Saying Goodbye to My Carfree Lifestyle

Until R got transfered to their other office down in Silicon Valley, we both worked in the Financial District, a short 12mins bus ride away. For two months, he tried this public transportation thing. His commute consisted of a 45 mins bus ride, a 40 mins train ride, and a 15 mins bus ride: 1.5 hrs/each way. The commute drove him nuts and his whining drove me nuts. So we bought a car. I was so sad to say goodbye to my car-free lifestyle.

Since renting a private parking spot costs $300/month, we opted for street parking. You'll understand that it is not an easy task to find parking on the streets of San Francisco especially on the weekend. The ideal parking spot is precious. Friday afternoon, we totally scored. We found a perfect parking spot right in front our building. Great success!

We haven't used the car since then. We even walked back from the the grocery store with a million bags. No way in hell we were going to give up this sweet parking spot!

It's the Little Differences: Laundry & Parking

In a city where the average square foot is $27.17 to rent (that’s $2,265/monthly for a two bedroom apartment) or $620 to buy (that’s $620,000 for the same two bedroom apartment), having space for your own washer/dryer is a luxury.

The pain of not having our own washer/dryer is compensated by the fact that Missing Sock Laundry is so conveniently located next to Bacchus, a trendy wine bar.

Here's a trivia question. How much do you think a parking spot costs in San Francisco? Here's a clue, it's about $27,000 downtown Ottawa.

... $100,000!