The page is off kilter because there are photos.

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Today I checked out an apartment in the West End, a charming area of town I've never lived in but have always loved. It's a strange mix of architecture: modern and Victorian with some 1950s thrown in.

It's the part of the city that reminds me of Manhattan's Greenwich Village and southwest Toronto. The neighbourhood is extremely high density but greenery abounds. Everywhere there are old growth cottonwood, hemlock and cedar trees, dense hedges and many residents have artful balcony gardens. There's also the seawall (a 10.5 kilometer path right on the ocean shoreline that surrounds Stanley Park), English Bay (foreground of above pic), and the best shopping anywhere.

Denman, a quaint mix of the old and the new, is one of my favourite West End streets.

It's all small business owners and every block must have at least five restaurants. The West End is also the gay community and because gays dominate residency it has a very safe, friendly, comfortable and elegant feel to it. Unlike the ticky tacky cookie cutter suburban areas of Coquitlam and Richmond, this is a community that has flair. Even Yaletown, which is situated mere blocks away in the downtown core is sterile and boring in comparison. And who lives in Yaletown? Young hetero yuppies who work in the high tech industry. It has no discernable personality yet. It's rare to see people *outside* in Yaletown, whereas West End streets vibrate with a diverse and tolerant humanity. And everyone in the city gravitates to the West End for the beach life, the park trails, the food and the shopping. So it doesn't have an exclusive or elitist feel to it. A girlfriend of mine who lived there for a couple of years and loved it told me that it always irked her though that all these gorgeous well-groomed men would just look right through her. Bastards! Har. But there's probably no safer place for a woman in this city than the West End.

This page gives an idea of the diversity of architecture.

Anyway, the heritage building I looked at is located at Barclay and Thurlow. The ad exaggerated a few things. For example, the "secret garden," which I envisioned would be a courtyard with flowers and trees or bushes and maybe a wooden bench or two turned out to be a narrow cement pathway that runs between two buildings with a couple of soon-to-be filled (in other words, empty) flower boxes and a haggard palm tree. It's also facing north so the chances of it getting direct sunlight are slim to none. As if anyone would sit there. (Note to landlords: don't bother lying ok? It's a turn off.)

The apartments - there were two available - are just too small. The bedrooms in both are cubbyholes with opaque glass walls that don't quite meet the ceiling. The opaque glass is a nice touch because it allows the light to infiltrate an otherwise windowless room (neither of the bedrooms have windows) but still...the only thing that would fit in the bedroom is a bed. There's not even room for a dresser. No thanks. And the living rooms are too small to accommodate everything I have. The property manager casually mentioned I could sell some of my stuff. Oh sure, I'm going to sell an antique sideboard and handcrafted pine furniture that my brother built to live in an inadequate apartment I don't own! Landlords are clueless in this town, really. The rents are astronomical, often much higher than a monthly payment on a mortgage would be. They can't rent what they have because people are buying and they won't invest in paint or upgrades and they overcharge. On top of that they make ludicrous suggestions like sell your furniture.

However, the building has its charms. Stainglass windows line the hallways and the aisles and stairwells are wide. The entire building had the odor of cloves which I really liked. The building was constructed in 1928 so it has no elevator, which is kind of a turn off for lugging stuff in. If they had a larger apartment I'd consider it though.

The third floor apartment was quite cute. It features a fireplace (that doesn't work, but who cares...I love fireplaces whether they work or not), gold painted rads, oak floors with stained trim, beveled glass cabinets in the kitchen, raised triple pained windows, and high ceilings. It was just too small for me though. And I don't like the idea of a bedroom that isn't completely separate from the rest of the apartment. This building must have been designed to house early twentieth century bachelors.

The laundry room sucked and decent laundry facilities are a must for me. The one in the building I live in sucks too (because the new mgmt doesn't give a shit about keeping it clean or up to date). I hate doing laundry as it is. I'm keen on in-suite laundry facilities or state of the art facilities. Shit, if you're going to pay almost $900 a month for a place, shouldn't you at least get a decent washer and dryer in the deal? I think so.

