Upper west or Tribeca??

I think our rental agent, Brett, is spending more time with me than his wife. I may have to send her flowers to apologize for being a demanding client hogging up his time.

We met this morning at 8 a.m. to look at 2 Lincoln Square but -- quelle surprise!! -- the ever-elusive agent for the building didn't show up. We sat there for half an hour waiting before I finally had to catch my train to work, but Brett managed to get the guy on the phone to set up an appointment for Tuesday before work. I remain skeptical.
Then we met after work down in Tribeca to look at a condo at Greenwich and Chambers, where the owner is renting it out privately. Man do I dig that part of Tribeca, and the condo, while being the same standard issue layout that seemingly every post-war one bedroom has, was nice. Living room is painted soft green, bedroom is pale yellow, and there's even the tiniest balcony known to man.

Now John and I have a decision to make. The apartments we're looking at are, for all practical purposes, the same. The prices are pretty close. It comes down to the real estate mantra: location, location, location.

John says upper west has the edge for him. I totally see the appeal. If we were at 66th Street and Broadway, right across from Lincoln Center, that is about the coolest, most city experience I can imagine, plus it's only about a five-minute walk to Central Park. Even the lobby and the doorman are fantastic.

My heart is still in Tribeca, probably leaning toward Tribeca Pointe if I can get a viewing there, but otherwise, Tribeca Park. (John's too wary of renting from a private individual, who could decide to sell after we've been there a year.)

We left it at this -- I'm going to trust my gut when I go to Lincoln Square in the morning, and we'll talk again later in the day. If I have applications in at two or three places and then decide, so be it.

Wish me luck tomorrow. I'm not worried we'll make a bad decision. I just want to make the best decision we can, based on our budget, our timeline and what's available.