These spoiled cats have their own US$1,500-per-month flat in Silicon Valley
Tina and Louise are two special kitties who live by themselves in a Silicon Valley apartment – a situation that some say is absurd, given the ongoing property shortage
Rental prices in Silicon Valley have skyrocketed to some of the highest in the United States as droves of tech workers have made the move with grand dreams of cashing in on the next big thing. Now, prospective renters may have to start competing for the limited amount of housing with our four-legged friends, too.
On Sunday, the San Jose Mercury News reported that a Silicon Valley landlord is renting his studio flat to a pair of Maine Coon-mixed cats, whose owner couldn't keep them in his own place.
“Basically I've got two renters that don't have opposable thumbs,” the landlord, David Callisch, said. “It's actually great. They're very quiet, obviously. The only problem is they stink up the place.”
Rent for the cats — named Tina and Louise, after characters from the animated show Bob's Burgers — is US$1,500 per month, according to the report.
Callisch says the situation happened by chance. His friend Troy Good — the renter in question, who builds custom phone booths for tech offices with open-floor plans — needed a place for his daughter's beloved cats while she moved away to college. The felines were not getting along with his fiancée’s terrier dog.
The situation has struck some as absurd, given Silicon Valley’s ongoing housing crisis.
“Silicon Valley is a place with so much inequality, where thousands of people sleep on the streets every night while someone rents a below-market studio for US$1,500 a month to two cats,” tweeted Seattle Times real estate reporter Mike Rosenberg.
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