Wasting Gas $$? Just Move Closer In!!

Let's do a little back-of-the-envelope on the subject of "close-in vs. gas-prices." It's a common insinuation, that the working poor and lower class individuals, when looking at their rental so-called choices (let's forget buying for the moment, shall we) are only shooting themselves in the foot when they decide on an apartment in the outer areas obliging them to take a long commute in to work. Certainly, the closer in one looks for a place, the higher the prices. But you've got to think how much money you'd save on gas! You've simply got to factor that in!

I thought I'd take a couple example apartments from current rentals on Craigslist and compare. I'm looking at 2-bedroom housing, something big enough for a couple with a kid or two, or two people needing an extra room for whatever. Let's say they can live without a second bathroom, and check out the prices.

First up, looks like a decent price for downtown, we're looking at $1395 for 2BR's on the Park Blocks. Walk to everything, quit wasting money on a car, gas, insurance, etc.

$1395 / 2br - Downtown Condo on Park Ave.
Expertly renovated condo conversion on the beautiful, vibrant South Park Blocks. This 2-bed/1-bath unit has stone countertops, stainless steel appliances [wonderful, just like at work], W/D, generous closets, and a south facing deck, Jacuzzi, Exercise room, several common areas. Parking and storage is included. A few blocks from Portland State University
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/676129283.html

Now let's say that living out East would mean insuring, maintaining, parking, and tanking up your car to the tune of several hundred a month. Four bills easy. Say you're bent on keeping it though, and just subtract the cost from the twelve- to fourteen hundred these downtown places are going for. You hear that the 2BR's are more like 800-900 or so out Gresham way.

$800 / 2br - Don't rent an apartment for the same price as a duplex! (13644 E. Burnside, Portland)
If you are looking for peace and quiet in a small complex of 4 with a nicely updated unit then look no more. This location is in a quiet spot on the max line. Very little foot and car traffic. Come drive by and check it out. No extra deposit for cats and dogs. Dogs must be under 25 pounds.
1. NO WHITE WALLS!- Warm designer colors throughout
2. Beautiful, Cozy, and Quiet Setting
3. Wood burning fireplace
4. Living room with large picture window for lots of natural light
5. Large Master Bedroom
6. Both bedrooms with 8+ foot closets
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/670033387.html

So you're looking at saving $600 a month on rent, but thinking that with gas prices going up, a good percentage of that is going to disappear right into your tank. (The fireplace at the 136th place sounds nice though - wonder if they have many of those downtown?) The prospect of spending zero dollars and avoiding commuting to work except on foot sounds excellent.

So downtown it is. You calculate that it'll actually cost you, gas inclusive, about $1200 a month to live 136 blocks from the center of town, but in real terms, it's only about a hundred more to just live right there. Either way, you make about $15 an hour at your office job (whew! At least you're out of the restaurant grind!) and you, like half the renters in the county, are well accustomed to spending roughly 50% of your income on rent and expenses. It's tough but you can exist on $300 a week spending money no problem, right?

So good luck with the rental application, which we all know will specify that you won't get rented the place unless your income is at least 3 times the monthly rent. This means, since $15/hr=$2400/month, you don't stand a chance getting rented a $1300 apartment, and in fact you don't need to bother looking at places much more than $800 a month. Because landlords don't give a shit how much money a more expensive, closer-in apartment could save you in gas.

Comments

[Paul Riddell]

Actually, speaking from experience, it's harder to get landlord sympathy if you point out that you're able to walk to work. This is because the landlord's going to take a look at your income and your job situation and decide right then and there whether you're going to be employed a year from now. Yes, a car is expensive, but at least it means that you're able to travel to get to a new job if your groovy retail position implodes in six months. If the first thing out of your yap is "I'm getting rid of the car and commuting by foot," though, the landlord's not only going to figure that s/he's stuck with someone who's going to be severely limited in employment opportunities if that spot at Powell's doesn't work out, but that you don't have a car to sell to make the rent if things get bad.

