We have visited two rental houses so far and go to our third (and likely last) tonight. We are pretty excited about it so far. Largely, of course, because it represents No More Driving and Settling Somewhere and Getting Our Shit Back and Getting Our Children Into Preschool So We Can Reclaim A Portion Of Our Adult Lives. But also because these neighborhoods are just so damn cute. The top contender so far (this one: http://bellingham.craigslist.org/apa/4680214654.html) is within easy walking distance of Trader Joe's, an organic market, and downtown, not to mention a park for Beatrice (too young for Alice) and slightly further away but still walk/bikeable a lovely and large string of parks, AND a freakin' donut shop at the end of the block!
This is the other one we've looked at: http://bellingham.craigslist.org/apa/4661929194.html Looks better on paper. Some of its advantages are: 2-car garage (read: storage) and in better (perhaps just more modern) repair.
But we still much prefer the first one, as it has a central area for dining, which would be the physical and behavioral center of the house, hardwood floors throughout, a small but enclosed backyard that the kitchen looks out on and with 2 fruit trees, a very sweet neighbor cat who let Beatrice poke at it for a while, twice-yearly-bearing raspberry bushes in the side yard, and two quite large bedrooms. The third BR is technically not, as it doesn't have a closet, but we hope to task our 3rd BR, wherever it ends up being, as an office/guest room anyways. The owner was busily repairing/updating/fixing everything as we toured: new paint, floors are new, brand new landscaping, etc. Evidently the last series of tenants left it sort of trashed. Downsides: no storage (which I would take as a personal challenge to continue our downsizing bonanza that we started while packing up in Norfolk), only 1 BA, a picturesque but unusable wood-burning stove in the living room that is going to be a constant danger for our kids unless we figure out a way to tastefully surround it with a soft deterrent.
We still think we'd like to end up in the Columbia neighborhood, and this is in The Lettered Streets neighborhood (it's on B street), and the place we're going to look at tonight is in Columbia, but The Lettered Streets look preeeeetty nice so far. Columbia is the neighborhood recommended for "families with young children" and that's where the elementary school is. It'd sure be nice to be able to walk the kids to elementary school. On the other hand, the parts of Bellingham we're interested in are so compact that literally nothing is more than 2 miles away. An easy bike ride at the worst.
In any case, we hope to have made a decision by tomorrow and have the owners say yes and get our stuff on its way from Whereversville, VA!
This is the other one we've looked at: http://bellingham.craigslist.org/apa/4661929194.html Looks better on paper. Some of its advantages are: 2-car garage (read: storage) and in better (perhaps just more modern) repair.
But we still much prefer the first one, as it has a central area for dining, which would be the physical and behavioral center of the house, hardwood floors throughout, a small but enclosed backyard that the kitchen looks out on and with 2 fruit trees, a very sweet neighbor cat who let Beatrice poke at it for a while, twice-yearly-bearing raspberry bushes in the side yard, and two quite large bedrooms. The third BR is technically not, as it doesn't have a closet, but we hope to task our 3rd BR, wherever it ends up being, as an office/guest room anyways. The owner was busily repairing/updating/fixing everything as we toured: new paint, floors are new, brand new landscaping, etc. Evidently the last series of tenants left it sort of trashed. Downsides: no storage (which I would take as a personal challenge to continue our downsizing bonanza that we started while packing up in Norfolk), only 1 BA, a picturesque but unusable wood-burning stove in the living room that is going to be a constant danger for our kids unless we figure out a way to tastefully surround it with a soft deterrent.
We still think we'd like to end up in the Columbia neighborhood, and this is in The Lettered Streets neighborhood (it's on B street), and the place we're going to look at tonight is in Columbia, but The Lettered Streets look preeeeetty nice so far. Columbia is the neighborhood recommended for "families with young children" and that's where the elementary school is. It'd sure be nice to be able to walk the kids to elementary school. On the other hand, the parts of Bellingham we're interested in are so compact that literally nothing is more than 2 miles away. An easy bike ride at the worst.
In any case, we hope to have made a decision by tomorrow and have the owners say yes and get our stuff on its way from Whereversville, VA!
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