apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think I read somewhere that 20 percent of people living in the United States moves within a given year.

As for me I last moved in 1978. My next move will be feet first.

I've moved to wherever the cheap rents were. My rents keep hiku=ing by $200 or more per month so I move along. The longest I've ever been in an apartment since high school was 5 years and I only moved because they were turning the building into condos and were selling my place for $800,000--a ridiculous price considering rent ($2400) vs. mortgage ($5500, maybe?).

At thirty I am living in my 41st home. I have also lived in 7 countries. And no one in my family was in the military. My grandparents were British Diplomats so my father lived in over 20 countries. By now I just say that it is genetic wanderlust. I was born in South Africa, grew up in Europe, Canada and the States.

I moved when I went to grad school. I moved when I lived with a boyfriend. I moved again when I bought a house with the boyfriend. Then I moved countries when I broke up with the boyfriend. Then I moved to NYC and decided the best way to figure out where to live in Manhattan was to sublease - so I moved 6 times in 3 years. Now I moved again this year when I got married.

When I arrived in the US - it was 2 suitcases and a cat. Now I'm a leather sofa, 2 dogs and a cello.

After High School, my parents left the country - so I had to move from California to Virginia. After a couple of local moves, I joined the military and moved nearly a dozen more times (anywhere from down the hall to a different dorm room to around the world to a base in Japan) After returning to the US, I moved from Maryland to California - and eventualy settled in the apartment I have occupied for the past 14 years.

Unless I end up leaving the state/country for work or can afford to build my own place in Palm Springs - I have no intention of moving again.

I've lived in New York for about a little over a year and a quarter and have lived in three different apartments. I signed the sublease on my first apartment (an tiny 8 month share) with just two days left before I had to leave Boston.

After that sublease was up, I moved again to a month-to-month apartment share which was nice, but in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood. Since I had the convenience of an open-ended lease, I decided I wouldn't move again until I could find the apartment, so I surfed Craigslist obsessively and 7 months later, the perfect place turned up. I negotiated the rent down, managed to find someone to move into my room, and am now happily settling into my very own apartment (first non-share!) It feels good not to be a nomad anymore.

This might be hard for some AT readers (or staffers) to parse, but the major reason why almost everyone I know -- including myself -- has moved so often over the last fifteen years is because of economics. In NYC, low income and moderate income -- and lately, even "middle class" -- people can't keep up with the ridiculously high costs of rent in rapidly gentrifying cities. Not only Manhattan, but areas of Brooklyn that were always affordable have been increasingly expensive, to the point of prohibitively expensive.

My mom still lives in the same rent controlled apartment in the same building in the same lower-income Brooklyn neighborhood where I grew up. That's because she has one of the only rent-stabilized apartments left in this city. Thanks to Rudy Giuliani, who was in the back pockets of the real estate industry, NYC lost most of the rent control and rent stabilization protections that made it possible for middle class people to live in NYC (all the boroughs) for decades. Now, after Rudy's reduction in those protections, my senior citizen, fixed-income mother's apartment is still stabilized at around $600/month but the majority of apartments in her building now rent for about $3,000 per month. Same size, same space, same location -- but outrageously expensive. That's the same pattern that has gone on all over this city.

I work for a non-profit and because I do advocacy work, my income is very modest. I am in my 30s. Almost everyone I know in my field -- people who ten and fifteen years ago were able to live in decent-sized Brookly and Queens apartments alone or with just their immediate families -- now have to live in tiny apartments, in sketchier neighborhoods, and usually with roommmates. Married couples have to have roommates. More and more people are paying 1/2 to 3/4 of their income just on rent.

Sure, some people move because of "entrepreneurship," but a whole hell of a lot of us -- myself included -- move because of a corrupt system of gentrification that pushes moderate income residents out of communities, pushes small businesses out of neighborhoods, and contributes to the vanishing middle class.

Personally, I have had to move six times since 1996, and each time I move, I end up in a smaller apartment in a less-safe area, for higher rent. I am about to have to move yet again because I've just learned that my current landlord plans to raise my rent by several hundred dollars per month *again* (after a *huge* increase just a year ago). That will make seven moves in twelve years. For a full-time employed single person with no children. Pre-Giuliani, I wouldn't have had to do all that.

