It’s official. We’re moving into the Olympic Village on May 1st. No, we didn’t win the lottery. We’re moving into one of the rental units. We’ll have a 2nd bedroom, so friends and family are invited to visit.

We had applied in January, but we were told we made too much money. At the time I was a bit peeved, and couldn’t believe there were enough people in Vancouver who made less then us that were willing to pay high-end rental prices. Turns out I was probably right, because the City has adjusted its requirements to allow people earning up to 6 times the rent to qualify.

For reference, here are the prices:
One bedroom: $1,501
Two bedroom: $1,902
Three bedroom: $2,096
Four bedroom: $2,368

And here is an application, if you want to be our neighbour. From what I understand, about half of the units are still available.

I’m looking forward to the move. I’ll miss the neighbourhood we’re currently in, it’s walking distance to lots of grocery stores and veggie restaurants, but we are only moving 8 blocks down the hill. The increase in rent will be hard to adjust to, but we can afford it. $1902 seems expensive compared to what we’re currently paying, but when Dan and I were living on Beach Avenue, we were paying $1750 a month (still the going rate), and the Olympic Village is 100 times better than our old place.

The biggest draws are it’s new, beautifully designed, and full of cutting-edge environmental features. We got to see the bike room on Monday. It was big but I was worried it might fill up once everyone moves in. Then we found another bike room next to it, and another, and another. I counted 6 large bike rooms. There’s a great big rooftop garden with composting – we’re excited to have barbeques there. Our unit will have a personal energy monitor that I can geek-out over. There’s also radiant heating, solar panels, rain-water dual-flush toilets, and energy-efficient appliances. Emily and I are both excited to live somewhere that reflects are green values.

And now that we’ll have a second bedroom, we are welcoming friends and family to come and stay with us. It’s an awesome location for exploring the city.