The landlady was nice enough but I wondered if she might be nosy because as we descended to the lobby she confronted another tenant about having left one of his windows open while he was out). "I can't afford to heat the outdoors, haven't won the lotto yet!" She wasn't mean about it but I didn't like the idea of someone checking up on me. She told me that the rule is if you leave windows open, to turn off the heat. This doesn't quite work in the winter, I'm afraid, when you sometimes need your windows open to air out the place but need heat too. I can do without the el cheapo attitude.

I emailed another landlord about a suite in a house near Locarno Beach which is just down the hill from me. Now that is a prime location. The beach is gorgeous... a dream location for living. The ad said it had been completely renovated and has its own laundry facility and a garden as well. I found it on craigslist.com and the ad is a little old so it might be taken. We'll see. The rent is good $725/month but it doesn't include utilities so those would probably add another $125. Still, good rent for the area. it sounds like a couple owns the house. The only problem I have with the beach area is transportation... I'd have to walk 5 blocks uphill to access one of the least reliable bus services. Not sure if I'm interested in that. But otherwise... Locarno beach and Spanish Banks - 2 miles of beached shoreline - would be my front yard. Can't beat that. And here's a photo.

The faint buildings in the distance make up the West End and the downtown core, about 5 miles distant from this beach. I'm 10 blocks from this beach now, but if the above apt is available, I'd be mere steps from it.

The green spit of land to the right of the distant buildings (above) is Stanley Park, acres and acres of wilderness as well as landscaped areas. The photo below gives an aerial view of the park and the seawall that encircles it. To the right is the fringe of the dense West End. It's a remarkable feat of city planning to have both wilderness and dense city coexisting like this. Though it might have been one of those lucky accidents that later became enshrined in bylaws. Developers from Hong Kong and Japan have said they can visualize condo developments in Stanley Park but there's no bloody way this real estate is ever going to be developed. I can't see residents ever agreeing to that.

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I realize what a good deal I have in the apartment I live in. It's 750 square feet. I have a large bedroom and a good-sized living room. I have a separate area for dining. The kitchen's too small - not enough counter space - but it's ok for one person and I'm not big on cooking anyway. My livingroom faces an alley that is lined by old cedars and hemlock and my bedroom faces the gardens of an adjacent building. The floors are beautiful and the walls are in perfect condition. It's cement construction so noise is minimal and my rent is probably the lowest of any in this area. I pay $754. So really, even though I need to move, I don't want to settle for less than I already have. I'm prepared to pay up to $900 but I expect a top-notch place for that price.

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Update: the Locarno Beach people phoned me and their apartment is still available. It's located near the Youth Hostel on First, which is a spectacular area, if a little remote from all amenities like groceries. They're a retired couple (man, they must have made a bundle to buy a house there...all those properties are around $1 million). But the guy told me it's not going to be quiet as they reside above the suite. Too bad! (Then again, how noisy can two retired people be? They're probably rich early retirees.) It's only 600 sq.f which means it's small. Also, the hills are very steep between First and Fourth and I'd have to do that hike every day. Forget it. If I had a car.... But then, I'm not interested in hearing creaking footsteps overhead night and day. Ugh. No. I want an apartment building.

I should have looked at it out of curiosity. It's not often I get to see how the rich live.

Anyway, I'm ten minutes from that beach now...it's not as if I don't have access to beaches.

So the hunt will continue.

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In other news, the renovation of pipes (major construction) started inside my apartment today. The workers tore out three walls today and part of the ceiling. But instead of just carting out the plaster and old wall board and doing a cursory sweep, these guys washed my floors and removed the dust. The place was spotless when I got home. I have no walls in my bathroom right now, which is pretty bizarre, but there's plastic in the shower area and it's clean and organized. The next few weeks won't be a nightmare after all.