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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?
8 }3 s" O9 B4 S6 X" HNothing says home like the living room couch, G8 _! d) j3 |
! Y, o/ P: e6 m, @Alexandra Zabjek9 a0 `9 G0 z6 P- e
The Edmonton Journal. e. _/ `$ D- K( V# ?& w( I. p
5 Y2 M/ }) @8 ^0 @$ PSunday, May 20, 2007% y3 m$ Y; q. ~; \: \5 j. Y* Q( }
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& C* H/ n8 s6 J7 c. ~" k" @Student apartments aren't typically luxurious places, but soaring rents in Edmonton are forcing some students to pare down their living arrangements even more than usual.
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At Steve Li's one-bedroom apartment near NAIT, the living room is a bedroom for his roommate, Bill Chadwick.
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5 r" j5 w/ @! T/ CLi and Chadwick, both students, split the $600 rent almost evenly -- Li gets the bedroom for $325 per month, while Chadwick pays $275 per month to put his bed in the living room.0 d5 Z/ ~! z4 ]4 M. T6 X+ @
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"I receive approximately $700 per month (in grants) to go to school," says Chadwick, 32. "So when $275 comes into the picture, it works out quite well."7 x! a4 w) }+ \) g/ x
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After spending time couch-surfing with friends, Chadwick says having a "defined space" is great, even if it isn't a proper bedroom.( Y) R) {8 e. Y! O4 m6 g! H
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Sharing a one-bedroom apartment is a common arrangement amongst Chinese students studying in Edmonton, says Li, who has been living in Canada for the past seven years. It's a big change for many of these students, he says., l0 m7 L( {5 ?
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"The people who can afford to send their kids to Canada to study are quite rich," he says. "(Their) apartments in China are big."
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Splitting the rent on a one-bedroom apartment, however, make things much easier for students with limited budgets.
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"I wouldn't say (it would be completely) unaffordable, but this way it's much more economical," he says.
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3 _2 v9 a( z0 ASOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE" M& @# _) z4 G: B' Q
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When Caitlin Crawshaw and her girlfriend bought a bungalow in Bonnie Doon last summer, it wasn't just the location that sold them on the 1950s era house. It was also the basement suite.
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% D# S3 T4 c' |3 b"It wasn't originally part of our plan," Crawshaw says. "But as soon as we started looking at houses and seeing what the market was, we thought that maybe we should consider it.": I9 Q- H9 A5 P
1 a3 W6 {/ x# S! o; ~ ATheir tenant pays $500 per month for the 750-square-foot suite. The money helps the couple pay down their mortgage more aggressively and provides a cushion in case either loses their job, says Crawshaw.
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9 ]) \0 o$ H1 @3 IThe arrangement has worked out well, especially because the tenant was already living in the house when they moved in and has proved to be a "fantabulous" tenant who often spends time gardening in the yard or raking leaves, says Crawshaw, 25.
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The downside, however, is the lack of space. The couple and their two cats share about 750-square-feet on the upper floor of the house.- [0 e4 Q. _* [
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"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.
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# t+ K# E8 ? g' R( {+ V1 p. Q"But it does work out quite well. I don't regret it. But I don't want to do it for more than five years -- I don't think that anyone does."
) Y1 }$ w0 `. X1 l© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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