OK, rant ending...now.

I grew up in the same house for 17 years. In my 20's I estimate I moved every 8 months, including many overseas and cross country jaunts. These days I've been at the same house for 7 years - 3 as a renter, 4 as an owner since I bought from my landlords. Best decision I ever made. Sure my "rent" went up when I bought the house, but the worth of the house has doubled since I bought it and I never have to worry about the "rent" going up or dealing with a bad landlord.

Now when I get wanderlust and want a change, I just rent it out.

"We" were helping "our" boyfriend move? Just how many girlfriends does this stud have?

since 1990, when i moved to nyc, i have lived in 9 different apartments. in the last 5 years, i have moved 3 times. i'm through with moving for a while. i just signed a two-year lease.

Ok lets see. I moved to college (1) and stayed in the dorms. I got sick of the dorms and moved into an apartment in Boston (2). Then I got sick of Boston and moved across the country to LA and I stayed in a short-term apartment complex (3), then I moved into a real apartment in West LA (4) and then they jacked up the rent to get people out so they could turn the building into townhouses and so I moved to North Hollywood (5). And then my roommate and I decided we wanted a change of scenery and to be on our own so I moved into a studio in Silverlake (6), which is where I am now.

And that's from... 2001-2008... damn, that's a lot.

I've lived in the same 325-square-foot studio for 10 years now. I'd love to move into an apartment with a bedroom, but as a single adult who earns $50,000 a year working full time for one of the nation's top medical schools, I can't afford to rent one here in San Francisco.

@griffin - THANK YOU! I already dislike the way the plural first person is constantly used on this site and then when it pops up on something like this it really makes my head nearly explode. What is so wrong with "I helped my boyfriend move"? We promise, we won't feel left out!

I've lived in my current apartment for over 3 years - a record. My last apartment was just under 3 years and I broke the lease to leave the area. Before that, I moved 8 times in 10 years (post-college), only once to move across the same town. I hate moving, so I'm glad I found an apartment I really like on the first try this last time.. like enough that I'm reasonably fearful of finding anything I'd like as much or the convenient location for the same price. Moving to a lot better place for the same reasonable rent I can afford, it has to be quite a lot better. Moving is suffering I don't do unless by some force of hatred or desire.

Lets see..

Since high school - I moved into the dorm in college then I had two apartments until I graduated. I moved to Atlanta, had a break in and moved again. Then I moved across the country to LA and lived with a Craigslist roommate for 6 months. I then had a tiny studio, moved to another tiny studio then another tiny studio and now I live with my boyfriend in a small two bedroom.

So.. that makes 9 moves since high school (not including the move from high school to the dorm in college) and 5 apartments in less than 3 years.

after college, i moved from FL to LA and during the 7 year period, i have moved 5 times. with LA rent, you kind of settle on the best you can find for the lowest amount of money until you just can't take it anymore: insane childhood friend you thought you could live with--> horrendous parking for your $600 studio in Koreatown--> girlfriend you moved in thinking it would improve the relationship--> Buddhist landlords who are against any form of pest control (my favorite was their "termite broom" during swarms)--> only 3 months into my current lease and already fantasizing about greener pastures (though my biggest issue-- a sketch neighbor-- was just removed by cops for felony drug charges, so maybe, just maybe, i'll continue my lease here.

I graduated in 2003. After that, I (1) moved back in with my parents for grad school. Then (2) I got married and moved across town. Then my husband decided to go to school and (3) we moved out of state. 3 moves in 5 years, is that a lot? I dunno.

I've moved 11 times since 1991. Three states and two boyfriends. The longest place was 6 years in my 1 BR apt in Washington Heights, but I managed to get a rent stabilized studio in Chelsea which was totally worth the move. But I doubt I'll make it two year in this place due to family/relationship issues. The next move will be to my bf's parents rent-control apt, or a house in TN.

My family moved several times growing up, and I had a decade long stint of moving at least once a year back when I was in college and grad school, but I've been in the same place for nine years - the longest in my life. But currently looking to buy something (next month?!) and hopefully never move again!

