For students returning to Toronto this fall, finding the perfect place can be a long and often fruitless slog. Luckily for second-year student Jay Barnes, that’s no longer a problem. Barnes, who scored huge on his “dream apartment” is now mere steps away from Toronto’s renowned Ripley’s Aquarium––and only a short, one-hour commute to campus.
That’s right. Barnes’ cozy one-bedroom, one-combined-kitchen-bathroom apartment is next to that Ripley’s Aquarium. “I’ve been painfully stalking Toronto’s rental market for five months now, and while many places had a separate kitchen and bathroom, they were all just a little too far from Ripley’s Aquarium,” said Barnes. “It just wouldn’t make sense for me to have to commute any longer than ten minutes whenever I get a craving for an awesome, aquatic adventure fit for the whole family.”
When The Boundary expressed concern over the hygiene implications of a kitchen-bathroom and the location’s possible negative impact on his studies, Barnes admitted, “Yeah I can definitely see myself starting an essay, then noticing Toronto’s largest aquarium outside my window and––bam! Say goodbye to the next five hours and hello to a fun-filled Monday night with sixteen-thousand sea friends.”
Barnes appeared truly enamoured with his building, which was the first and only place that showed up within his strict 25-metres-or-less-from-Ripley’s-Aquarium search parameters on Zumper.
“With five hours of lectures a day, it’ll be hard to try and race back and forth between campus and the Rip for a quick stingray petting sesh,” Barnes continued. “But if it turns out I miss a new exhibit because I was doing some bullshit like ‘writing an exam,’ it’ll definitely make me reconsider this whole engineering degree thing.”
Photo Credit: Ruven Samaraweera