Welcome to It Happened One Weekend, our weekly roundup of The New York Times real estate section...
Every "The Hunt" column begins with the Hunters describing the apartment they want, and ends with them rationalizing whatever they came away with. This is The Hunt: Dreams vs. Reality
The Hunter: an older woman looking to rent
Price
Dream: $3,000/month
Reality: $3,100/month
Neighborhood
Dream: Upper West Side
Reality: Upper West Side
Amenities
Dream: 1BR, quiet, sunny
Reality: 1BR, gym, Hudson River views
Summary
This weekend's Hunter is a recently widowed older woman from New Jersey, looking to rent. Her budget was around $3,000, and she was specifically looking for a sunny one-bedroom on a quiet street. That, coupled with the location of her boyfriend's apartment, led her to search on the Upper West Side. She looked at a bunch of apartments all over the neighborhood, eventually finding a nice one-bedroom with views of the Hudson in the West 90s. The building also has a gym. She negotiated her rent to $3,100/month and drives back to New Jersey every once in a while, where she runs a business as the distributor of "Sock Locks," which are "small plastic clips that tether socks together in the laundry to keep them paired and unlost." Incidentally, this is a brilliant idea and you are now kicking yourself for not coming up with it. [The Hunt/The Upper West Side for a Lifestyle Change; photo via several seconds/Curbed Photo Pool]