$660 / 5br - 144ft2 - Ground flr room in fragrance-free house on MLK (oakland north / temescal)

A downstairs room in a house of five bedrooms will be available by Oct 1st. Subletters up to 1 month will be considered as needed. Please read all the details below and if you are interested, email for the application. THE ROOM Has 2 entrances: 1 facing the garage (the downstairs entrance to the house, 2 steps up) and a 2nd facing the downstairs couch/den area. 12 x 12 ft with a small closet. Quite spacious with room for a couch, bed, bureau, and several chairs. Photos show a prior roommate's furniture, for a sense of the space, but it will come unfurnished. A couch and an armchair are available if desired. Only 1 window, facing MLK with ok light. Can be noisy with MLK traffic and BART train. Directly below the upstairs living room. Shares a bathroom with 2 other downstairs housemates. (There is another bathroom upstairs you are welcome to use as needed.) You are welcome to store things in one of the tall shelving units in the garage that is designated for your room. RENT AND ASSOCIATED EXPENSES Deposit is $644 Rent is $660 (Not rent-controlled. Last increased in January 2024) Utilities add up to $110-$200/mo. (PG&E varies seasonally $60-$150/person/mo, EBMUD ~$70/person/2 months, Sonic internet ~$20/person/mo). THE HOUSE / LOCATION Two stories, with 5 bedrooms, 2 full baths, washer, dryer, garage for storage, 2 driveways, living room, shared multi-purpose room, and a downstairs den. All of these are already well furnished. Large kitchen is upstairs (12 steps up from the downstairs den) has a gas stove and a porch overlooking an untended lawn and a major boulevard. The multi-purpose room is upstairs and is mostly used as a guest room (which we unfortunately cannot rent out). There is a long backyard paved area and a small garden for common use. Lots of busy traffic sounds from MLK and the BART tracks. Walls are very thin, so we all try to be very considerate of each other about noise. Street parking is nearby, and a steep driveway/curb with 1 parking space is currently available. The #12 bus stops in front of the house, between Ashby and MacArthur BART stations. HOUSE VALUES & STRUCTURES The vibe is generally calm and quiet. We don’t see each other or interact much on a regular basis. We all have our own schedules and are often working or resting. It's great to bring friends and partners over, but we don't have gatherings often. A few of us have very little social energy so we rarely meet or work on house projects. We each agree to use text or email for logistics or reminders, and to reserve topics that are emotionally activating for in-person conversations at mutually-agreed times whenever possible. The key phrase here is emotionally activating. We commit to sharing about our needs and listening to others’ needs without judgment or shame. We use a rotation for taking out the trash, compost, and recycling. Each of us takes it out in turn (or has an ihss attendant who takes it out for them on their turn) We try to keep common spaces tidy for all to use/enjoy, especially if we have pets. For house guests, the hosting roommate takes responsibility for all of their guest’s impacts and cleans up after them within 72 hours. (Or has their attendant do so.) There is one small dog who loves people and mostly gets along with other dogs. We are open to having another small animal that stays in their person’s room or hangs out with their person. No roaming pets allowed. The summary phrase here is no roaming. Some synthetic fragrances can have major health impacts on one of us, so we are a low-fragrance household. In cases when it seems important to bring a product that has synthetic fragrances into the house, we commit to communicating beforehand with the housemates to find ways of minimizing any impacts the fragrances might have. The notable word is beforehand. Some essential oils are ok. We are mindful of drug and alcohol consumption in the house. We ask that folks smoke in the front of the house to avoid bedroom windows (which mostly line the back yard). Hopefully this goes without saying, but if a housemates’ behavior while on substances becomes disruptive to the house (eg. loud, messy in common spaces), they might be asked to modify or stop their use of it in the house. COVID19 PRACTICES We are vaccinated. We practice social distancing and take precautions outside of the house. We wear N95s or equivalent inside the house if we have had a high-risk exposure, such as air travel. We are open to checking in about COVID to create practices we are all comfortable with. ABOUT US L: is a queer and trans herbalist living with environmental illness and other disabilities. In his free time he enjoys hiking and outdoor dance parties. At home he appreciates quiet and occasionally sharing meals. Hoping to live with more disabled queers. O: Genderfluid, white, 42, neutral pronouns. I collect and redistribute assistive tech with a local disabilities nonprofit full time. I practice solidarity when I can, usually in non-hierarchical projects. FTP. Otherwise, tending houseplants, hanging out with friends, and cuddling a shockingly cute lil elderly dog who accompanies me everywhere. I don't talk much about myself unless the listener expresses curiosity, in which case I’m happy to share. I enjoy collaboration and autonomy, fun and follow-through. I value honesty, care for impacts, directness, and vulnerability. Vee: I’m a South Asian nonbinary trans femme, 26, and pronouns are they/them. I usually am pretty introverted and tend to stay in my room, but feel free to come up to me, I’m friendly :) I cook sometimes in the common space, and enjoy walking/bopping around the garden to music on my headphones. I currently work remotely from home, and I am fragrance-free and have ADHD/autism as cognitive disabilities. I take direct and honest communication, respect, kindness, and community aid seriously. In my spare time, I like to write music, fiction, watch science, cat, and other YouTube videos, and binge-watch TV shows. Lyon: I’m a 28 year old irish trans woman (it/she), been homeless in and out of the bay til ~5 years back. I work in care work & am generally working from home. Collect tapes and other physical media on and off & can talk about music incessantly. Always down to chat if I ain't busy and like to kick it and talk about wild life experiences. WHAT WE’RE SEEKING IN ROOMIES: Folks who have already lived in the Bay area for a good while. Working class. Proactive, compassionate communicators. Self-aware and considerate of others. Experienced in group living (ie, with 4 or more peers in egalitarian styles, not like parents/family or other hierarchical structures). Committed to the house values and agreements. No TERFS or SWERFS. If you are interested in living with us, please email us for the application and share a little about yourself. We have a questionnaire to send you for more details.