goldengod

Lions Gate Bridge by Kris Krug

Looking for an apartment in Vancouver is such a pain in the ass. Go to your bookshelf, pick up your copy of Dante’s ‘Inferno’, and flip to the bit where they define the ten circles of hell. If the tenth circle isn’t labeled “house hunting in Vancouver”, I will replace your obviously outdated copy with an new one, free of charge.

Seriously, trying to find a decent place to rent in a town with a 0.7% vacancy rate is murder. Never mind the fact that we’re the most expensive Canadian city to live in now, just *finding* a place is hard. You can worry about being able to afford your new shoebox later.

I’m scouring craigslist and sometimes making use of housingmaps. I’m finding that if you pay enough attention to craigslist and know the city, housingmaps can get a bit useless after a while. It’s still amazing for a quick snapshot of what’s available in the city, though. I recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a place.

Other than craigslist, most other classified sites with Vancouver apartment listings seem pretty weak. I’m considering picking up a weekend paper out of desperation. Another thing I’m considering doing is pestering my readers. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll do that right now. Here are my criteria:

• Available June 1st
• One or two bedroom
• Rent under $900/mo
• Preferred neighborhoods: Commercial Drive, Broadway & Granville, Downtown
• No basement suites
• Cats allowed
• In-suite laundry or balcony are big pluses

If you know of anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me via the contact page or leave a comment ASAP. Sorry for the rant, but I’ve been neglecting the Vancouver category and this is driving me bonkers.