Chasing Cheap Rents in Pricey Brooklyn

The Times’ Appraisal column this week looks into the story of a young professional who has lived in several apartments in Brooklyn but never paid more than around $600 for her share of the rent. The profile is of one Sophia Cosmadopoulos, who works in art therapy and instruction, and has a boatload of student loans. Ms. Cosmadopoulos lived near the BQE in Carroll Gardens, then Williamsburg, then Bushwick. She now resides in Bed-Stuy, and has dealt with stuff like critters and weird layouts in her various apartments. We’re probably hopelessly out of touch, but we thought the cheap-o rate for part of a share has had an $800 baseline for at least a decade. Here’s the story’s kicker: “An issue she spends more time thinking about, she says, is her participation in waves of gentrification. ‘It’s hard to avoid when you move to New York, when you have a bunch of student loans and don’t have a lot of money,’ she said. ‘I just live in places that I can afford to live. And obviously, that comes at a price. Ms. Cosmadopoulos said that in every neighborhood where she lived, she had made sure to shop at nearby businesses, to support the local community and never to pine for a place like Starbucks.”
As Brooklyn Rents Rise, She Stalks the $625 Apartment [NY Times]