I won't miss constant rent increases. With the original owners, my rent didn't change the first time I renewed my lease. Then the new owners came n and rent has increased every renewal since then. The amount I paid with my last rent check is nearly $200 dollars more than what I paid four and a half years ago. When I first moved there, two car garages were included with the lease a their two-bedroom apartments, but under the new owners garages cost extra on top of the lease of a two bedroom unit. Water, sewer, and garbage was originally included in the rent, but those services became an additional charge added to the rent after the new owners took over. And about a year ago, all residents were given notice we were required to carry renter’s insurance effective immediately - increasing the cost to live there and changing the terms of the lease with short notice.
I won't miss parking spaces hard to find. When you pull into the parking lot, there are signs posted warning parking is for residents only. Those signs used to mean something. The original owners had a contract with a local ma & pa towing company. The husband and wife team drove through the lot at random intervals throughout the day and night. They inspected all cars parked in the apartment lots for a parking pass. If they found a car without a pass, they'd tow it. When I moved in, a coworker told me he once had his car towed from that lot after he'd been parked there for less than five minutes. Things changed with the new owners. They terminated the contract with the small towing operation and signed a new contract with a bigger company. The new towers only come to take a vehicle if the property owners request it. Surprise, they never make such requests. The result is a parking lot that is always full and mostly filled with cars lacking a parking pass.
I won't miss dog poop everywhere. There are signs posted advising residents to pick up after their pets. But my neighbors are lazy. Often, there are doggy landmines scattered in every greenspace at the complex and squat-dropped into the grass between the side walk and street. I've witnessed the phenomenon myself, stood on my balcony and watched a neighbor bring out his German Shepherd. It assumed position in the grass at the bottom of the steps to my apartment, dropped its effluence, and the pair walked back to their building. The human never returned to collect his dog's waste. The first summer we lived there, I discovered (in an ironic twist) a pile of poo directly in front of one of the "no pooping" signs. This might seem like an odd complaint considering my new residence. We have two dogs, two cats, five horses, four goats, a rabbit, and a large mixed flock of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys at the farm. When we do barn chores, it's nearly impossible to not step in it. Everybody poops, including the animals. But there's a difference. If your dog poops in your yard, it's not a big deal. But if your neighbor's dog poops in your yard, you raise a ruckus. I also expect to step in scat when walking through the horse pasture and goat pen. I don't expect it when walking to the manager's office or the mailbox. Some people have no respect and I'm glad they're not my problem any more.
I will miss not having to do yard work. This is by far the greatest perk of apartment life. They employ a maintenance staff to mow the lawn and trim the trees. Or they hire a landscaping company to do it all. As a person who loathes yard work, I was grateful to never worry about the grass growing too tall or weeds that need pulled. It was always someone else's circus, someone else's monkeys. With this move, lawn care is my responsibility once again. The first time we mowed this spring, it took three days. My goal this summer is to teach the kids to do it. Then all I'll have to do is supervise.
Finally, I will miss the sounds of baseball. The sliding glass door to the balcony of my apartment faced Ramsey Park. Walk out the front door, down the stairs, across the driveway, then through a gate in the chain link fence and you'll find yourself on the Prairie Trail next to the Ramsey Ballfields. Staring every spring and lasting late into the fall, evenings became game time with field lights lit up well past sunset. Baseball and softball games frequently lasted until 10pm or later. Even though I am not a huge baseball fan, I still find the sounds of the sport comforting. It reminds me of my childhood listening to Dave Niehaus on KJR and attending Mariners games at the Kingdome. The crack of the bat, crowds cheering, occasional "steeerike!" shout from an umpire, snippets of stadium anthems over the loudspeakers. It's the perfect ambient noise, the soundtrack to a relaxing summer night. I long ago lost count of how many times those sounds lulled me to slumber over the last four and a half years. Sure, I can and will still attend Spokane Indians games, JJ still has a few years left in little league, and I hope to see the M's a few more times at Safeco Field. Yet nothing will replace hearing it played live, right outside the bedroom window, night after night.
As for the farm life, we’re all excited. Christian told me he had always dreamed of living in the country. Some dreams do come true. And the sunsets here are hard to beat.
