Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Long time no update!

Phew, it's been awhile! Anyway, not much going on in the world of our little rentals. People are paying, things aren't breaking, and I don't feel like doing all the "extra" work that needs to be done (like waterproofing the basement apartment at Lottridge, sigh). So it's been nice to just sort of let things ride. Yay!

But next week the city's garbage rules begin. One container per household, period. If you put out extra bags or cans, the city will slap a sticker on it and there on the curb it will stay. I thought it was a one-bag rule but thankfully it's a one container rule (135L can, less then 23kg). This should not be that hard for people to manage, especially with the green (food waste and biodegradables) and blue (recyclables) bins being unlimited. BUT - tenants seem to have a different attitude. It'll be interesting. I think my guys will be okay.

But there are a lot of absentee landlords in this city, and I think by July we're going to have a smelly old problem in the lower city. Do you think tenants will haul their bags back inside? Hahaha. And are landlords going to cruise around the day after garbage day and pick up the extras, taking them to the dump? Not many. And in a multi-unit house - if one tenant puts out three bags, what do the other two tenants do? Who's fault is it? Grrr. I don't think the city is prepared for this - there are not many single-family owner-occupied homes in the lower city, when compared with divided multi-unit rentals. I mean, I hope it goes well, but we shall see.