33 years old and am living in my 32nd or 35th place...

Moving across the country in three weeks (for the third time in 4 years) which will make move #19 in the last 10 years (and I'm only 27). I'm starting to think about becoming a relocation specialist!

lets see i just turned 25 and in the past 8 years i've moved over 10 times...

highschool junior my family year moved, then went away to college lived in dorm, sophmore year in college upgraded to an apt, junior year upgraded to a townhouse, then transferred schools and moved back home, then a couple months later got apartment with sister. then after a year moved in with girlfriend going through divorce to help her out, then a couple months into that moved back home. then moved in with boyfriend, then got married but moved home for a year because he went to iraq, then moved into a house before he came home for us, then a year later moved because that house sucked.

after this lease is up this summer we are hopefully moving to milwaukee to be closer to his work and buying our first house and i won't have to move for a loooooooong time!

woops... just saw it said after highschool/college. oh well. im fairly young so that still counts.

I graduated in 2007 ... have moved three times since then: to my first post-college apartment in Old Town (Chicago) then to my parent's house after my lease ended in June (to save money and because I didn't want to sublet) then in August I moved cross-country to NYC to begin grad school. I'm probably going to move again at the end of the year, I can't afford this rent!

I haven't counted in years. Let's see: parents houses 1, 2, 3,4, college (in and out of dorms 8 times, for various reasons ), studio apartment (Fruitport), 1 br apartment (Grand Haven), parent's home (#4 again), dorm, grad school studio apartment, one br apartment (Coldwater), different 1 br apartment (Coldwater), parent's home (#4 again), cross country move to friend's house (Nashua), 1 br apartment (Milford), 1 br apartment (Peterborough), two br apartment (Nashua), house #1 (Nashua), 1 br apartment (Nashua), house #2 (Nashua). I guess that's 28 times. We JUST moved into the last house, and I plan to die there! (Well, not actually IN the house, I hope!) My "domestic partner", however, tells me he's already daydreaming about an even BETTER "dream house" for when we have unlimited money and can just have somebody else do everything, including move things out and put things away... (Mind you, we still don't have the new house set up, surrounded by boxes in every room!) (All of which reinforces my expectation to die in the current house -- THIS move nearly killed me!)

i agree ljh! there's nothing wrong with the first person - get over yourselves. "we helped my boyfriend moved" sounds like you're polygamists.

I have moved once since college.....moved to the big city and lived in the same apartment (by myself) for 7 years. Then bought a house! I HATE to move......my office just moved and it has been crazy!

Three apartments since 1986. Jplee is right -- if you were lucky enough to get a cheap apartment pre-Giuliani, you stayed put, no matter how small it was, or how much your lifestyle changed.

I'm probably in the minority after reading the comments. I've moved twice in 25 years. I grew up in one house, left at 21 to live in Hollywood and then moved at 23 to San Francisco after my job transferred me.

By the end of college I had moved in with a friend and ended up staying in that apartment for 9 or 10 years. She moved eventually and I got a roommate for awhile, lived alone for awhile, then had my boyfriend move in with me. We moved to a new place in May and now he is my husband. I hope I don't have to move again for a long time.

My new place is the 5th place I've ever lived in.

Since I moved out of my parents house in 1996 I have move 12 times. Some of these moves were short, (across the hall or to another apartment in the same complex,) and then there are the ones across country, (LA to Savannah, GA, back to LA and now in Seattle.) I'm tired of moving. My fiancee and myself's lease is up in May, we'll see if lucky #13 is in the cards!

I moved out after high school and seemed to move once a year for a while... The longest I've lived somewhere was a year and a half in an apartment with my boyfriend. We're renting a house now and it's been exactly a year, we plan on staying at least one more since we're signing another 1 year lease.

I moved back home after college in '94, but I'm not counting that. I moved into my first solo apartment in '95, bought my first house in '98, and bought my second house (and final for a very loooong time) in '05. I hate moving and can't imagine having to do so again for many, many years.

Way too often. I have lived 4 places in 5 years.

