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Old 08-12-2013, 11:07 PM
 
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If you could otherwise very well afford to live in a SINGLE-FAMILY HOME of your own of whatever type anywhere within New York City, why would anyone instead want to live in any type of APARTMENT (MULTIPLE-DWELLING BUILDING)?


Some of this material had been submitted by myself to another thread within the NEW YORK CITY Forum on CITY-DATA.COM but it was suggested to me (and I had even previously deemed so myself) that it would be meriting of its OWN thread . . . so that I don't hijack the other thread's main focus). So here is my thread:



Of course I can't, and am not trying to, dictate to OTHERS how they should feel nor what they should desire and then not desire . . . in terms of what neighborhood in the five boroughs of New York City they'd prefer or what type of abode they'd want to live in. I'm just stating below what perspective I have evolved into MYSELF after all these years (in terms of what kind of housing or abode I myself would ideally want . . . wherever it may be situated locationally in whatever neighborhood within any of the five boroughs of New York City). The perspective I have evolved into, as to MY OWN preferences from this point forward my life, is as follows:

If I were very affluent (or affluent enough) and could therefore very well afford to have a standalone SINGLE-FAMILY HOME of whatever type (whether a single-family detached house with a yard or else some space around it, or else a single-family brownstone or townhouse, or else even a small bungalow- or cottage-sized home all to myself), then WHY OH WHY would I instead choose to live in an APARTMENT UNIT of any type? Even if the apartment was in a luxury or condo building or was in a nice brownstone or townhouse or detached house which was divided up into however many apartments?

That is, no one can avoid acknowledgng the reality that with ANY type of apartment in ANY type of building structure, you will have other tenants that you will share walls, floors, ceilings, and hallways with . . . with people living above you, below you, and on some or all sides of you . . . and then you will also have to deal with the unpredicatable noise coming from the hallways outside your apartment, and will have to deal with any tenants who are not always prone to being kempt and taking care of the property you all share together, as well as dealing with their children or pets or visitors wandering all over the building or making noise in their apartments or around the building-at-large, etc. etc. etc. WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOOSE THIS SITUATION INSTEAD OF THE OPTION OF LIVING IN YOUR OWN OWNED BUILDING OR HOME WHICH ONLY YOU COMPLETELY OCCUPY (IF YOU CAN, IN THIS HYHPOTHETICAL DREAM SITUATION, OTHERWISE VERY WELL AFFORD IT)?

THINK ABOUT IT, FOLKS: Even if you live now or have lived in some type of luxury or exclusive apartment complex or brownstone or townhouse divided up into multiple apartment units, you are paying major bucks to live in such housing and yet you still have to deal with all the issues that sharing an abode with multiple other tenants brings with it . . . just like if you were living in the lowest-class, lowest-quality tenement or rooming house!!! Why would you choose this situation (i.e., an apartment unit within a multple-dwelling building) instead of your own standalone single-family housing . . . EVEN IF both types of housing are located in the very same NYC neighborhood (e.g,. Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Park, Forest Hills, Riverdale, West Village, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, etc. etc. etc.)? If you can, in this hypothetical dream situation that I am inventing here, very well afford to live any way you wanted to and in any locale you wanted to, why would you choose to share your abode with multiple other tenants instead of having complete privacy, quiet, and full control over the management, maintenance and upkeep of your property?

Note that you could even live in a rather small home such as a bungalow- or cottage-sized home
(even if consisting of one single floor . . . if one is concerned that they not take on having too much space or property to occupy and then maintain). There are very small houses to be acquired or self-constructed (even bungalow- or cottage-sized) within the city of New York at-large.

And, sticking with the underlying presumption of this thread –based on the dream assumption that:
a) you CAN afford any type of housing and in any location or neighborhood that you want within the boundaries of the five boroughs of New York City at-large, and


b) if you can very well afford to live in this manner (in this hypothetical dream scenario), it is a given that you CAN as well (if needed or desired) afford to have & maintain an automobile of whatever type or size and have your own parking at your home or nearby which is guaranteed or reserved for that automobile (perhaps even your own built-in garage), and


c) as well, it is a given that you CAN very well afford to have the home all to yourself and therefore not have to take in any tenants or boarders and therefore be a landlord to them, and


d) as well, you CAN very well afford (unless you are inclined to & are able to do this work yourself) to always pay others to take care of any upkeep and maintenance of your property and any adjoining sidewalks, etc. (if any)

then, with ALL these stated hypothetical conditions being true, would you STILL choose instead to live in a multiple-dwelling type of building (consisting of any type of apartment complex or a brownstone or townhouse or a detached house divided up into multple apartment units)?

IN SHORT: Why would there be any people who could afford to live however they wanted & wherever they wanted within the five boroughs of the city of New York, that would willfully choose to instead live in an APARTMENT UNIT of whatever type in some multiple-dwelling building instead of having their own OWNER-OCCUPIED SINGLE-FAMILY HOME OF WHATEVER SIZE OR TYPE (even with its own built-in garage or parking space or else guaranteed or reserved parking at their home or very nearby . . . if they have or want the option of also having a motor vehicle of whatever type)?

