otherpress Room 1020 — 700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 TELEPHONE: 604.525.3542 WEBSITE: theotherpress.ca EMAIL: editor@theotherpress.ca STAFF LIST Eric Wilkins Editor-in-Chief Meditor@theotherpress.ca Lauren Kelly Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca Angela Ho Business Manager Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager Mike LeMieux Layout Manager Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Cara Seccafien Production Assistant Ed Appleby Ilustrator Jony Roy Social Media Coordinator Mercedes Deutscher News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca Cheryl Minns Arts Editor M arts@theotherpress.ca Chitwan Khosla Features Editor Mfeatures@theotherpress.ca Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor Milifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Elliot Chan Opinions Editor Mopinions@theotherpress.ca Chandler Walter Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Staff Writers Adam Tatelman Alex Stanton Cazzy Lewchuk Senior Columnists Lauren Paulsen Sarah Walker Columnists Davie Wong Lettitor Making apartment hunting suck more Aven hunting is awful— not that the sentiment is in any way shocking to anyone who has ever had to undergo the arduous process. The phone calls, the listings, the disappointment, and none of the good cheer envisioned by our childhood selves. I had always imagined myself moving out with my brother into a bright red house. Well, Grade 1 me, that is. We’d have a bunk bed and watch TV while eating junk food all day long. Having to actually find the place never crossed my mind. Other hopefuls never occurred to me. The price was even further still from my mind. Oh, to be young. Now a wizened and all- knowing 22-year-old, I’ve seen the folly of my previous thinking. Putting aside the fact that neither my brother nor myself could possibly put up with the arrangement now, pint-sized me was short-sighted on a number of issues, issues that have since been exacerbated. Though I’ve since moved © Get foknowus! © The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. © The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member ofthe Canadian University Press (CUP), a syndicate of student newspapers that includes : from the dreary doldrums of : Delta and am now a happy : resident of the ever-growing- : hipper East Van community, I : couldn’t help but have a peek : for what else was around the : other day. And so, I hopped : onto the Internet and headed to : Padmapper’s site. The name Padmapper is : easily recognizable to those : who’ve flown, or tried to fly, the : coop. With the tagline “Making : apartment hunting suck less,” : Padmapper has traditionally : been something of a godsend : to the rental market. For : the uninformed, the website : essentially takes listings from : various sites and places them all : on one map. The listings can be : sorted by price, location, number : : of bedrooms, etc. Already-viewed : : entries are shaded, making : spotting the new ones rather : easy. Upon first revisiting the : site, I thought it looked a bit : sparse. Dismissing this initial : observation as my not being : zoomed in enough to a specific : area, I proceeded to input my : search parameters before zeroing : in. I found nothing. Zilch. It turns out that Padmapper : and Craigslist finally brought : their three-year lawsuit to a : conclusion at the end of June, : with part of the settlement being : that Padmapper would no longer : post Craiglist listings. Having breathed a sigh : of relief that this news won't : affect me in the short-term, empathy for the less fortunate : quickly set in. Vancouver is hard : enough to find a place to live : without one of the major tools : severely handcuffed. Granted : I was dead-set on where | : wanted to be, | looked for over : a year before managing to land : a place—hilariously through > none of the sites I had used, but rather through a friend. I'd only : actually seen maybe a handful : of apartments, with the majority : resulting in one-way emails. : My true discouraging moment : came when the owner of a place : that was over my budget, not in : my desired area, and not that : attractive, sent out an en masse : response that over a hundred g ° ° 4 ov + a ° Q v 4 Co 3° 9 = = oO Ss = = = Cy “4 > vo Da g a : people had contacted her about : the listing and that if she hadn’t : already replied to you personally, : she wasn't going to. With Vancouver ranked : by the Mercer 2015 Cost of : Living survey as the most : expensive Canadian city to live : in, it really makes you wonder : if our gorgeous backdrop is all : worth it. For anyone who used : to flip through those old Lego : magazines, a budget-friendly : apartment has become that little : “hard-to-find” graphic with the : magnifying glass. It’s not impossible to find a : place though. Keep an ear out for : friends who are moving or know : people who are moving. Take : strolls through your hopeful : future neighbourhood, watching : out for apartment signs with : listed vacancies. And, of course, : search the web. Pound the : pavement and pound the web for : all you're worth. Danke danke, Editor-in-Chief @ theotherpress.ca | +f facebook.com/DouglasOtherPress papers from all across Canada | twitter.com/theotherpress You Tube : instagram.com/theotherpress © The Other Pressreservestheright to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material @p youtube.com/user/theotherpress that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners.