Just enough for the city

I advertized a room for rent on roommates.com. I expected a flood of interest, because I was only asking $300/mo all inclusive, no deposit, month-to-month. I posted some pics. I got many e-mails, but only a couple of people actually came out to see it.

(For those of you not in LA, just know that $300 all included is a tiny amount of money for a room in a house, even for a room as small as this.)

I don't need the money. I actually thought of it as my favor to the world, an opportunity for others.

I just got a call from the last candidate, from an Aussie backpacker. He comments echoed many of the e-mails I'd received: the neighborhood is too rough.

C'mon people. Aussie backpackers are the cockroaches of the world. I had Aussie backpacker neighbors when Richard and I lived in Catford, the armpit of London. To be rejected by an Aussie backpacker is harsh.

I guess I see the upward trend: houses being fixed up, new young families moving in, Saturdays where everyone drives back and forth to Home Depot.

All my neighbors have been great: friendly, talkative, community minded, unified.

But I understand. I was a renter once: I had the opportunity to live in a fancy neighborhood free from bars and graffiti and them pesky negros. I had the opportunity be near the hotspots. But now I'm a homeowner. To make that happen, I made some strategic choices.

I'm just surprised that there are so few people that understand my choices.