The hardest part about looking for an apartment through the Internet in a town you’ve only been to once is the part where you are looking for an apartment through the Internet. In a town you’ve only been to once.
I’ve looked at a million postings on Craiglist in the past few weeks, trying to find that perfect apartment or small house where my dog Bella, my Xbox, and I can all hang our respective hats when we settle in Pensacola next month. There’s a million apartment complexes to choose from along with tiny 700 square foot cottages. Some are in expensive, safe parts of town that have all sorts of character. Some are in safe, affordable, boring parts of town that would be no headache but I’d have to drive anywhere cool.
Others are on the fringe, sort of in a good part of town, from what I gather, but close enough to maybe a not so nice part of town to make it interesting. There are even some right on the freaking beach, but the commute to work would be a little longer than I’d like and the beach-going partyers would, I’m guessing, surround me for 8 months of the year.
The political cartoonist at the paper sent me this awesome map of town pointing out all the cool, safe neighborhoods that would be within a 10 minute drive to work. But it’s hard making a living decision without physically visiting the neighborhood to get a feel for what it’s like.