Residents of the Fuggerei in Augsburg pay an annual rent of just one Rheinischer Gulden, the same as in 1520. There are a few conditions: one must be poor, Catholic, an Augsburg resident for two years, and pray thrice daily for the souls of the Fuggers.
posted by Knappster on Dec 26, 2008 - 11 comments

Portland's got white ones, Austin has yellow ones, Vassar has them in pink. What are they? Community bikes. Colleges, universities, even whole cities are seeing the benefits of offering their students and citizens an alternative to cars, fossil fuels, and parking lots. Want to start a shared bike program in your community? Here's how. (previously)
posted by Toekneesan on Oct 21, 2008 - 42 comments

How far away from work do you live? How much of your pay gets used up to get you to and from work, get you around town, and pay for where you live? As gas and food prices continue to rise, "affordability" has become a more critical notion for everyday Americans. The Center for Neighborhood Technology developed their Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, which aims to help better inform renters and owners about the relationship of transportation options to where one lives.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Apr 28, 2008 - 85 comments

Rent Vs. Buy Myths That Ruined the Housing Market
posted by Afroblanco on Mar 21, 2008 - 107 comments

Nearly 12 Years Old, ‘Rent’ Is to Close. The 1996 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical will close its doors at New York's Nederlander Theatre on June 1st. The 7th longest-running musical in Broadway history, it is based on Puccini's La Boheme and is credited with bringing young people to musical theatre and the invention of Broadway Rush ticketing - it sold its first two rows for $20: first in , first served on the day of the performance. [more inside]
posted by crossoverman on Jan 16, 2008 - 77 comments

"A Ninja Pays Half My Rent" (YouTube 5:23) A short film directed by Steven K. Tsuchida.
posted by rfbjames on Feb 12, 2007 - 13 comments

Gloria Trembicky is a bad landlord. Ever wish you knew more about your new landlord before signing the lease? Hopefully Gloria Trembicky won't have any more unsuspecting tenants. This well-documented story of disrepair, deceit and disorder should keep any landlord-Googler away (especially with the growing contributions emailed from former tenants). Also, it provides some great Schadenfreude for those of us not renting in NYC.
posted by davebug on Jan 17, 2006 - 66 comments

Do you feel bad about cutting down a tree in the prime of its life just for Christmas? If you live in San Francisco or Portland, OR you can rent a tree instead.
posted by grapefruitmoon on Dec 16, 2005 - 15 comments

Wanted: the perfect housemate! You just need to meet a few, um, requirements.
posted by brownpau on Apr 8, 2005 - 41 comments

Art or not is brought to you by Johannes Blank, the same guy who gave us Rent-A-German.
posted by sour cream on Mar 10, 2005 - 5 comments

And I thought the market was tight in Boston... A man was charged with killing two people -- one of whom was dismembered -- so he could move into their apartments, police said.
posted by J. R. Hughto on May 30, 2001 - 6 comments

Scary calculation of the day: I spend about $750/mo. on rent in LA, and while I was checking the price range on apartments in San Francisco, what I wanted was about $2500 per month. So in LA, I spend $9,000 per year on rent (actually it's half that, since I split it with my girlfriend), but in SF, it'd be $30,000 (!!!). For that cost, I could pay for a house in just a handful of years in any other state. Maybe Salon is right, or maybe they aren't.
posted by mathowie on Mar 6, 2000 - 18 comments