The apartment hunt, day 2: conclusions.

Here are the results of today's apartment-hunting:

1) Grand Avenue apartment

Sarah and I were total strangers to the neighborhood, since it's a bit farther east than the scenester-central hub of Williamsburg that we're used to (ie, the stretch of North 6th Street between Driggs Avenue and those god-awful condos). But we're really glad that we got a chance to check it out - because it was awesome. Half of the places we saw were typical, family-oriented neighborhood shops (dollar stores, grocery stores, laundromats, and so on) and the other half were total hipster joints (cute tapas restaurants, trendy bars, and organic coffeeshops). It was definitely a blend of two very different communities, but it worked in a funny sort of way. In any case, it seemed like a fun and eclectic place to live.

The apartment itself was good, but not great. The building seemed nice (we appreciated the functioning intercom system and noted its potential function as a deterent for murderers), and the girls who live there now said that the management was really accomodating and nice. Still, the apartment was pretty cramped and severely lacking in windows (I think we saw maybe one? Two?). So that's a big maybe, but not off the list for good. And the trip was totally worthwhile for the sake of checking out the neighborhood and realizing how much it kicks ass.

2) Bedford apartment

We knew this place had to be cheap for a reason - either it was a scam, or it was hideous enough to completely nullify its ideal location.

Turns out it was the latter.

This apartment made absolutely no sense. The bathroom was the size of a postage stamp and shared a wall with the kitchen, which actually only had one wall (it pretty much just sat on the end of up a miniscule hallway, which led to the first bedroom). Then there was a winding staircase that headed downstairs (it was a "duplex"). The basement contained a strange room that might have been intended as a living room and a bedroom that could not have fit a bed because it was under the staircase and therefore shaped like a pyramid. This, plus the fact that the guy renting it out wasn't even there (I called him to see if he was in the area and to ask whether he wanted to meet in person - he said no) pretty much convinced us that this was the sketchiest apartment in the world.

So our tally for the day was one maybe and one big no. But it was still a worthwhile day of neighborhood exploration (and it concluded with some yummy Thai food), so I'm counting it as a success.