I think I’m supposed to be looking on Craigslist right now for apartments, but I’m experiencing a bit of information overload. I know we’re not the first people to have to find an apartment from across the country, but it sure is a difficult process. We are hoping to try and find a place in the Berkeley area (which also includes Emeryville, Oakland, Alameda, etc.) this weekend when we’re out there for my job interview. But it seems to be a very daunting task.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we don’t want to find a place that’s where all the other white, middle-class folk live. I’m not interested in finding a gated, apartment complex, or living in a homogeneous neighborhood. I want to be able to live with and learn from people of other backgrounds and life-experiences. But, we also know that we want to live somewhere that’s safe. Safe. What exactly does “safe” mean? I guess, at first, I think I want to be in a place that seems “safe” enough to walk Sadie around the block late at night. “Safe” enough that we can feel fine about coming home late at night and walking from the car (wherever we have to park it) to our home. But, my friend Charlie twittered a good question to me re: the idea of a neighborhood as “safe.” He wrote (or tweeted): “Depends on your definition of ‘safe.’ After all the suburbs can be dangerous to our souls, right?”
So, all good things to think about. So far we have four appointments at apartments/duplexes for this weekend, assuming they are still available. Right now, I have a favorite but don’t want to get my hopes up too high. If anyone has done this before – gotten an apartment through Craigslist – any advice would be very much appreciated. If we could find a place this weekend – that would be ideal – but we also don’t want to be pressured into any place.