I'm merely curious, my friends . . . not trying to tell you how you should live or what you should desire. Please simply satisfy my intellectual curiosity (and the intellectual curiosity of any other persons reading your responses who have the same type of questions as myself) as to WHY, if you could otherwise hypothetically very well afford to live anywhere you wanted & in any kind of abode you wanted, you would still want an APARTMENT UNIT instead of a standalone SINGLE-FAMILY HOME of whatever type or size in whatever neighborhood within any of the five boroughs of New York City.

Again, there is no right or wrong answer. Just curious if people find that (in this hypothetical dream scenario), even if they could very well afford to live anyplace anywhere anyhow in any way that they wanted within the 5 boroughs of New York City, would they still rather share their abode with multiple other dwellers/tenants within the same building structure rather than have a home of whatever size or type all to themselves?

Last edited by UsAll; 08-12-2013 at 11:58 PM..
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Old 08-12-2013, 11:41 PM
 
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Are you familiar with the term maisonette?
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Old 08-13-2013, 12:10 AM
 
2,621 posts, read 3,387,036 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SeventhFloor View Post
Are you familiar with the term maisonette?
No, I wasn't familiar with it . . . though, after looking up its definition on Wikipedia, I recall that I myself have been in such an described "apartments" once (or maybe twice) in my life.
Wiktionary says:

maisonette (plural maisonettes)
  1. a small house
  2. an apartment often on two floors
Wikipedia says:

Maisonette (from the French Maisonette - little house) is a large multi-story apartment located in an apartment building. Building may be a connection between two apartments above each internal staircase (renovation of older residential buildings), connecting the top floor with an attic (attic conversions), or pre-planned extension to the flat roof of the building (for new buildings). The usual layout is combined kitchen and dining room, living space and accessories on the lower floor, several bedrooms and a second bathroom on the top.
Yet one may or will still, to whatever degree, share walls and/or floors and/or ceilings and/or sometimes hallways with other dwellers in the same building . . . as well as other common areas such as yards, garages, lobbies, et al. It is definitely better than living in a regular (non-maisonette) apartment, but a completely standalone abode of my own occupied by no other tenants or dwellers is still preferred by myself (if I could, in this hypothetical dream situation, very well afford it).
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Old 08-13-2013, 04:46 AM
 
Location: New Jersey!!!!
18,837 posts, read 13,725,226 times
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I've owned my own place for almost 5 years. I'll never live in an apartment again more so because I want to be my own landlord. I'd have no problem living in a building, as long as I owned the residence.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:20 AM
 
6,192 posts, read 7,306,539 times
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You do realize there are people in this world who:

1. Do not want to own a home. Period. I know it's hard to believe but some people don't care as much as you do.
2. Have no interest whatsoever in footing the bill for the constant repairs homes need, regardless of the money they have.
3. Have no interest in the upkeep (lawns, plants, cleaning) that a home requires. Yes, if they have the money they can just hire people but they don't want to even be bothered with it.
4. Like luxury apartments because there is usually someone there, 24/7, to take care of everything for them. Laundry services, packages, security, etc. They like the amenities.
5. Travel quite a bit and they aren't home regularly. Why buy a house when you're not there?
6. Use the apartment as a pied-a-terre.

Many condos, especially high-end ones, are soundproof. I went to a friend's condo in Jersey City and you could blast music from his apartment---not a sound to be heard anywhere else. Honestly, there is not enough noise in my coop to bother me. Sometimes I hear the people upstairs walking around or a vacuum going across the floor but when I lived at my parents' house, I heard the same thing.

BTW-You don't need to underline, bold or italicize every other word to get your point across. I know it's hard to believe but most people on this forum (not all, but most) understand context and do not need the emphasis.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:26 AM
 
12,340 posts, read 26,015,727 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by city living View Post
most people on this forum (not all, but most) understand context and do not need the emphasis.
The underlining, italics, bold, change in font size, etc. make posts extremely hard to read. It's like reading on an obstacle course.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:31 AM
 
6,192 posts, read 7,306,539 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna View Post
The underlining, italics, bold, change in font size, etc. make posts extremely hard to read. It's like reading on an obstacle course.
That's true but you would have never understood the emotion involved if he HADN'T emphasized EVERY other word.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:40 AM
 
Location: New Jersey!!!!
18,837 posts, read 13,725,226 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by city living View Post
BTW-You don't need to underline, bold or italicize every other word to get your point across. I know it's hard to believe but most people on this forum (not all, but most) understand context and do not need the emphasis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna View Post
The underlining, italics, bold, change in font size, etc. make posts extremely hard to read. It's like reading on an obstacle course.
Agreed. I didn't even read the whole thing. Once I had the jist of the post, I replied. Way to hard to read. Headache inducing quite frankly.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:44 AM
 
1,431 posts, read 2,606,898 times
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Most people's fantasy apartment is a penthouse in a luxury building, eliminating all of the drawbacks of apartment living that you mention while bringing a host of advantages.
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Old 08-13-2013, 10:05 AM
 
2,578 posts, read 3,363,591 times
Reputation: 5990
Within all of these underlined words is a hidden message. Maybe its the location to some buried treasure?
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