> Looking down on the people who don't want to continue living under a
>
>prick landlord for the rest of their lives and who enjoy decorating
>and gardening doesn't seem like a great way to build solidarity. The
>only real alternative for *most people* is to go back to a shitty
>apartment - for me that means pest infestations and regular A/C
>failures in the summer, half the space for almost as much money.
>Sounds great!
>
I don't look down. I just feel depressed. I have rented all my life and
have run into exactly one shitty landlord. "Shitty" meaning that she
didn't return my deposit.
>How long have you been in your rent-controlled apartment in the Bay
>Area? How long do you plan on staying there? Don't you decorate it?
>What makes it NOT a "mausoleum" then?
>
I've lived in Berkeley/Oakland since 1975. I've lived in my current apt
since 1989. I would be happy to live here till I die. My daughter wants
to continue living in it until she dies. This probably won't happen
cause it was build in 1929 and not very well maintained (infrastructurally).
Yes, I decorate it. But, since it's a rental, this is limited to painting and furnishing.
When I get together with people these days, conversation turns a lot on redecorating, real estate bargains, and remodelling. A good deal of identity creation has been transmogrified into house decoration. It's just a pity because there's more to us than that. It's also a pity because houses become beautiful places to hide from all the stuff that we no longer know how to do -- organize, make trouble, live with one another.
I'm glad that you are happy with your house and that it offers you a kind of haven. But surely, you must agree, that it is, relatively speaking, a modest dream.
Joanna