The Luckiest Neighbour

This building fascinates me.  Every time I drive by it I’m caught by the colours and then held by the little strangenesses that make it unique.  Why does only one suite have a little balcony?  Why do some first floor windows have bars, but not all of them?  Why did that tree grow at an angle?
 
Having never been inside I can only guess at what the apartments are like, what the rents must be like and how well the building is maintained.  Maybe they’re all fine - maybe it’s a great place to live!  But the little oddities like this on the outside of a rental building always get me curious.  They remind me that when you’re a renter, especially in a city as expensive and competitive as Vancouver, there’s always a degree of “you get what you get and you don’t get upset.”
 
You’re lucky to have a roof over your head, to have beaten the competition; you can’t really complain that you didn’t get a balcony but one of your neighbours did.  You can’t complain that your first floor windows aren’t barred but everyone else’s are.  Renting comes with a lack of choice and autonomy; in an owned home you could install your own safety bars.  It’s so hard to get in anywhere - getting chosen for an apartment, even if it’s wonky and not quite right, is so tied to money and incredible luck that you don’t want to push that luck by asking for too much.  You’re lucky to have it; you don’t want to rock the boat.
 
36” x 30” x 2”.
Acrylic gouache on canvas.  Wired for hanging.