Thanks for the compliment but I'm a fellow European, not American.
> who shouldn't even be trying to live abroad.
Too bad I've tried it successfully three times already, one being in America.
For starters, because you should know damn well what you get into if you try to find housing in a major European city outside the normal housing system.
Also, because there's absolutely nothing abnormal in Europe about a century old building or four floors without an elevator.
My guess is you are well aware you screwed up by being unprepared, and now you're just trying to externalize the blame, hoping the readership here won't know any better.