An Unexpected Challenge
February 26, 2009 at 10:30 am Lori Shontz 1 comment
Our fallback option -- which, fortunately, we didn't need to use.
Like most returning alums, I continually find myself staring at a building and wondering, “Where did that come from?” And even before I moved back, I knew that the campus and the surrounding communities had grown significantly since I last lived here.
Except, apparently, in one area. Apartment complexes with units for rent in March.
OK, so my husband and I are part of an extremely small subset of renters in State College. We’re “professionals,” in real estate lingo, and we’re not arriving in August.
But only five apartments met our requirements, which are hardly lavish. At least two bedrooms. A washer and dryer. Decent kitchen. No additional roommates.
Flummoxed, I had to look at a few houses. The agent who showed me around said he had a much larger selection available for July and August, but I’d better not dawdle. Of his company’s 900-plus units (some for students, others for “professionals”), all but about 60 are already rented for August 2009.
Did housing always have to be settled so early? No wonder I spent four years in the dorms.
Anyway, we got lucky when someone backed out of a security deposit, and as soon as the movers bring our stuff, we’ll be comfortably settled – in a three-bedroom apartment with a decent kitchen, and a coin-op washer and dryer in the basement.
But you can bet our next move will conform to Penn State’s schedule.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Entry filed under: State College. Tags: apartments, housing.
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1. Carole | February 26, 2009 at 11:32 am
I feel your pain. My boyfriend and I had the same problem. When we told friends the story of trying to find an apartment the didn’t belive us. We wanted an August move in and were told we should have started looking in January…we made the mistake of looking in June. Who knew being grown up would be so hard.