Living in an apt. building

SCARY! I would not want to be locked into a monstrous building with a bunch of strangers. Plus the super and other apt. workers would have a key to my place and could slink in and out at any time. Creeps me out -- sharing walls with complete strangers. Passing complete weirdos in the halls and elevators -- in what should be your SANCTUARY from the world. Don't you find this terrifying? I have always lived in stand-alone homes for this reason. I am contemplating a more urban move and basically will have to buy an entire town house -- not affordable but the only way I'd feel safe.

You're precious, OP.
But then you would hear the weird neighbors in the creepy town house next door. Do you know what kind of people live in town houses? And they'd be talking about you!
I love my apartment in the sky. I only have one neighbor sharing a wall. The other walls are the hallway, and 2 walls of windows. It's beyond peaceful in this apartment. Happy to be here, although I am a suburban at heart.
NYC%27er
Take your Xanax, cupcake.
Paranoia...
...the%20destroyer
This is all about perspective and random chance. Living in a house or town home doesn't guarantee that you won't have regular creeps and stalkers. Some people feel safer in an apartment building that has updated security technology, or they like the fact that out of all the people around them, at least some of them would probably be willing to look out for each other. But there's no way to know. Kind of like how some women don't know whether to dress down or up when they have to walk outside alone. Dressing classy might attract more bad attention OR dressing lo-pro might attract more bad attention. Depends on how bad your luck is, OP!
OP if you do move avoid buildings ledges and balconies, or move to a residence were smoking is banned. Smoking gargoyles are annoying as shit, with their drifting smoke, coughing and talking to themselves. Its all my neighbor does, ALL FUCKING DAY.
I understand how you feel, OP. I live in a detached home on over an acre and I like my space. I would dread living in an apartment or condo.
I feel safer living in an apartment building, especially that has someone in the building looking after the place. I once locked myself out and the super helped me in. Being up several stories makes you further away from potential break-ins, too. I think if I lived all alone, physically isolated I would feel someone would break-in and kill me and no one would know.
I moved from NYC, where I lived in an apartment, to Nashville, where I rented a house. I was in the house for years, but never liked living in one. THere's the upkeep, the feeling of vulnerability by being so exposed, the isolation. I recently moved in to a loft apartment building, and love it. Sure, I hear neighbours on either side of me, but I love walking in to a hallway, past mail boxes, etc. And I feel safer, knowing my windows aren't all accessible to anyone who wants to smash in to them.
It's a crap shoot. Your neighbors might be quiet and sweet, or they may be loud, raging alcoholics...you never know.
Have lived in a house, a condo, larger and smaller apartment buildings. I prefer apartment buildings. One has all the privacy and solitude possible, yet only feet away from others. There is always someone to call for repairs, problems, etc. Right now my apartment only shares one wall (kitchen) with another apartment. All other rooms are bordered by hallway or corner of building. Very, very quiet. I love it.
No one can get into my apt unless I okay it, op. it's a co-op. HA!
In a house, odds are that at least some of the means of ingress are on the ground level, with people walking by -- or trying to get in -- far more often than one would want.
I've always lived in apartments, and no one has ever had a key apart from maybe close friends I choose to give a spare to.
If you can find the right building, your neighbors protect each other and you them.
Apartment-raised here. I'm creeped out by the idea of being alone in a 2-story house, especially one with a basement and/or attic.
Do you ever stay in hotels, OP? Perhaps your lifestyle of the rich and famous allows you the luxury of staying only in secluded villas and private islands...
4/10
You're sharing the ground with other home-owners, OP. Does that freak you out?
[quote]Passing complete weirdos in the halls Not every apartment building is in Boston.
You're going o die up there, OP
R21 - huh?
Home invasions are a lot harder to carry out in apartment buildings
I remember watching one of those Discovery ID shows about this guy who was due in court but didn't show up. Neither did the person who was pressing charges against him against him -- his next door neighbor. Police went to his home just in time to catch him dismembering his neighbor in his basement. He dug a tunnel from his basement into her basement. He then went upstairs and killed the neighbor during the night and dragged her body back into his own basement, where he chopped her to bits. I'll stay in my 21 st floor apartment. I don't share any walls with neighbors. Just two outside walls, and two walls with a corridor on the other side.
Geez, OP, where the hell are you talking about exactly? Cabrini Green? Lot of apts are nice.
I used to live alone in a house, and all sorts of solicitors -- Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Girl Scouts, school kids selling chocolate bars, etc., would come up to my porch and ring my bell. Then there was the anonymous person who scaled the fence and plucked the fruits from my papaya tree in the backyard. And then there was the time I came home to find my pool deck wet and a used condom and wrapper tossed in the bushes. It's unnerving knowing people are trepassing on your property. Now I live in a gated apartment community, and I feel secure knowing that these solicitors and hooligans can't get to my door.
So many people talking about needing to feel safe, & being afraid. That's sad (& weird).
OP, do you realize the air you breathe has been in other people's lungs??
[quote]So many people talking about needing to feel safe, & being afraid. That's sad (& weird). ...Uh. Because OP mentioned it. His opening word is "SCARY!"
OP wears a surgical mask in public.
I feel much more safe in an apt building. Of course, I have a doorman and live on a high floor but there is always multiple people on duty for any repair or anything really. I feel very vulnerable in a stand alone house - I'd always be jumpy about any noise from another room. THAT's scary - remember the opening to Scream? Poor Drew - never would have happened in an apt building.
Never lived in NYC, huh, R28?
houses require alot of maintenance. you need to be a virtual bob villa to properly own one especially in this day and age. everything will break three times over. something will inevitably happen to your furnace/ac. the hvac worker will lie to you, thereby overcharging you for shit you don't even need. you go to your yellow pages and let your fingers do the walking to find a more reliable worker but guess what? they don't exist. oh yeah don't forget the gutters, 10-15yrs you will need a new roof, tuckpointing, porch steps will need fixing, possibly new garage, if you have a basement it will definitely flood because water always seeks the lowest level. did i forget anything? oh yeah, possible acts of god.
i miss my apt.
You should be more scared of the bogeyman hiding under your bed at night, OP.
[quote] OP, do you realize the air you breathe has been in other people's lungs?? Well, it's sad and horrible, but it has to be said -- I lived in manhattan in 2001 and other people were in my lungs. It is a downside to city living where the density can result in a high death rate and the wind is in your direction
Surprise pulmonary!
In 1990, me and 3 friends purchased a 6 story, 50k sf building. At one time, is was the home of a successful printing business. We paid $375k. It was such a good price because it was in an area that had been dicey for years. First we threw up really good security gates. Then over the next 4 years we gutted and renovated each floor into loft space. Each of us customized our floors. We do share a common service elevator, but each of our units also have private entrances outside the building. We kept the roof open as a public space. Lots of hanging out with neighbors having cook outs for years. Over the years the neighborhood became gentrified. When I sold my in 2006, I sold it for 10 times what it cost to buy and renovate.