a-hunting we went ...

Foster City is a little weird, and I say that knowing that I'm the weird one, not it. See, Foster City has a clean, almost "Truman Show"-esque quality to it. Don't get me wrong; this is great and means that it's really nice and clean and pretty and well groomed and etc.

However, it also made the paranoid nerd in me feel like there's gotta' be something wrong with it. Strangely I find it very difficult to accept that it's a nice and normal place with beautiful landscaping and efficient urban planning. I'd apparently rather feel like there are zombies being kept in the Library or the Jewish Community Center at night and that strange experiments are being done to the residents in deep underground bunkers. In the afternoon as we were driving around, I saw some little girl lumbering strangely on her lawn with her head cocked oddly to one side and decided that it proved my zombie theory.

So, my own ridiculous fears aside, Foster City is cool. The apartments are all nice and I feel like I could live in each of the ones we looked at for at least some amount of time without being frustrated. None of them were so awesome as to make me want to move in and never leave. Parking is a problem at some. Management is a problem at others. Noise is a problem at some others. Etc. But of each of the final 5 we were left with by the end of the day, I can't really pick a favorite. Depending on my mood, it seems to change.

Foster's Landing comes highly recommended from apartmentratings.com as well as some random person we stopped in the parking lot. It's beautiful with an enormous kitchen, a washer and dryer in the unit, and a nice open den. But, it's expensive and there seem like there are a lot of bugs around there.

Lakeshore Landing got me really excited about it and I really liked a lot about it. But, it also has a really small living room and a potential noise problem. Plus, it's a little pricier than we wanted to spend, and yet if you're going to pay that price you might as well just pay a bit more and live at Foster's Landing.

Ryan Towers is a great little unit. Hardwood floors, a one bedroom with a living room and a separate den for $1400. But, it's on the 11th floor of a huge concrete monster and had some kind of tankless prison toilet and what I can only assume was the previous tennant's buttload of grunge in the bathroom.

Sand Cove is nice but not fantastic. It's a little pricey, but it's roomy. It's a little dark, but it's on the water. It's really bad for parking and might have a noise problem, but you can paint one of the walls with an "accent color." Plus, they aparently segregate the pet owning residents from those without onto two different sides of the street. ??

Harbor Cove has a fantastic view but it looks like the place is ready to fall apart.

So, there are issues with everything. It was a great start and I know that we're both feeling like Foster City is the right place for us.

Provided I don't get mauled by any of the Penninsula Jewish Community Center zombies.