It’s a Moving Story

We’re moving in August.

We've been in our current apartment eight years. We've had a very good experience, except for a few things related to apartment living in general. I love the layout of our apartment; the wee den has been a great office space during the last two years. The area is lovely, with the Schuylkill River trail right behind the building and the Betzwood trail head within walking distance. The beautiful river itself is right on the other side of our building.

And that, my friends, is the rub. In the eight years that we've lived here, we endured three major floods. The first, billed as a rare, one-hundred year flood, occurred one month after we moved in, in April of 2014. Bad timing, wasn't it? The second happened in August, 2020. It wasn't quite as bad as the first, but it was bad enough to submerge cars.

Then there was the third flood, courtesy of Hurricane Ida, the worst of all. Ten feet of water in the lobby and stairwells, not to mention outside. It took weeks to fix the elevators. The doors weren't secured until a couple of weeks ago. Our cars escaped damage by a whisker.

That did it. 

Anyway, we decided that we simply don't have the energy to worry about the next flood. It's not a question of "if" there will be another flood; it's a question of "when" there will be another flood.

So we went apartment shopping, even though our lease isn't up until late August. We looked at several communities, and liked two of them a lot. We figured we'd keep an eye on availability and make a final decision in late summer.

And then an apartment in one of them became available in August. We love the layout.

It doesn't have a separate den, but we can work around that, especially since there's a tiny desk thingy in an alcove in the primary bedroom. I'm also not totally keen on the entrance opening right into the kitchen, but that's not a showstopper. It's bigger than our current place. It has a view of the pool and a huge balcony to enjoy that view. The amenities are spectacular and they're located in the same building as the unit. This cutesy layout gives you a idea of how furniture can fit.

I think these "concept" diagrams are funny. I mean, these mythical people apparently do not own a single book. They have very little clothing and a single plant. (Mind you, I have zero plants, so...)

Here a drawing of the property - our unit is circled in red.

It's 3 miles away from where we live now - and even closer to work. I could walk to work if I wanted had to.

It's more expensive, alas, by a lot. But I think it's going to be worth it.