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Do New Yorkers have a love-hate relationship with their outdoor spaces? Believe it or not, it seems they do. While many would put themselves in a compromising position for a few square-feet of greenery, The NY Times reports on a few who find their outdoor space a burden.
Many patio-privelaged are allegedly "turning their backs on their balconies" -- blasphemy! One Chelsea resident, Vera Sampson, sees her open space as "a magnet for dust and dirt." Others find the process of fixing up an urban outdoor space a costly and timely matter, with apparently little payback.
It is difficult to give an average dollar value of outdoor space, because if it is a terrace, which is open to the sky and occupies a building’s setback, it’s worth more than a balcony, which is typically smaller and projects outward from the facade. But outdoor space is generally agreed to be worth about half as much per square foot as the square footage inside an apartment.So what's a tenant to do with their high maintainance outdoor space? Senior VP of Corcoran, Sherry Matays, bolted her terrace up 30 years ago and never returned! Others quietly suffer what has been dubbed "terrace guilt." And you thought you had problems.
Photo via Stewie D's Flickr.
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I envision unwanted terraces being sold as seasonal rentals to hard-up summer interns. This is the new frontier of real estate brokerage people.
"Terrace guilt"
A new neurosis fad for therapists to cash in on.
"Post-Terrace Stress Disorder": coming to a couch near you.
How much do a few plastic lawn chairs cost?
I like how Jen Carlson finds the worst lifestyle columns in the NY Times and reposts them. Without fail.
Seriously I wake up, read the times, and the article I hate the most is summarized here 8 hours later.
What a great site.
I have great outdoor space , every flat has one
in every building,it is called the roof.
Oh, yeah, um... real interesting story. [grimace]
We use our balcony 9 months of the year. Luckily we're on a high floor and have great river and city views (at least for now). It came at a price but we feel that it was worth it.
I hate my outdoor terrace: nothing but dirt and grime everywhere and pigeon shit! Annoying.
I use my terrace as an unlicensed day care center. really, it's no bother...so long as you keep the door shut for 8 hours.
Stand in the street and take a look at any large apartment building with balconies and observe what the average balcony looks like - generally a bare slab of concrete with maybe a white plastic patio chair, and an empty pot full of soil from a plant that died years ago with some old cigarette butts in it from the last time some smokers came over to a dinner party. Those who have given up on using the space may have mountain bikes in a canvas cocoon.
I don't know why people get so excited about getting an apartment with a balcony when they don't know the first thing about decorating it, and invest no time or money in making it a nice place. But, if I think about the average backyard in Brooklyn, it's even worse...