communal living

My current residence is in Brooklyn and it is a little bit like a half-way house for females in their 20s and early 30s who are about to take big step forward in life, whether that means moving out of the country, moving in with boyfriends, or going back to school. Maybe we are displaying latent Gen X/Y/Grup tendencies by perpetuating the semblance of a youthful, unfettered, college-style lifestyle. Or perhaps we are just poor. In any event, in New York, you do what you can to get by.

It is a 3-bedroom apt that is lovely but has had an incredibly high RTR, or Roomie Turnover Rate, as well as a perpetual stream of visitors, lending it a communal kind of feel over the past year or so. At this point, 2 of us are at the "big step" moving out point, including myself. That means that we need to find 2 new roomies who can replace us and also live peacefully with my pretty peaceful sister, who has just moved in.

Craig's List is a wonderful thing. The power of it is also a bit terrifying. We posted a listing for our 2 soon-to-be available bedrooms at approximately 10:54pm this past Wednesday. By 9:05am the next morning, we already had 30 responses and the list just kept growing as the day passed.

In weeding through all of the email responses, I felt a little bit like an online speed dater trying to find the perfect match in the minimal amount of time based on a very superficial body of personal information. In selecting candidates to invite to the (semi-)open house that we held at the apt this weekend, I felt that I had graduated to the role of producer in my very own reality TV show. What kind of dynamic was I looking for...hmmmmm...should they be male or female? Gay or straight? No need for drama queens, but a bit of personality would be great....likes to have a glass of wine at home and relax, check. Architect? Nahhh...too many designers in one house can't be a good thing. Make up artist for Helen Hunt? Cut, too unreliable. Gay guy who managages an excellent west village coffee shop? Sign him up!

So we had the open house this past Sunday; it was a bit surreal. To use another hackneyed analogy, it was a little like a Survivor-style group job interview. Everyone who liked the apt was trying to out-charm, out-talk and out-last everyone else. In the end, the mental checklist for picking a roomate isn't too much different from one a potential employer might use: are they nice? Pleasant to be around? Reliable and trustworthy? Can I imagine seeing their faces every day for at least a year? Communal living does require working relationships afterall.