Sharing In Jersey City, With A Door For Privacy

Welcome to It Happened One Weekend, our weekly roundup of The New York Times real estate section...

The Hunt: 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 immigrant from a Russian republic who got a job at a bank in Jersey City.
Price
Dream: $1,000 a month
Reality: $1,050 a month
Neighborhood
Dream: Somewhere near the PATH or light rail
Reality: Newport, Jersey City
Amenities
Dream: A roommate situation
Reality: Bedroom of a shared one-bedroom apartment

Summary
Nastasya, from the Russian republic of Kalmykia, first visited the United States when she was a 15-year-old exchange student living in Tulsa. She liked America so much she came back and studied at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morris Township, N.J. With her degree in business, she started job hunting, but lived temporarily with an uncle in Virginia, eventually finding a job as a bank assistant in Jersey City. She knew she'd have to live with roommates, which was fine as long as she had her own room with a door and was near public transportation. She looked in Union City, but it was too far. She found someone else looking for a roommate situation, where she would have paid $1,250. But she went with something she'd already seen, getting the bedroom of a one-bedroom where two sisters shared the shoji screen-divided living room. She has everything she needs, plus a "million-dollar view" from the roof to show her guests. [The Hunt/In Jersey City, a Room of Her Own]