This, incidentally, helps explain the number of monster SUVs that still crowd the streets in NW and SW: the people who can still afford one of these, and who don't give a shit what their hippie neighbors say, are probably making enough money that a missed rent payment is pretty unlikely. Even if they have obnoxious parties and sweep broken glass from those parties out into the street to hit passersby (as one former MBA neighbor on SW 16th was fond of doing), they're still more likely to make their rent on time than the "responsible" people extolling the savings of pedestrian travel. I hate to be cynical about it, but it's not like Portland landlords are known for their compassion or consideration, especially after cleaning out a few totally trashed apartments after their pedestrian tenants buggered out in the middle of the night.

[Jessy]

I don't understand why you're looking at a 2BR on the Park Blocks... And a place that's so swanky, on top of it.

That's not a fair comparison... Because that's not your only choice.

There are plenty of other options that are close-in enough to walk to downtown (or even take free MAX or bus from Lloyd Center area)... I've seen lots of 2BR places for less than $1,000.

Also, you suggest that it's a couple with a kid or two people needing an extra room. In that case, BOTH incomes would count towards the required minimum salary of 3x the rent... But you leave that portion out of the calculation. A single person may only need/want a 1BR, which would be a cheaper rental.

[random landlord]

Paul Riddell, I don't know about most landlords, but I've been trained to fear Fair Housing laws to the point that I would never consider weighing whether or not a person has a car or not. Although, to be honest, I think I may have a bias toward carless folks based on how many people in my buildings ride their bikes or take the bus to work. Your experience is just as valid though.
PG, it seems like you might have the resources or expertise for this: Shouldn't there be some sort of online "real rent" calculator that allows you to figure out exactly how expensive an apartment is based on not only the rent amount and utilities, but things like commuting costs (as you point out in this post), parking permits, distance to grocery stores, etc? That would be pretty sweet.

[PG]

Jessy, everything downtown is kind of swanky and two bedrooms are all pretty pricey. Granted, in SE and other hoods you can sometimes find 2BRs for the 800ish range I'm using as an example of far-east price ranges, but this is a hypothetical example to illustrate that the general difference between close and not-close (normally several bills) could very well be -- as I've seen pointed out -- the same as what commuting costs on what will soon be $5/gallon gas. Anyway the 800 figure is so out of here it isn't funny. People are asking in the 900s for ugly 70s 2BR apartments all over SE now. Compared to 975 for a 2BR in like Woodstock, 3 hundred more for downtown swank would be a no brainer. You'd just have to be earning a whole lot more to be able to rent it and save that gas money! Bogus!!

[Ian Marshall]

two have two problems with your post.
First is you were looking for a two bedroom for two people, then you said that the person wouldn't get approved for that apartment because they didn't make enough. you switched from two people in a two bedroom to one person in a two bedroom.
Second you don't need to live in the pearl to walk everywhere. I live on 22nd and sandy in a 2 bedroom with my wife for $1,000 per month. we own a car but only drive it to get out of town. Walk and bike everywhere. we pay way less in rent then our friends who live farther out pay for rent and car.

[PDX Dilettante]

We pay $700/mo to live in a 765 sf apartment located at 14th & Belmont. That is just about as "close-in SE" as you can get.

[Jessy]

I'm sympathetic to your desire to NOT live in an "ugly 70s 2BR." But I have a few friends who live in very nice 2BR places for $975. And they're not even in Woodstock. Both are in Irvington. Nicely maintained & spacious. With a short walk to the fareless zone of MAX/bus, which will take you right into downtown.

In any case, we all make choices. It costs more in transportation to live far away and drive a lot. It costs more in rent to live closer in. Those are choices we make. Most (not all) issues with "affording" things are simply a matter of priorities.

Plus, there are other benefits to being close enough to things to walk and/or bike. Benefits to the evironment AND your health... And how can you even quantify those benefits financially?

[PG]

Choices - you don't choose an apartment; you *apply* for an apartment, and then the landlord chooses you, or not. If you don't make enough to qualify (rent X 3) you are going to have to go where it's cheaper, which is generally further out.

