Opinion: In renter’s remorse, suffering builds character

Living in a crappy apartment builds character. The first apartment is a pivotal moment in a college student’s life, a definitive book end to living with your parents and a start to your life alone. For me, a one-bedroom apartment is the dream, unfortunately they’ve also never been more expensive. Apartments in my price range also happen to be apartments in a state of decline or disrepair. So, the ideal spot is a place just bad enough to be cheap, while being just barely good enough not to kill you.

According to a 2024 report from Statistics Canada, one-bedroom units in Ottawa apartment buildings average a rent of $1,533 a month. With prices high and rising higher, the apartments at the cheaper end are there for a reason.

Places that might otherwise require repairs are allowed to skate by because they’re cheaper. Bowed floors, bad location, faulty appliances, missing appliances all contribute to a more affordable location. If you’re smart, the money you save living at this place can be used a few years on for a place a little above your means. Like many things, it’s a choice between expense and convenience.

Moving away from home is always going to be a rough adjustment, even if it’s something you’ve been dreaming about. You’re away from your parents, for better or worse, and you’re thrust into parts of the world they might’ve hidden from you. For the particularly unlucky, this might be the first time you wash your own laundry or cook your own food.

But there is a brighter side. Yes, you’re washing dishes by hand, you hear your neighbours stumble home at three in the morning and the laundry takes a combination of quarters, loonies and toonies devised by a mad man. But if you can endure this, if you can balance your current living arrangements and school or a job, probably both, there’s not much you can’t do. Every new place will be compared to the bottom end of the scale. The first time you get somewhere with laundry in the unit makes you feel like a king. Your first place next to the train station opens the world up to so many more “screw it, why not?” decisions. Starting yourself near the bottom gives you no option but to climb and enjoy the view.

You might be surprised by the amenities a crappy apartment does have, past the state of disrepair. A passable location and a balcony in exchange for a broken washing machine and paper thin walls might be worth it for you. Finding and living in your crappy apartment is an exercise in compromise and good practice for later in life.

There is, it should be said, a fine line between crappy and a clear threat to your health. The best shabby apartment is one that offers little convenience for less money, not one that will kill you and charge rent while it’s doing it.

A crappy apartment now sets you up for a good one in the future. Your expectations are lowered, your savings account gets a chance to grow and you learn how to cope without the amenities, appliances and services you’re used to. Crappy situations, where struggle is required to pass, let alone succeed, build character. When it’s finally time, open your creaky door, go down the death-trap elevator or creaky stairway and step into your future stronger and better prepared for what living on your own really means.