Living Near The Ground Floor vs Living On A High Floor? (apartment, tenants)

[AndyPettitteIsGreat]

What are the drawbacks of living on, say the 2nd or 3rd floor of an apartment as opposed to the 20th or 25th?

I would argue that living near the ground is better since you don't have to wait forever for the elevator to arrive. If you are running late to work or something, this is great!

Let's assume I don't care about view - I'll be very busy and will hardly be in the apartment anyway.

[daaaaave]

Well I think the only benefit of the higher floor is view. Elevators are pretty fast in the luxury buildings, though. Depends a lot on where your laundry room is, building gym, etc.

Also you get more sunlight on the higher floors which can be a major difference if the lower floors get their sunlight obstructed for some reason. I would say this is the biggest factor because I did live in a lower floor once where it was pretty dark.

[Dbatiste]

I would say the biggest draw back of living near the ground floor is noise and/or traffic of the tenants who pass you to get to the higher floors. Also, depending on the location street noise can be a problem.

If your living on a higher floor you better hope that elevator never breaks down. Because climbing up or down that many stairs is a work out.

[SkyBob]

Originally Posted by Dbatiste

If your living on a higher floor you better hope that elevator never breaks down. Because climbing up or down that many stairs is a work out.

I assume the modern steel & glass high rises have several elevators but do the older buildings have far fewer elevators, or only just one?

[analyticalkeys]

If you're living on the ground floor, you can stomp your feet and make noise because that stuff travels downward, and you have no downstairs neighbors to worry about.

[Jaydata]

If you live on the 2nd floor or lower, You can just jump out of the window in case of fire. :P

[Dbatiste]

Originally Posted by SkyBob

I assume the modern steel & glass high rises have several elevators but do the older buildings have far fewer elevators, or only just one?

It depends.

I saw a building with 2 elevators....both broken. The building was 25 floors high

I've also seen a building with 1 elevator, but it wasn't broken when I was there. However, the building was only 10 floors high. I guess climbing 10 flights is doable for some people.

Obviously no one should have a problem with a newer model steel & glass high rise. It's probably built to suit today's working/busy families.

[subban]

One drawback of living on ground floor is you could get robbed or broken into while you are gone. One benefit of living on 25th floor would be the robber would have to be an inside job.

[boan]

How far up do FDNY ladders go? I'd prefer to be within their reach.

[Chava61]

If you live on the 2nd or 3rd floors, you can always walk up and down the stairs and are not dependent on using an elevator.