Avoiding The Global Gentrification Of Taste

Is cottagecore the antidote to blands and airspaces?

Image: Shoplook

I’ve done so much apartment hunting over the past month that my eyes have developed a filter for weeding out impersonal high-rise condos and dingy basement apartments, the two most common rentals in Toronto. Finding a bright, family-owned apartment in a house is like finding a needle in a haystack but I’ve developed a skill for spotting them.

I’ve found a peculiar joy in my daily real estate scan—it reminds me of all the Airbnb searches I used to do in the before times when I travelled frequently. Then, instead of weeding out condos and basements, I was sorting through two types of Airbnb listings: homey, cluttered apartments that are lived in most of the year by the owner or apartments designed for Airbnb, run by a property manager, with generic, minimalist décor, and inadequately stocked kitchens. The needle in the haystack then, was the independently run Airbnb with functional amenities and locally-inspired décor—a “generic authentic” space.