Bellagio Blues

Looks nice, yes, but come on in and look a little closer...

A couple of years ago when I moved into my little apartment here at the complex called Bellagio, I thought I'd gotten quite the deal. Rent was well below average for comparatively good quality. Or so I thought.

Slowly but surely though, I've become more and more aware of the reasons why the rent is such a deal.

1. The neighborhood has a high minority, high transient rate, high crime rate and a high low-wage earner/no wage earner population. Here's how that breaks down:

• Minorities: Of course it would be racist to suggest that a place is inherently bad if it has a high ratio of non-whites to whites, and I don't at all intend to say that. But the fact of the matter is, I have the feeling, when assessing the attitudes and behaviors of many of my neighbors, that many minority affiliated groups regard the apartment complex, the neighborhood and perhaps Florida as a whole as an foreign land to which they feel no pride or allegiance. This is evidenced by the poor conditions of individual apartments, the common areas and the general regard for their fellow residents. It creates an atmosphere of "terrible despite".
• Transiency: Since many residents are from other countries, or, for other reasons have weak ties to the area, they tend not to stay around. Economics come heavily into factor here as well. I think many end up defaulting on their lease and since the credit/background checks here are very lax, they may play a game where by they basically squat in an apartment, not paying any rent, until they are evicted, then they move to a similar apartment complex and repeat the process. I know it can be done.
• Crime Rate: This area of Orlando has the second highest crime rate in the city. Luckily, I've not been a victim, but in places like this, it almost becomes a waiting game. Stick around long enough and statistics catch up to you.
• Low-wage/No-wage: It appears that most residents that I see that do maintain a regular schedule of coming and going seem to be dressed in minimum wage job uniforms, either take the bus or drive old, dilapidated cars and, from the lack of visible wall hangings and/or furnishings, have few possessions of any value. Also, there are a lot, and I mean a vast majority of the residents that have no visible means of support. They are in their apartments virtually all the time and don't appear to need to leave for work.

2. The complex is old by Orlando standards, built in the '70s, I'd say. It was also built cheaply. This means that all manner of maintenance issues are everyday situations here. Broken plumbing, bad electrical wiring, ancient A/C systems, thin walls, inter-apartment ducts, dated appliances and fixtures and a long history of bug issues.

3. The management is incompetent and maintenance a joke. Just read my posts regarding some of my personal experiences in the past two years.

So with all this, you may ask, why do I stay here? Why did I renew my lease last August up to the end of 2013? Simple. It's cheap. And so am I. Yes, I love a well-maintained home and I love to feel I live in a comfortable, safe and convenient place. Who doesn't? But ultimately I want to be able to purchase my own home so that I might be able to have more of an ability to maintain those standards. And that takes money.

Since I don't make a lot of money and I'm unwilling to do what's necessary to do so, I have to depend on time as my ally. I can hold up here, in my sub-par dwelling until I have saved enough to effectively "escape".

Until then, I guess I just have to grin and bear it. My IKEA-ish furnishings and fag-ulous decor as well as my stalwart vigilance against the never-ending onslaught of infrastructural decay and noisy, inconsiderate and alien neighbors will get me through this.

I just gotta get out my ol' harmonica and play me some Bellagio blues.