fitness centers, giant closets, sometime scenic views, and washing machines that exist right in the apartment. Basically, they encourage becoming a recluse. But the sparkle and shine wear off, never quite blinding the visitor to the high cost of living in such a convenient location.

To learn how college students fall into renter’s despair, try visiting some of the condominiums and chic apartments closer to the water. One of them actually entices its prey by prominently displaying a chocolate fountain in the lobby. The charm of free chocolate will pale in comparison to inordinate lease rates. Don’t even bother strolling through a tour if you look younger than 35, because the management can sense when going through the motions will get you out of the building sooner. Coming across as beneath their price range qualifies only for a brusque walkthrough of the room and a curt “yes” or “no” response to any question. With rates starting close to $1,000 per month, many students cannot afford to rent near campus, and thus property owners lose a whole prospective group of potential apartment renters. Like a cruel game of tug-of-war, neither side ever wins. One sits in utter defeat while the other is callously indifferent to the needs of a typical college student.

Of course, giving up hope entirely would be silly at this point. There must be a few reasonably priced apartments around town, even though the majority of them look decrepit verging on spooky. Searching for an affordable abode—forget perfection, because “decent” is the epitome of high standards in apartment hunting—certainly can feel disheartening, but almost anything is worth the price if it means moving on as a certified, qualified, genuine grownup. At the very least, you may want to redecorate your old bedroom.

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