High rise living with older kids

[Anonymous]

Once they are older they go to their rooms and want to be on screens. As mine get older this is happening. We are selling our house and buying one w a large yard and pool. I hate the indoor screen life and they don’t want to do the family walk thing as much anymore. Covid taught me outdoor space is the key. Would never do a high rise unless it had a nice pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve always lived in a city and always in an apartment. In NYC it was a three story walk up and here it’s a six story building. In all honesty, I have no clue what to compare it to as we’ve never lived in the suburbs or a single-family house except for two years that we were in Europe.

Parks are wonderful as are community gardens and sports courts. We joined a private club for swimming and tennis.

Now here’s the rub: covid. It was a very hard year for all of us during quarantine and the shutdown. That’s was the only time I wished we had a private yard and private space.

I live in the city in a mid rise newer building with full amenities, concierge, pool,gym etc. No snow duty, haven’t had to clean off my car even. Several playgrounds and parks within just 3 blocks. But there is still maintenance, HVAC, plumbing, but of course much less to do than a home with exterior grounds. However, COVID changed things, shared hallways, elevators, gym pool etc all closed (still paying for them of course). I was highly anxious each time we stepped into the hallway. Neighbors were COVID positive. Some things to consider.

I would love my own outdoor space

[Anonymous]

We have been living in apartment on the 5th floor of a building in DC for 12 years and are about to the suburbs. Now that we have two little kids apartment living stinks. Before kids it was great but it started sucking with the first kid and is a nightmare with two and COVID.

It’s an ordeal to get out of the building with kids. You have to have everything - diapers, snacks, hand sanitizer, masks, wipes, water for everyone, etc. etc. There is no just popping outside or stepping outside to test the weather. You commit to what you wear and then have to bring layers and backups in case it’s too hot or too cold or there’s a blowout. God forbid
You forget something and have to slog back inside. Getting in and out of the building with kids is an ordeal. Most people don’t mask anymore and our kids are not vaccinated so there are millions of little land mines to navigate - the old neighbor who grabs my baby’s hands when we see her, the neighbor kid who wants to ride in the elevator and coughs on the way down without a mask cause he’s 2, the millions of random delivery people in and out of the building.

Don’t forget that Little kids touch everything - elevator doors, elevator walls and railings, lobby door, etc. which during COVID is a damn nightmare. The laundry room is shared and dealing with family laundry during COVID has horrid. Literally pre vaccine you had to worry you were risking your life to get the kids out of the apartment or do a load of laundry. We went through gallons of Purell. The shared roof deck was great before kids, but instead they run around and touch EVERYTHING that probably dozens or more of other residents touch that are never sanitized. The germ factor is insane and with delta flying around I am done.

What else can I say? So many neighbors smoke pot, even in our upscale building. The second hand in the hallways is annoying and it stinks. Constant noise from neighbors who love to drop things or vacuum or have sex when my kids are napping. Or the random ambulances or police cars or motorcades that constantly zoom by. Walkability was amazing. I loved it. But we aren’t young anymore and we aren’t going to restaurants, bars, movies, metro or anything indoors. We certainly aren’t taking the bus anywhere. So the benefit of walkability has largely evaporated safe from the occasional Starbucks that I order on my phone and grab on a walk.

You’ve got some fantasy ideas about the benefits of high rise living. It’s not fun with little kids, it stinks. We are moving the the suburbs soon and I literally cannot wait to be in a house and to not have to worry my kids are going to catch the rona just to go outside and play anymore.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I would add, it’s so hard not to get stuck inside when living in apartment with kids during COVID. We go out twice per day, and once we are in that’s it. Unless my partner watches the kids so I can step outside, I am inside at 6 to cook dinner and I don’t get outside until the next day. I crave summer nights and i can never enjoy them in an apartment. Unless you have a balcony there is no drinking a glass of wine on the porch and watching the baby monitor or sipping my coffee in a robe while I open up the back door and smell the fresh air. It pains me sometime as I used to spend most of my life outside, I love to garden, love riding bikes, but the community garden is 3 miles away, getting bikes out of the basement locker in the locked bike room with kids means I have to remember 4 sets of keys for the room and each locked bike, bring all my tools and pump and then return them to the unit so they aren’t stolen (I’ve had two
Bikes stolen already even with locks), etc. OP you are living in a fantasy world if you are covering this. Also, not to mention the thousands of dollars we throw away every month for rent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. I would add, it’s so hard not to get stuck inside when living in apartment with kids during COVID. We go out twice per day, and once we are in that’s it. Unless my partner watches the kids so I can step outside, I am inside at 6 to cook dinner and I don’t get outside until the next day. I crave summer nights and i can never enjoy them in an apartment. Unless you have a balcony there is no drinking a glass of wine on the porch and watching the baby monitor or sipping my coffee in a robe while I open up the back door and smell the fresh air. It pains me sometime as I used to spend most of my life outside, I love to garden, love riding bikes, but the community garden is 3 miles away, getting bikes out of the basement locker in the locked bike room with kids means I have to remember 4 sets of keys for the room and each locked bike, bring all my tools and pump and then return them to the unit so they aren’t stolen (I’ve had two
Bikes stolen already even with locks), etc. OP you are living in a fantasy world if you are covering this. Also, not to mention the thousands of dollars we throw away every month for rent.

PP from earlier in the thread who is loving city living with my kids, but I have some private outdoor space. I also crave the summer night air and I'd be miserable if I couldn't step outside in my pjs and have a glass of wine and breathe it all in. So I think the micro details of one's living situation can make or break everything. This could be a minute as one apartment unit vs another in the same complex.

I totally push back against the pp 2 entries up who is decamping for the suburbs. Covid was terrifying, yes, and city living was much harder in many ways earlier on. But now we know we're not catching covid from surfaces, etc, I have minimal fear sharing surface space with strangers. I guess if you're germaphobic and are waiting for the next pandemic then city living would be a nightmare. Not saying that's the pp I'm referencing, but that was the vibe I got.

My parents in the suburbs implored us to stay with them. I doubled-down on city life because the vibrancy of my community -- even with strangers -- really got me and my family through the hard times. I don't think I'll ever look back at our nightly 7pm clapping and cheering for first responders and not tear up and fill with pride for my city. It's an experience I'm thankful I got to share with my then-4yo.

[Anonymous]

I've lived in apts, from 2-4 stories. I've lived on the top floor, mid-floor, and ground floor. I've also lived in two-story stacked condos (one condo on top of another two-story condo). I've hated it mostly because of the other people. Right now I call our upstairs neighbor's kid Tumblina. She's constantly running and jumping and the mom vacuums at 7 AM or 11 PM. I've had other upstairs neighbors that were just as noisy. Another upstairs neighbor had teenagers that would visit. I knew when they were there and where they were in the apt at all times. Another upstairs neighbor would leave his radio on blaring "Grease" remixed soundtrack for hours almost every weekday for a while. I can hear when my next door neighbor uses the bathroom. I'm house seeking and renting an apt in a pricey neighborhood. You would think that the apts would be on par with the house/townhouses in quality. Nope.