Not counting moves as a child- which weren't my choice- and the whole back and forth from college thing- also largely not my choice- I have moved 6 times since 2003. All of these were purchased homes.

This was due to taxes, neighbors, investment opportunities. I don't mind the moving but the closing fees alone could have totaled another move.

P.S. - I bought my first house because even with a 30 year fixed mortgage, my monthly payment on a 3 bedroom house was less than my rent was for a 1 bedroom apartment. The company that owns nearly all the apartments in my city has the monopoly and charges outrageous rents.

Since college I've lived in 4 residences, 16 years in my first apartment in Jersey City, NJ, 1 year in a house with a lease/purchase arrangement (homeowner test period), 5 years in a spectacular apartment in rural Hunterdon County, and now 3 years in a high rise in Downtown Trenton, NJ. Though I've loved living at each place, except the house, unfortunately each move was prompted by the landlord doing something stupid, dangerous, or illegal. I always find it fascinating how landlords always complain about how their tenants abuse them or their property. Then when they get a tenant that takes care of their property and always pays the rent on time, they can't stand it. I can however rest satisfied that despite the motivating reasons, each move has resulted in my life improving significantly, which is really the reason we all move.

I grew up in Jersey, after moving to the states from Colombia. I moved 1 time in NJ and then moved to LA for grad school. Since moving here, I've lived in 3 apartments and I'll probably stay a while in the condo my husband owns.

Moved to Arizona from Indiana when I was 16. Stayed with a family friend for a year, and moved into my own place.

first apartment: mid-century townhouse on tree-lined street. perfect, huge, and beautiful, but the rent went up over $100 more after a year.

2nd: horrifying complex, adorable apartment. temporary because nothing was really available. broke lease to move into..

3rd: absolutely amazing late 50's house in Tempe. Parquet floors in living room w/ beehive fireplace, perfect 50s kitchen made for me to bake in. Original oven and countertop stove still in place. Had been remodeled in the 70s, so a lot of dark wood framed windows and strange wood boxed lights. Still rather interesting and charming.

4th: Decided it was time to make the move to Central Phoenix. Found a room for rent in a 50s bungalow in the Willo Historic District. Private bathroom in big bedroom, cheap rent. Guesthouse and Pool in the back. Brick. Modest. Roommate bought her own house. so..

5th: 1 bedroom in Downtown Phoenix. Clean, remodeled. W/D in apartment!! (so unheard of these days). Small, but always looks clean. Corner window in bedroom. Absolutely adore this cozy place. Breaking lease this month to move into the dream..

6th: I move in the day after Christmas. Downtown Phoenix, old apartment building. 2nd story, hardwood floors. Arched window in living room. Eat-in kitchen. South-facing balcony that looks over downtown lights. Absolutely cannot wait!

Something better always comes along! Pretty sure this upcoming move will be the place I stay until school is finished, however :)

i think i may be able to beat everyone on here. :P

i've been out of high school since 2000.
2000-parents
2000/01-first apt 3 hours away for school
2001-back to parents b/c i got seriously sick
2001/02-2nd apt PIECE OF JUNK b/c the landlord was horrible. nice bones, but the guy seriously covered the kitchen counters & stove w/ CONTACT PAPER!!!
2003-back to parents
2003-realized i was driving the 3 hour drive to ohio every week b/c my entire social group lived there. temp camped on the couch of a girl i'd met once while i got a job & place.
2004/05-awesome farmhouse apt, but so drafty my heating was over $200!!! left b/c i got a high paying job in a city an hour away & that's when gas started to climb.
2005-unknowingly got an apt in one of the ghetto's of a large city. my first month 30 apts in the complex were broken into by some guy just kicking the door in. landlords were insane. as in my ac stopped working & they told me to be glad i had screens on my window in above 90 weather. oh, & the fix it guys dumped my laundry on the floor, dented my canvas, got in my closet, & left both doors unlocked!
2006/08-amazing victorian place in the trendy arts district of city. bad landlords, high prices, & high utilities made me move YET AGAIN.
2008-i found an amazing deco studio & cured it. you saw it on the color contest. i'm super happy here. i'm spending several thousand less living here too. i hope i stay here for quite awhile.