Re asking prices vs people's anecdotes: My rent is also lower than anyone can find a vacancy in this location currently going for. I have a friend who pays 300 for a studio on lower Hawthorne too. This doesn't mean that there are $300 studios on Hawthorne avalable. There aren't, as anyone knows. The asking prices are jumping faster than perhaps some of us have noticed. A cheap deal here or there doesn't change that.

[Annie]

There's also a lifestyle consideration/cost to the city.
The cheaper your neighborhood, the cheaper the services. Around here in Kenton, it's a little rough in spots, but I can get an $8 hair cut, a $6 dress a Goodwill, and a $250 filling in my tooth and I'm ready for a night on the town! LOL
Honestly, I *like* living around other lower-income folks with similar tastes (as long as it's not TOO far out, ala Oregon City). Next week I'm going to pay the neighbor cash to fix my truck in his driveway.
When do-gooders come in here and try to "renew" it, they're probably gonna screw us all out of a good, cheap deal.

[TAPTS]

What about car payments and insurance? Say you make $15.00 an hour with student loans/credit running a $250/mo expense... and that's IT. Technically, this person would be able to afford a 1k two bedroom with a roommate. In contrast, the person who makes 75k with 150k in student loans, 25k in credit card debt and there crappy 40k Volvo car payments wouldn't even be questioned.

If only the Pearl had more urban grit to drive prices down.

[Ian]

You're doing a lot of research, investigating, etc.--or at least you seem to have plenty of "facts" at hand. So why not cool it with the hyperventilating rhetorical tone? If you're trying to point out the various emotional/intellectual hypocrisies/foibles/solipsisms of those who choose to rent at "gentrified" prices, or buy in "gentrifying" neighborhoods, you would do well to sound less emotional and solipsistic yourself. Instead, your tone is likely to appeal only to the converted choir (of white people who choose to. . . do what, live where they belong, in Beaverton, in order not to risk contributing to gentrification?), while putting off the goddamn morons who find a way to rent downtown or to cobble together the money to buy a house in St. Johns and fix it up (an inherent evil?).

Gentrification is a complicated issue, to be sure. But casting blanket aspersions on anyone who restores a formerly middle-class bungalow to something like its original condition sixty years after original middle-class residents were duped into "fleeing" to the suburbs by government policy and real estate industry that preyed on racial fears does little to untangle the complexities of the issue. Yelling doesn't make your point more true, and you're clearly intelligent enough to know that.

For myself, I work at a short-term shelter for teenagers involved in the DHS/JDH systems or who're recent runaways or considering running and trying to live on the street. I make $9.85/hr., 38hrs/week. My girlfriend works in a women's shelter, making $8.50/hr, 36 hrs/week. Neither of us owns a car, very much by choice--as much "urban" and "eco" as we just hate driving and the possibility of dying in a car at any given moment. And we live in what I consider to be a pretty damned amazing apartment, right in the middle of downtown, paying $895 for a 2-bedroom, inclusive of all utilities. Prior to that, I rented another apartment downtown with a friend in similar financial situations. I've looked at dozens of apartments downtown and a few just north of Burnside (though not in "The Pearl"). And while I have seen the "three times rent" stipulation, every apartment/company save one (KBC management) were perfectly willing/able to ignore that, when told we had no cars (hence expenses) and had good, steady rental history. I tell you this because I think it might simply be of interest to know that whatever you're railing against regarding unfair companies downtown might be a little more complex than you'd like to think.

I'm curious--do you have a manifesto? A plan for an alternative to gentrification? Have you ever lived in/visited places that have no "gentrification problem," but certainly have massive divestment from their city centers, no social service networks, and utter and total suburban sprawl? Do you prefer that alternative, because at least that way everyone is "where they belong"? How would you stem the rising costs of places to live on the inner east side? I'm no capitalism-apologist, and I'm from the deep South, not California, and yet I still find the relative cost of living in Portland to be incredibly reasonable compared to any other city offering similar cultural opportunities. Costs will rise in a city like Portland, when most cities have been systematically, physically degraded by the combination of suburban sprawl and anti-urban metro code and land-use law. I guess everybody would like Portland to stay as cheap as it was--but how do you propose that happen?