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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?
$ m$ }; Q* `5 ]Nothing says home like the living room couch) Z s: x% |7 b3 B/ ~
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Alexandra Zabjek' L, L0 K' E" l, ?0 T
The Edmonton Journal2 b& k6 A# @: ]' L' W4 v
% ^( I1 ?1 d: X2 A- FSunday, May 20, 2007
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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.% ]$ R0 w- N: L( E3 O1 T
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Li 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.
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"I receive approximately $700 per month (in grants) to go to school," says Chadwick, 32. "So when $275 comes into the picture, it works out quite well."
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6 y% @! C$ o& B. z/ a. EAfter spending time couch-surfing with friends, Chadwick says having a "defined space" is great, even if it isn't a proper bedroom.' O ^! }' m! }. l$ P# z2 v- [( |
- D$ m& Y( H, H1 n1 O- m. H0 aSharing 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.: [3 F, b, D$ B- T$ n; F
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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." `3 F; P$ {- C7 g9 O
. `8 {1 O) B! G% I3 a3 M4 u ]Splitting the rent on a one-bedroom apartment, however, make things much easier for students with limited budgets.. K [: s8 M; t9 Z
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"I wouldn't say (it would be completely) unaffordable, but this way it's much more economical," he says.3 G7 Z5 L% M0 p$ v, i
- U5 a6 W5 V8 n* m4 b. \SOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE
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) k1 c# y1 ? Q' }4 LWhen 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.7 ?4 C& L* h0 b& o" r$ n; c
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"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."
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5 K5 Y. f, f* ?9 [5 tTheir 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./ c6 D5 V) h" Z% p, R2 k
) H. _9 O W' G* j2 rThe 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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- y* ^: l7 g% S- G" jThe 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.
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"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.
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"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."
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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