Hrm. I've moved 8 major times since 1996, when I moved to Oakland, CA for college. There were a bunch of moving-between-dorms or couch-surfing-for-a-couple-of-months semi-moves involved in there as well.

I really hate moving. the only good thing I'll say for it is that it forces me to get rid of about 1/3 of everything I own every time I do it. Keeps me from being a crazy horder.

Thank you to jplee for the reality check - the cost of living in SF has only gone up and rents have not been spared. It's scary to think how much the "new middle class" has to make to live in NY or SF.

We're looking to move bc of neighbors, but the buy vs rent discussion will be governed by the numbers - and neither option is looking that great. :(

In the past six years I've lived in seven different homes over two countries and three cities. From student halls sharing a bathroom with 30 others and no kitchen, to a 5 bedroomed house with a garden and a 2 bed ground floor flat.

I want to stay still and not move again for a while. Now I have ditched living with housemates (and finally finished uni)maybe I'll have more luck!

I call it itchy feet.

Since leaving home to go to college, I've moved 31 times in 37 years.

Since I transferred back and forth during college a couple of times, and once left altogether to move to a different state, that was 7 moves in 4.5 years. I don't even really count those.

As an adult, paying my own way, I've moved 24 times in 32 years. The most recent stint was the longest, 4 years. Previous to that were two stretches of 3.5 years and one stretch of 2 years. All the others were a year or less. The shortest were a couple places for about 3 months. I have to say, though, a majority of these moves - though not all of them - have been back and forth between the same general geographic areas. In other words, there are a few places in this country in which I enjoy living and I tend to rotate between them.

I remember my older daughter's amazement at what it felt like to return for the first time to the school she'd left the year before. She was in 4th grade.

But don't believe the hogwash about the general effect of moving on young children. It's not a one size fits all deal. It depends on the kids and on how the moves are handled. Since we lived in so many different types of environments from coast to coast in the U.S. and neither of my daughters was painfully shy, they have grown up to be very adaptable to their surroundings and comfortable with all kinds of people. They also have a lot of confidence in venturing into the unknown, which I think is one of the greatest effects of their upbringing. That, and the way they have learned - from me ;) - how to research geographic areas they are interested in.

Speaking of which, thank heaven for technology. When I first started moving around the country, I spent a great deal of time at the library and a great deal of money on books, newspapers and long distance phone calls. I had info sent to me from local Chambers of Commerce and tracked down local Yellow Pages and newspapers. It was very slow going.

The breakthrough came in 1998 when I found the house I was going to buy in Las Vegas - complete with pictures - in the online multiple listings from the comfort of my home in Tampa. The most recent equivalent is Google Streetview. I seriously do have a love affair with technology. For someone with itchy feet, it is truly a lifesaver.

after i moved out on my own 24 years ago, i lived in my first place for 13 years. during 10 years in Ottawa, i lived in 2 places.

this is my 4th address in London and i've only been here 3 years!

:-)

Never again unless I lose my job in Great Depression II and can't make the mortgage payment. Perish the thought!

I have found that now that I don't move every 3 years or so (I've been in my place 8.5 years, longest I ever lived anywhere except with my parents) that I have to go through stuff and get rid of it as IF I were moving or I will drown!

I have lost track of many moves I have made as an adult. I moved once prior to 18 (only a few blocks - I stayed in the same neighborhood) and probably on average every other year since then. I am a few months into year three where I am currently living and I think this is the longest that I have been in once place since becoming an adult. I plan on changing jobs (I hate my current one) and there aren't many in my line of work where I live, so I will probably move again within the next two years. Mostly, I move to take advantage of opportunities with school or work. Once and a while I will move within a town because I don't like where I am living, but mostly I just wait until my job takes me elsewhere.

I'm 26 and I've moved thirteen times in eight years. Fourteen times total. I will have been in this apartment 2 years when we move out in August. Still don't know where's next (husband is applying to PhD programs now). Considering I have more post-grad work to do, and so does he, that number will likely only get higher.

Fortunately, I love moving. Especially packing.

