My first place was part of a tri-plex on Taylor and Spring St in NE Minneapolis. It had 4BRs and I shared it with three of my fraternity brothers. Rent was $1060 per month. This was 1996-1997, my last year of college. I was lucky to have a good engineering internship for most of that period that paid $14.50 per hour and I worked about 25 hours per week. So rent was about 25% of what I took home.
My second place was a 2BR apartment on Larpenteur Ave and Cumberland St. in St. Paul that I shared with one of the guys from the first place. Rent there was $600 per month. This was 1997-1998. During that period, I worked for a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, making $12 per hour but working 35-40 hours per week. So rent was again about 25% of what I took home. Now I live alone in a pretty cool old house in Windom Park that was built in 1906. Mortgage is $100K - monthly payment, including insurance and taxes is $820 per month (I pay a bit more per month since my other expenses are pretty low). I work for the State as a chemist and take-home pay now is $2200 per month, so I'm up to 37%, but now I'm stuck with a grumpy old cat that probably would start plotting my demise if I tried to move him someplace else. My old roommate lives a few blocks from me with his wife (no kids). They're renting a duplex unit and paying around $1000 a month, I think. My sister and her family rent a duplex unit a couple blocks from me in Audubon Park. They have a 5-year old boy, so it's a 2BR place. Rent there I think is $1100. I feel pretty damn lucky. Mark Snyder Windom Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
