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The Search
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Looking for an apartment was a new experience after having spent our entire married life of over five years in one house. The cyclical nature of the Tri-Cities economy spawned a large number of complexes in the '70's and again in the past couple of years, but not much in between. There are thus noticeable price level strata based on the age more than the location (although Pasco in general is cheaper than Richland or Kennewick). In the spring, an ancient (for this area) 2 bedroom could be found for $400, one from the '50's under $500, one from the '70's under $600, and a newer one for over $700. When Gilbert first arrived, he contracted for an "executive suite" at the Village at Grandridge in Kennewick. This was a furnished one-bedroom apartment with laundry and cleaning service once a week.
There are not many complexes with three-bedroom units, which is what Gilbert originally was looking for. He narrowed the choices to a couple in Richland and 2-3 in Kennewick for when Winnie and Josiah took a February visit (via Amtrak to Portland). La Verde had a small number of 3 bedroom flats (no upstairs or downstairs neighbors) for $650 and Richland Manorhouse charged $585 for one in a three-story building close to shopping. Lakeside in Kennewick charged $650 for one near an Albertsons and moderate walking distance from Waremart, the most popular (and cheap) grocery store in the Tri-cities. These were all from '60's-'70's vintage. The newer units in Kennewick, On the Boulevard (which we called "OB") and Crosspointe, were in the mid $800s and we compared the large 2-bedroom units at about $705. Winnie wanted to get a ground-floor unit for stroller setup, which was a mark against Manorhouse, and La Verde was over a mile to the nearest shopping. The final contestants were downstairs 2 bedroom at OB ($705 including inside washer/dryer), 3 bedroom flat at La Verde ($650, w/d hookup only), and 2 bedroom at Village at Grandridge ($595-650, laundry rooms). Gilbert had decided that since we were looking at two bedroom apartments after all, that we should consider this one because of its superior amenities (best exercise room, plus tennis courts and racquetball courts) and location (adjacent to a shopping center with grocery store, walking distance to mall and other stores, bus access to library and other places in Kennewick and Richland). However, he was told there were no vacancies coming available for the target date of April 1 and that in fact several had just been taken before he asked. With only a week to decide between the available unit at OB and the one that would be ready at La Verde the first week of April, Gilbert got a message saying one ground floor 2 bedroom was available at the Village beginning April 1. This was an answer to prayer and had the bonus of new carpet, good parking and moderate facilites access and no upstairs neighbor (one of the few with this layout). On the 30th and 31st of March, Gilbert moved all his belongings a few hundred feet with a hand truck, leaving the windows open all day to air out the new-carpet smell while he stayed in the one-bedroom. There was a week of sleeping on the floor before heading back to the Bay Area to finish packing for the moving trip (see "Moving Notes"). Shopping
The western part of Kennewick around Columbia Center Blvd. is one of the retail hubs of the Tri-cities and surrounding regions. There is "the mall" (officially Columbia Center Mall") and a few big-box retailers such as Costco (which is building a new location west of the mall to replace the current one a bit to the south), Target, and K-Mart. Wal-Mart is about a mile east and another similar store, ShopKo, is just next to Costco. There are four large variety stores plus RiteAid in a one-mile radius of the mall and its four department stores. There are both OfficeMax and Office Depot, so naturally Staples is opening nearby, and Home Depot opened during the summer to compete with Eagle Hardware.
| Location, walking,amenities
The Village at Grandridge apartments are a bit south and uphill from a commercial district and on the eastern edge of a residential area, so there are places to walk for shopping and quieter areas for strolling or cycling. It is also a long block away from a railroad line (mostly blocked by Crosspointe Apartments). On a few occasions we have heard the train horn while inside and hurried out with Josiah to see the tail end before the gates go back up on Columbia Center Blvd.
The racquetball and tennis courts are not frequently used (sometimes Gilbert goes into the racquetball court to hit tennis balls or shoot baskets). There are two pools, the main one being quite large for an apartment complex, a jacuzzi and a well-equipped exercise room. There is not a children's playground nor one nearby, but we discovered Josiah prefers playing in the sand to climbing on structures when we take him to one.
| One new experience for both Winnie and Gilbert is having to go to the laundry room. Fortunately, there are adequate numbers of them and washer and dryer are only .50 each per load. Winnie has found that it does allow some social interaction with neighbors. There are several families with small children but we have not gotten to know them or try to have Josiah play with them. Cats
Like several other complexes, the Village allows pets but with a stiff deposit. There are a few dogs, mostly small, but numerous cats. Gilbert often saw a striped one sitting on the patio of the one-bedroom apartment and once commented on seeing four from the parking lot to the front door. After we moved to the two bedroom and the weather got warmer, the cats seemed to increase in number. Some would stop coming by, presumably because they had moved, but there were usually about three to five outdoor ones that could at different times be seen from the kitchen window.
| The prince of our area between K and N buildings is a stray black and white cat known to us as "The Black and White Cat" (or "BWC"). It is a slow-moving middle-aged cat colored like a miniature dairy cow, and is often seen basking on the grass or on different people's welcome mats. Our upstairs neighbor Ann said he used to get food from the previous residents of our apt. and therefore likes to snoop around the front. But he still comes by even though we never feed him, and he gets food from other spots including Ann herself. There is an upstairs neighbor across the way who is a cat feeder so we sometimes see cats walking up their steps from our eating area window. One time we came back from a trip of several hours to find BWC relaxing under the coffee table in our living room. We surmise that the door was ajar between the time Gilbert and Josiah went out the door and when Winnie followed and locked it. However, BWC has not had the area to himself. A month or two after we moved in a long-haired black cat also did, trying to claim the patio of the apartment across from us. Another time we saw him dash up the steps and arch himself on the railing after being pursued by a large black dog. However, the dog was never again off his leash and BWC has allied himself with another black cat with white paws who has stared down the black cat. Josiah is usually pleased to see BWC and will stop playing to come to the kitchen and look out the window. So far we have resisted the temptation to say "black and white cat" when we want him to come over. Any other cat announcement will not even make him raise his head. However, BWC is not his official favorite cat. There is a long-haired old gray and white cat in the apartment behind ours that we call "The Shag Cat". Josiah announced one time that "The Shag cat is my favorite" and corrected us when we suggested that BWC was his favorite cat. He says his dog puppet Davey likes BWC the best. He has waved Davey at BWC and said (in a low doggish voice) "Meow", then reported "Davey says 'Meow'". This is not to say that Josiah has a weakness for cats. Because he has a sandbox in our patio, we have told him not to encourage cats who look in the glass door. Once he was in the sandbox and the black cat with white paws was snooping around. Josiah stood up and said "go, cat" and waved it away. Several times he has slammed the front door on BWC when it seems interested in making another visit. This, in spite of his proclamation that "The black and white cat is friendly. I think the black cat is not friendly." Now that we are moving, it might be appropriate to paraphrase Elton John: So Goodbye Black and White Cat Let the dog of Josiah C. meow You can't trap me in your pet house I'm going back for my chow. |