This post gave me a reason to count residences.

I'm 45, and since college, I have lived (alone or with roommates or a boyfriend), in 22 different apartments, in three states and two countries. Longest amount of time in the same apartment was three years.

Twelve moves since high school, though I have only been in 2 places in the last 8 years.

COLLEGE
1) Into the dorms
2) Into a summer rental
3) Into an on-campus apartment with hideous roommates, which only lasted 5 weeks
4) Into an off-campus apartment with boyfriend... stayed for 9 months, but turns out the bf wasn't a good roommate, though we dated for another year.
5) Into a summer rental, 2 bd/2.5 bath with 3 roomates... fun summer!
6) Into a house for my jr. year with 3 roommates
7) Into an apartment for my sr. year with 1 roommate

POST-COLLEGE
8) Into a 4 bedroom condo for 2 years... 3 roommates
9) Into a 2 bedroom apartment for 1 year... 1 roommate
10) Moved back with parents while in graduate school for 2 years
11) Into my first rental apartment solo... a 1 bd/1 ba for 6.5 years until my landlord went nuts, which gave me the impetus to...
12) Buy my own place, a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo, almost 2 years ago. Never been better. Not hoping to move any time soon, and just am enjoying the process of decorating and updating my place.

I found having the long stint in the rental didn't give me the normal purge I do with the (previously annual or so) move. I'm still decluttering from my old place and hope my 2 bedroom will soon have less stuff than my 1 bedroom rental did. I'm now learning to declutter on a regular basis, instead of waiting for a move to do it.

I moved into my current UES apartment in 1985. I've only had two short periods since then living elsewhere (five months in Nantucket, and three months in New Zealand).

Before that, I lived in 2 other UES apartments -- I moved into Manhattan from NJ during the summer of 1983. My 1st place was a share with three other people (then four others when a cousin of one roommate joined us), on 95th & 1st in a tiny walkup. Our bathroom had no sink -- we had to brush our teeth in the kitchen. The building was really crappy, projects just across the avenue, and there were two huge rubble-strewn lots on the way to the 96th St. subway, with a little vegetable garden in the middle, where those big apartment buildings and the mosque are now (and where I got mugged). I moved from there to 82nd & 2nd, into a railroad flat where I squatted until moving to where I am now. Nice neighborhood, another shithole of an apartment -- it was infested with roaches when I moved in (so many, you could hear them at night), the floors were rough and full of splinters, the tub was in the kitchen, and my sink was too small to place a dinner dish in. I had no door on my bathroom (water closet) which you had to walk through my BR to get to.

Before coming to NYC, I lived in about three places after moving out of my mother's apartment, moved back home for a short spell, and then moved out for good. I guess my longevity in my current place is a reflection of what I saw growing up -- my mother was a single parent, and had a hard time handling any kind of upheaval. She moved into an apartment in 1964, raised me and my sis, and stayed there long after we moved out for a total of 40 years.

When I was a teenager, it was just an accepted fact that everyone moves out and lives on their own as soon as they're 18. I remember feeling like a total failure because I waited til I was 19. Landlords didn't ask for guarantors back then - you hustled your ass, paid your own rent, and learned how to stand on your own two feet, not like today's "Echo Boomer" generation that doesn't know how to make a decision or do anything on their own. Even when I lived home, if I had a job I had to contribute to the household. I gave my mother $40/week for groceries out of my take-home pay of $90/week (good money back in the late 70's). No one I knew lived at home too long after high school - either they got married or lived on their own. For a few weeks before my final move to NYC, I stayed at a cheap Motor Hotel, which was on a NYC bus route.

My apartment is a tiny 396 sq. ft. 1 BR with teh world's smallest kitchen, and through the years I've struggled to make ends meet and hold onto it. Ultimately, it's home, my supers are the BEST, I'm in a great nabe, and it would take a lot to convince me to move anywhere else. I'm not planning to move anywhere, but someday I hope we have enough money to buy a weekend house within 2 hours of NYC, and always hold onto this apartment.

Into a dorm/still living with parents slightly and then out on my own with my fiance - so that makes two moves since high school