Apartments? Oh No!

I have a confession. You might not think you do, but you know someone who lives in an apartment. And if you know me, you know two someones. My husband Bob, myself and even poor Brady when he’s home from college.  If you think you “know” the sort of person that lives in an apartment, like I once did, think again, because you might not.

We sold our home and are building our dream retirement home a few miles away but needed somewhere to live with our dogs in the meanwhile. We looked for homes with yards to rent but most wanted at least a year’s lease. We considered moving to our lake house, a luxury most don’t have which I understand, but that isn’t an option when you want to be at work regularly. So we looked at apartments in our home town and were ‘lucky’ enough to find a couple options.

When I say lucky, I mean there were options available to lease. We weren’t lucky in that our monthly rent for a one bedroom, 700 square foot apartment with one assigned parking spot has a rent that is higher than the mortgage for our 6 bedroom home in our previous country club community. So much for the riff-raff factor that everyone assumes inhabits high density housing. 

If the above pool reminds you of Melrose Place, that is our complex’s nickname.

I remember when my children were younger and we were afraid of apartment complexes being built in our school district because of the density and sort of people it might attract until we fell in love with the children from the Fraser Street apartments. I am so embarrassed to admit this to the world and even myself now. But I’m proud of how I’ve evolved.

So below is the sort of people that we have met since moving in to our new community (the names have been changed because I did not ask them if they wanted to be included in my latest blog):

Dave, Betsy and Milly (lab puppy): Dave and Betsy are newlyweds who recently adopted Milly. I regularly disrupt their puppy potty-training because I get over-joyed when I see Milly’s waggle bottom on my way to the car. I just have to go pick her up. They both work and add to the local economy.  They are saving for a house.  They’d love to live in town but will they have to move further out to afford a home? Will I never see Milly again then?

Fred: We’ve known Fred for a long time.  He divorced a few years ago and has been living in our new home complex for several years. He loves it. It enabled him to keep his youngest in the same school district. He’s a great guy.  Shouldn’t we have affordable housing options that enable young people and older people to continue to live in their home towns? I think yes.

Officers Friendly: We have several hometown police cars parked in our complex every night, not because of crime but because they live here and I feel safer for it. I’m glad that first responders can afford to live in the town where they Serve with Honor and Protect with Courage.

Polly and Garrison:  They both work at our leasing office.  They organize drives for local charities, plan social events and live on-site in separate units, lest you think they are a couple. They are young and love the vibe of Roswell. It is fun to see them driving around on the golf cart.

Pamela and Dyson: Pamela is training her dog to walk off leash and she helps everyone with their dogs. There are a LOT of dogs in our complex and a dog park where people socialize. We are like a little city within our city.

Sandy:  Sandy runs a local bank and lives in my building with her golden retriever. She invites me to her ladies night at the club house which has a health center that rivals LifeTime, a pool that is open all year, an open area for working when you are tired of being remote and is the hub of our community. I love that Sandy has included me even though she knows we are short-timers.  Makes me feel special and included. Thank you.

Living in the apartment itself is challenging, especially for Bob who has to walk the dogs and sleeps on the sectional when the dogs beat him to the bed at night. We are both looking forward to our house being done, but we will also miss our new friends.

I’ve learned so much about the diversity of those who live in apartment complexes because most are hardworking citizens with interesting life stories and varied and valid reasons for their housing situation, just like us. Our home town needs MORE high density housing as most communities in our country do. I don’t consider my apartment complex the answer to ‘affordable’ housing because it really isn’t affordable for many families, but we still need more of it, much more.

So the next time you hear someone on television ranting against the construction of apartment homes in their neighborhood, watch out, you just might need one someday.

P.S. While I love our neighbors, they aren’t all perfect. Could ya’ll just clean up after your pets? There are some apartment issues that are real.