OUTDOOR Space; Everybody Staring?

They probably weren't being served sidecars.

I think most people would be too embarrassed to stare at people who are using their balconies. As long as you're using it for "normal" activity like dining, drinking, smoking a reefer, painting, growing tomatoes, reading, writing, posting to SE, people will look the other way.

What you should avoid, of course, is any outdoor space that YOU wouldn't realistically wind up enjoying: facing another building's stack of balconies, on an arterial avenue, too windy, too sunny, too dark, too noisy, too small, too solid (no view when seated), etc.

I use my terrace constantly. I wouldn't buy a home without any outdoor space.

If you don't want people to look at you, move to a higher floor...

Outdoor space? No one will use it when it's rainy, windy, cold, chilly, hot, foggy, damp, muggy, buggy etc. However, the humans will use it when it's 76 degrees or rather "perfect weather" 5 days out of the year. Yet you are paying extra taxes and CCs for it. IMO outdoor space is a negative.

i would just about kill for outdoor space right now. next place has to have it. i'm insanely jealous of my friends who are gardening this time of year.

Steve, outdoor space is a negative for you. I love mine. I am out there all the time. Almost every night in the summer. No bugs, north facing with morning light, cooler than out on the streets in the summer, quiet in the back with birds chirping. It's not a balcony so I can't comment on the wind.

Go to farmers market and get flowers and plants. Have some peppers growing right now. Outdoor space makes all the difference in the world.

imo, it's not worth the extra costs. have a great day.

I grew up in a building much like uwsmom's (but a much darker apartment, which explains a lot) ... and NEVER again. I love my sarf-effacing big open airy balcony with vast river views, and so do my tomatoes and sidecars.

The only two things I don't like about my outdoor space is that everything gets filthy very quickly and the pigeons like to tug at my vines.

You get over the fishbowl feeling.

Agreed with bob, Steve doesn't know much about this topic either. 5 days a year? Not even close.

I have a nice roof and no balcony, and use it a lot. Would use a balcony even more. As long as the temperature is above say 40, I find a quick trip up refreshing when you have some views.

I always wanted private space but now I have and dont use it much, but certainly more than 5 days a year. It depends on your lifestyle and what type of space you are talking about, a 7 x 3 balcony wont be much fun but 50 x 20 surely could be.

Depending on size, there are two ways to use it. If big enough, chairs, couches, bbqs, all that. Another room essentially.

But, even the small ones, and even if cold, taking a 5-10 minute break on the terrace can do wonders if you have any sort of view.

RE: my 40 foot terrace... Rose bushes are in bloom, azalea bush just finished flowering, watering system takes care of keeping everything green while I am away. I don't spend a lot of time on it, but I have to say, even for a few minutes, it really is a slice of heaven.

We really wanted outdoor space with our last purchase, and saw a zillion apartments that had it. But every last one was either too small, or looked out onto a depressing cluster of air shafts. This, coupled with the constant noise from all the buildings' mechanicals, made the outdoor spaces seem like something out of "Eraserhead". I found myself quickly exiting the outdoor space and shuddering.

This seemed to be a running theme during our search.

I'm sure there are many apartments out there that have nice outdoor space, but the additional costs for the types I just mentioned were already overpriced, IMO. A "nice" outdoor space would have had to be purchased at the expense of nice indoor space. So it was one of those things we gave up in the compromise.

though i wouldn't trade ample indoor space for outdoor space (wouldn't trade my C6 w/ views and light for a smaller place w/ outdoor space). I just want it ALL!!!

uwsmom, have you been to your roof? Not the same, but I think you'll find it refreshing.

I wish I had plumbing on my balcony so I could set up an automatic irrigation system ... instead I have a drip system in place outside, but have to run a hose to my bathroom and then reel it back in after each use. Do stacked-up balconies in newer buildings usually have faucet bibs, as terraces do?

For those with balconies, consider mostly folding furniture. In addition to an immovable wooden bench, I have a folding small round table with 2 small folding chairs as my usual setup, and 2 more folding chairs waiting on the sidelines.

I can remove the table to accomodate more chairs for just hanging out slugging back a bucket or some of sidecars; I can easily remove the table & chairs altogether to accomodate even more stand-up drinkers.

In theory, I can get a folding chaise longue to swap out when I just want to read and laze in greater comfort, but so far I haven't found the right one that balances storability with comfort.

Even with a 4' x 10' balcony, you can have an herb garden, several potted plants, a small tree, and a cafe and table and chairs. We use our balcony constantly.

We're getting ready to annex and develop 300 square feet of roof space into a private terrace. The cost is astronomical, but properties with similar outdoor space in our neighborhood are selling for much, much more than our purchase price plus all construction costs. While apartments with large terraces seem to be a "niche" market, the demand still seems to be exceeding the supply -- at least in my neighborhood.

hmm, no i haven't. probably not safe for the little ones, right? they are almost always in tow.

You could always get your outdoor space in Miami :) We just decided to move back to Manhattan and live in the apartment we so dearly love but, thought we should sell because of our children. After a year in the sun here in Miami and a big house, yard, etc. I think after 20 years we found out we love our apartment (which has almost no views) but two fireplaces and we have another below we use as two guest rooms and a playroom. Also no views and needs tons of work. We decided to break out the paint brushes, do a bit more design and head back home. That's the UWS for us. We have an apartment we bought here in Miami to visit Grandpa..cheap as anything but that will be our outdoor space, summer vacation home etc. I guess we're just true New Yorkers at heart and this was not the time to sell...luckily we didn't have to sell but turned out it didn't sell anyway...maybe everything works out for a reason. Still tons of apartments if you're willing to fly to Miami...this place hasn't recovered at all! But it sure is pretty..heard Broward County has even better deals. Good luck to all and thanks for always keeping the reading interesting on these boards! FYI...uwsmom...I taught all three kids not to jump off our balconies her in Fla and not to jump in the fireplaces in Manhattan..so far so good!