I Can't Believe This!

We live in a loft in downtown near the University of Washington Tacoma campus.  We love the loft but it has its issues:  no dishwasher, the laundry room is 3 (long) floors down, oh, and you pay for parking but you almost NEVER get a spot.  It's a long story, but last week it took me 45 minutes to find parking.  FORTY FIVE MINUTES!  This got me thinking....  "What if I had my soon-to-arrive foster-child with me?"  You cant drive around aimlessly with a kid for forty five minutes.  I was so upset that I went directly to the school's offices, where I've been before, and complained, as I have before.  I felt a revolt needed to happen.  I think they could sense my rage because this time I [finallly] got the name of the woman who can make things happen.  I wrote her a long letter telling her that the parking situation needs to be fixed.  I'm not trying to get a to class, I LIVE HERE!  The woman who's supposed to make things happen hasn't been very much help.  She's told us we can move.

I adore this loft but I am very worried about bringing a child into it.  I know I said in my announcement post that we love our loft and will not be moving.  However, we're not so certain of that anymore.  In addition to the parking drama, we're trying to register our home for foster-care and this loft has only one exit.  The law requires that there are two for fire-safety purposes.  We are waiting to hear if this will pass the home inspection.

So, I've started dreaming about finding a new place even though I do NOT want to move.

My requirements for a new place, should we move:
1)  A place that's easy to get to.  That's important for me because I work from home so I don't get very much social interaction throughout the day.  So, when Dan is on tour (which is about 10 days a month) I want to see my friends.  The loft is a big, fun space to entertain guests in but it's not a convenient place to visit because of parking.
2)  Laundry.  If the foster child that's placed in our home is still in diapers I would like to do cloth diapers which = LOTS of laundry.  Walking up and down the 67 steps (Oh, yes, I've counted) is a pain!
3)  A dishwasher would be nice.

It's not much to ask.  Right?  We'll see......