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I’m not alone in saying this. The rent is too damn high. One of the tradeoffs of living in a big city like Chicago with its wealth of opportunities, food options, and nightlife, is that you’re going to get crunched on your rent. This is especially true in Chicago as rates continue to rise due to surging property taxes and the forthcoming pension crisis. When you’re looking for a place, especially a one bedroom, you learn to live with the tradeoffs that come with a good location and non-backbreaking monthly payment that routinely eats into your twice a month paycheck. Things like apartment amenities are the first to go. Perhaps the biggest perk? It’s not a pool, concierge or even free coffee every morning. No no no. Having an in-unit washer and dryer is my pick – it’s life changing. Why? I’ll explain.
Recently I moved into a two bedroom apartment. While the monthly payment remains high and I have a roommate, I now get to enjoy the luxury of being able to do my laundry in the quiet respite of my own living space. Before, doing laundry was hell. It was a chore. Something you push off and dread, only for it to rear its ugly head in the shape of overflowing laundry bins and the lack of clean socks. At my old place, doing laundry consisted of schlepping my laundry bin from the top floor to the cold basement six floors below, where there were six old washer and dryer units. On any given day, it was guaranteed that at least two would be broken, take your pick. And if you lucked into one that wasn’t broken, there’s always the off chance that the washer wasn’t spinning correctly, leaving your shirts soaked and perma-wrinkled.
Even worse were the territory wars. You know what I’m talking about. Excitedly opening a seemingly free dryer to find the disheveled components of someone else’s laundry run is maddening. Going back down an hour later and finding the same situation is enough to make someone go insane, especially if it’s late on a Sunday night and you just want to dry your sheets to get to sleep. Side note – never do that. At some point, you just have to politely move the unattended clothes pile to the other side of the room. I think a two hour grace period is more than enough time. Laundry shouldn’t be stressful, but it always is when you’re dealing with limited space and forgetful fellow tenants.
And don’t even get me started on the laundry card. My old complex had a busted card reader that only took $5 bills, only part of the time. A total laundry run cost my $5.50, which is comical. So, every time I wanted to do a laundry run I had to break a $20 or get cash from a local ATM which is an added unnecessary step to a process that should require little effort, thought, or planning.
Now, none of that matters. I can use my stacked washer and dryer when I please. At night, when I WFH, on the weekend, it doesn’t matter. It’s given me a level of freedom I didn’t know I needed. I will never go back to sharing laundry units with other apartment tenants. I almost feel like a new person. Here’s hoping others in a similar situation find a similar happiness. Cheers!.
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@TaylorLaabs
@taylor1laabs
I’m moving next week and losing my in-unit W/D. Incredibly sad.
If you leave your laundry in the machine I’m moving it, either do your laundry or don’t. I can’t stand halfway laundry jobs.
It seems so easy too. Set a timer on your phone, get there on time, and you don’t have to worry about wrinkles. And other people don’t have to worry about you.
Most of the people who fail at it probably came from having in unit W/D, this whole paying to do laundry at a place or in a basement is foreign to me.
SO made a big point of wanting an in unit. Three years later im glad she did because she’s done 5 loads of laundry.
My three requirements before moving into my apartment with some friends from school a few months back were in-unit W/D, patio/balcony and AC. We compromised and have none of the above, and now have to pay $1.50 to wash and $1.25 to dry.
Should have fought harder on that one
Bro no AC and no outdoor space is brutal
1.50 to wash is nothing
I once caught a homeless guy taking my clothes out of the washing machine (yes washing machine, they were soaking wet. psycho move) and putting them in his backpack. Vowed to only live in apartments with w/d in the unit since then.
I would have put him in the washer. Probably needs to clean up before his funeral.
Just don’t be poor and you won’t have to worry about ever not having an in unit W/D.
Jokes aside, I refuse to ever live anywhere without in unit hookups. Also, blessed to own my W/D.
Having guests always threw off my towel rotation when living in a basement coin-op apartment setup.
This was a must-have even in my college houses/apartments. The only place I’ve lived without a washer/dryer was the dorms and I’m keeping it that way.
That’s my only requirement. Just need that in unit w/d!
My old apartment didn’t have laundry in the building at all…we had to go to the laundromat two blocks down the street and spend a few hours doing it there. It sucked so much. At my new place, the laundry is literally right next to my apartment. While I don’t have the luxury of having it in my apartment (and I can’t imagine how much such an apartment would cost out here), it’ll definitely be a massive upgrade.
It’s all fun and games until you move into a place with a W/D combo. 1 load = 5 hours of wait time. I still love it infinitely more than schlepping to my old place’s disgusting basement, but it took some getting used to.
I kept seeing this and was shook by it at first. Taxing but like you said, better than a basement or going somewhere else.
Trust me, the first time we saw the estimated time we did a double take…laundry is now usually done overnight.