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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?6 |3 u; \7 {! o8 B' q7 ]
Nothing says home like the living room couch" ~5 {5 n" z5 w$ @
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Alexandra Zabjek: s! m4 R0 m0 u* r. C1 u
The Edmonton Journal$ v" D. J* s/ x: s
' O( D$ v- c# PSunday, May 20, 2007- M% D4 q1 s! J- G5 S; o
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, }% a& e+ N* `& A4 bStudent apartments aren't typically luxurious places, but soaring rents in Edmonton are forcing some students to pare down their living arrangements even more than usual.$ q# R; o: m/ S" ~6 a3 ~7 i d
# \/ K' b1 T6 P( d# yAt Steve Li's one-bedroom apartment near NAIT, the living room is a bedroom for his roommate, Bill Chadwick.
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Li and Chadwick, both students, split the $600 rent almost evenly -- Li gets the bedroom for $325 per month, while Chadwick pays $275 per month to put his bed in the living room.
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"I receive approximately $700 per month (in grants) to go to school," says Chadwick, 32. "So when $275 comes into the picture, it works out quite well."
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After spending time couch-surfing with friends, Chadwick says having a "defined space" is great, even if it isn't a proper bedroom. b, X( t7 A* r# Z$ ~# u2 C8 {+ X) x
1 Y6 _* I' \3 m2 o* ?Sharing a one-bedroom apartment is a common arrangement amongst Chinese students studying in Edmonton, says Li, who has been living in Canada for the past seven years. It's a big change for many of these students, he says.
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"The people who can afford to send their kids to Canada to study are quite rich," he says. "(Their) apartments in China are big."0 i! N7 `8 }6 \. y) F
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Splitting the rent on a one-bedroom apartment, however, make things much easier for students with limited budgets.
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"I wouldn't say (it would be completely) unaffordable, but this way it's much more economical," he says.! G+ H* g @8 g$ ]
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SOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE d- i& ?- A- h L5 b! @, t: [
) K/ J! k4 f, b6 Y, SWhen Caitlin Crawshaw and her girlfriend bought a bungalow in Bonnie Doon last summer, it wasn't just the location that sold them on the 1950s era house. It was also the basement suite.# N) R* E7 x$ U) A g) [+ D" F1 S
# s5 H$ w5 }% c"It wasn't originally part of our plan," Crawshaw says. "But as soon as we started looking at houses and seeing what the market was, we thought that maybe we should consider it.") [0 J- i0 [- G# h
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Their tenant pays $500 per month for the 750-square-foot suite. The money helps the couple pay down their mortgage more aggressively and provides a cushion in case either loses their job, says Crawshaw.7 U) ~# \+ v7 x; r$ Z8 H) S
2 G b, H, J W" oThe arrangement has worked out well, especially because the tenant was already living in the house when they moved in and has proved to be a "fantabulous" tenant who often spends time gardening in the yard or raking leaves, says Crawshaw, 25.
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The downside, however, is the lack of space. The couple and their two cats share about 750-square-feet on the upper floor of the house.
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"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.
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"But it does work out quite well. I don't regret it. But I don't want to do it for more than five years -- I don't think that anyone does."
: F( r) @, K, R1 X; F: _© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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