I lived in a majority Indian apartment complex the year after college. The complex itself smelled noticeably of curry. I got used to it. But, when I transferred my coat closet to my new apartment the next year, I realized that my coats were ruined.
Last week, I attended a non-Indian friend's party. Walking in the door, I was overcome with the odor. Our theory is that a neighbor above or below must cook Indian fare, and the fragrance comes through the vents. After this 6-hour event, our clothes were married to the spice.
While second-hand smoking laws are obviously present due to the health risks involved, and second-hand curry is merely a nuisance - if you were a landlord, would you be worried about leasing to Indian tenants?
5 comments:
Your apartment smells, too. But it smells like a scent more pleasing to you. A nuisance smell is only a nuisance in the nose of the beholder.
exactly. and if your market is largely non-Indian based, would you be worried about leasing to Indian tenants?
Well, for starters, it's against the law. From www.mylawyer.com:
"The federal Fair Housing Act and Fair Housing Amendments Act (42 U.S. Code §§ 3601-3619, 3631) prohibit landlords from choosing tenants on the basis of a group characteristic such as:
race
religion
ethnic background or national origin
sex
age
the fact that the prospective tenant has children (except in certain designated senior housing), or
a mental or physical disability.
In addition, some state and local laws prohibit discrimination based on a person's marital status or sexual orientation."
Second, from a cultural sensitivity stand point, this question seems pretty insensitive. Don't you think Indian friends and acquaintances would be offended by this?
Third, I remember a certain person's college apartment to have a very bad odor, which was a result of a lack of basic cleaning. I think I would take a curry smell over that. :)
if here's not a safe place to think out loud, i don't know how we're going to get any smarter.
2nd hand curry smells considerably better than 2nd hand old person cooking. That's usually fish, or overdone chicken, with a tinge of burn on it.
I love the comment about this being a safe place to think out loud. I think I'm going to like it here.
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