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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?5 }+ s2 B0 I, H/ b# W& q
Nothing says home like the living room couch
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) w7 o9 B e! C( iAlexandra Zabjek
% t" o1 x; G* ~The Edmonton Journal
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Sunday, May 20, 2007
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; ^; c a) b L3 y) yStudent 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.* m' F( n$ q0 x( I/ E Q
- j) `6 V+ G9 `( \) j2 S5 z, uAt Steve Li's one-bedroom apartment near NAIT, the living room is a bedroom for his roommate, Bill Chadwick.) S& C: \: ?' h, D: |8 B/ F
3 w( D- {8 {" `7 [. _$ [& nLi 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.3 A) E& }8 m- ^, A
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"I receive approximately $700 per month (in grants) to go to school," says Chadwick, 32. "So when $275 comes into the picture, it works out quite well."4 \/ |# W0 q3 q" U3 U# C
2 x' D1 m( S: X4 \& n& E4 X! GAfter spending time couch-surfing with friends, Chadwick says having a "defined space" is great, even if it isn't a proper bedroom.; ^( w) Z4 E9 k; q
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Sharing a one-bedroom apartment is a common arrangement amongst Chinese students studying in Edmonton, says Li, who has been living in Canada for the past seven years. It's a big change for many of these students, he says.
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"The people who can afford to send their kids to Canada to study are quite rich," he says. "(Their) apartments in China are big."
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Splitting the rent on a one-bedroom apartment, however, make things much easier for students with limited budgets.- }) b$ h. a4 Z T* Y8 |; z
- n1 p K+ U; }9 w"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; Z3 P1 E2 x6 J
; ]2 j- ]. i% l6 M6 f# Y2 y% {0 bWhen 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."
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. s! {4 |) k( T6 wTheir tenant pays $500 per month for the 750-square-foot suite. The money helps the couple pay down their mortgage more aggressively and provides a cushion in case either loses their job, says Crawshaw.7 ~$ `) K7 z% X" X
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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.
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9 |* ?8 u$ K9 ?# @; l% u"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.3 ]: Q- u! o. O" t/ p
/ P7 V5 b% h: U; W, t$ C"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."
6 l5 F* T9 t5 D" l m0 `: b© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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