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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?4 s' |! m3 W4 }$ V& s" n
Nothing says home like the living room couch2 m d: C6 J( |! K6 Y2 S4 b
! j/ }/ l0 w' f2 k; S* pAlexandra Zabjek
j w5 L8 d, `8 [The Edmonton Journal9 x. ?1 @% A4 y, j
+ ? m u8 ?6 N3 V# PSunday, 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.- {6 d/ X s+ L, o$ n+ B- ?: ^- o8 D
0 d" W' _" u0 ^- O( TAt Steve Li's one-bedroom apartment near NAIT, the living room is a bedroom for his roommate, Bill Chadwick.8 }6 W" ]2 `- C- X9 j: Y
1 A7 A5 f5 P% a, zLi 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.% J# C# ?; U' S: _
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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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After spending time couch-surfing with friends, Chadwick says having a "defined space" is great, even if it isn't a proper bedroom.; x* I1 v% _6 w. o
) k. K, W2 T& vSharing 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.
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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.9 i* O1 ~3 C6 V0 U7 y% d- C
# u; ?7 {2 Z0 d2 E7 X" `0 E) }; }"I wouldn't say (it would be completely) unaffordable, but this way it's much more economical," he says.
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SOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE) v/ ~" J6 N, z; ~. ~
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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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"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."% H! c4 E5 Z/ A
- J9 D: ~, M" x8 I; T1 T& DTheir 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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The 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.9 D( U1 e9 a/ [ b4 ]
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"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.- N1 G5 M! O. x+ W" I5 k. q! A
, K1 `7 V! P4 n" }5 D"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."
! h" ~! ~/ B& C* r9 k+ Q# E© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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