New Neighborhood?

If you follow me on Twitter, I mentioned today that our lease at our current apartment is up in August. That's two months away! One of my roommates is planning on moving in with his girlfriend of a few years. The other is planning on buying a condo. So, that leaves me to my own devices!

Over the past month, I've started thinking about moving to a different neighborhood. I'm in need of a change! While I absolutely love my current location over the two years we've lived here (6 miles from work, across the street from a mall, walking distance to multiple parks and a library, near ALL grocery stores, very safe, etc)... there's something missing. And that missing piece is FUN! Our location is great if you're a college student or retired, but it's not a good location for a single 20-something like myself. Therefore, I'm thinking of moving to a popular neighborhood for people in their 20s and 30s. :)

My commute would increase a bit from my current location... double, actually, to about 12 miles one-way. Not too bad. Plus, I would still have a gym nearby, all my favorite grocery stores, tons of cafes, restaurants, bars and the beach within walking distance! The best thing? My rent would definitely decrease! I currently pay ~$880/month for rent plus utilities. Doing a quick search on Craigslist, the absolute maximum I would pay for rent plus utilities would be $800, which would be an immediate savings of $80 per month. I can almost guarantee that I would be able to find a room for cheaper than that but more importantly, I'll have to make sure I mesh well with the potential new roommates! I know I'll have to find some random people to live with, but I'm a friendly and outgoing person (and a fantastic roommate!) so I don't see that being a problem! :) And I'd rather pay a little bit more if it means having a comfortable and ideal living situation.

I wish it was July so I could start my search already! June is a bit early to be looking for an August move-in date...