Would you be willing to live in a high-rise unit that did not have a balcony?
 

in the trump chicago thread we got side-tracked on the issue of whether or not balconies on residential high-rise buildings are overrated, especially in 4 season cities like chicago.

so the question, if you were to chose to live in a high-rise building, would you be willing to live in one that didn't have some private outdoor balcony space?

No way. I would have to have something like your beautiful balcony or larger. Plus, I'm a plant freak!

well I love my balcony and if i would move into a highrise it would be best to have one there too. Spire is the only exception i would make.

I'd prefer to have a balcony, though I'd probably make an exception for the Spire.

I voted yes, but by no means do I think its overrated. I sacrificed a balcony for location and view. Balconies always add more to the price as well, so that was a consideration. I'd love to have one. If you have a balcony and a great view, you cant ask for much more.

^ good point, i edited the poll and added a new category and changed your vote for you.

I'm afraid of heights. I can stare out a window from a height, but if there's a balcony, even if I don't use it, I get freaked out

I look at the balconies on the new One Rincon Hill and I figure on an average afternoon when you get home from work and go out there to watch the sunset, the wind is going to be blowing about 40 MPH and the fog is going to be swirling around you and you are going to quickly head back inside:

One Rincon Hill
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...nHill-0112.jpg
Photo taken and originally posted by Downtown Dave at http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...107919&page=54

I look at them as "smoking platforms". A lot of people who rent their condos in SF don't allow tenants to smoke inside, and a lot of people who live in condos don't allow smoking guests to smoke inside--so they exile to the balcony. I guess they are useful for that reason.

Also, a few buildings have much larger balconies that are better protected from the weather like the top floors of the Infinity. That might make more sense.

The Infinity Tower One (right) and Tower Two (under construction, left)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Spear-3953.jpg
Photo taken and originally posted by Downtown Dave at http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=67546&page=24

By the way, as far as the grilled meat goes, my condo HOA has now acquiesced to the SF fire code and banned any kind of flames (gas, charcoal, wood, whatever) on balconies.

^ the smoking reason is a good one. i live on the 33rd floor of a highrise and i don't smoke so it's nice to have a place to send my smoking friends without telling them that they have to go all the way back down to ground level. also, your notion that the winds are always blowing gale-force at 40mph is WAY off the mark, at least here in the windy city. like i said, i'm on the 33rd floor of marina city and it can get windy during storms, but most of the time it's quite pleasant out there (during the warm seasons obviously)

but the BIGGEST balcony advantage that you neglected to mention is grilling out. i've got a weber grill on my balcony and i use it year round to keep my belly full of tasty meat. also, the fact that my balcony is 175 sq. ft. means that it's large enough to be useful- i've got a large table and chairs, some lounge chairs, and the grill out there, it's like having a whole outdoor room. having one of those 4' x 3' "smoking ledges" that are tacked on to some buildings probably isn't all that practical, i guess i'm just lucky to live in a building with giant balconies for every single unit, even tiny little studios like mine.

when i was hunting for condos, i could afford a 1 bedroom or a studio with a balcony, but not a 1 bedroom with a balcony. ultimately i decided that grilled meat was more important to me than having a separate bedroom. i think i chose wisely.

Although I live in a house now (with a small city-sized yard and patio), my partner has mentioned possibly moving to one of the highrises planned for the Flats East Bank project in downtown Cleveland. Since he has quite the green thumb and one of our weekend rituals between April and October is spending the morning out on the patio with coffee and magazines, we'll probably only consider a unit with a balcony/terrace.

Right now I live in a Highrise on the 19th floor and I have no balcony. I am ok without one. Before, I used to live in a Philadelphia highrise on the 28th floor for a few months with a balcony and rarely I go out there and use it. I rather have more inside extra space, than a balcony for the money.

I love balconies. I lived in Madison, WI, for about seven years, a city with a huge porch culture. Many people, myself included, wouldn't consider renting a place that didn't have a porch. It was like an extra room--a place to party, hang out, grill out, even sleep. Having said that, a balcony isn't an absolute necessity. A beautiful apartment in a great location can compensate for the absence of a balcony, though ideally I'd want to have one and am envious of those who do.

The howling wind is pretty standard in late summer afternoon SF. (Did you know that Chicago's "windy city" appellation came from the "windiness" of its politicians, not its climate--or so I've read?)

And I did mention the meat--at the very end of my post. Apparently the SF fire code says, "NO!". Or at least the gentlemen from the SFFD who did my building's most recent fire safety inspection were pretty negative on the idea.

that's actually a somewhat controversial premise around chicago. for decades the conventional wisdom was that chicago earned the nickname "the windy city" around the time when the city was lobbying to have the columbian exposition held in chicago instead of new york. the over the top bragadoccio and boastfulness of chicago's civic leaders and boosters led the new york media to refer to chicago as "that windy city".

however, subsequent historians have dug deeper into the origin of the nickname and have found references to chicago as "the windy city" that far predate the columbian exposition. some seem to have some reference to the refreshing, cooling lake breezes that consistently blow along chicago's lakeshore while others still contend that the "windyness" referred to chicagoans' penchant for bragging and talking up their city right from the very beginning. it's a civic trait that still lives strong to this day as evidenced by many chicagoans on this forum ;)



that blows! and i thought chicago had stringent fire codes (what with that little epsiode that sorta got out of hand back in oct. of 1871), but thankfully we can still have grills on our balconies, depending on your condo association's bylaws of course. fortunately for me, marina city is still open grilling season, year round.

How often have do you see buildings, or photos of buildings, with balconies, even in warm climates like Miami, and they look totally deserted. Given that some are little larger than postage stamps, I can see why. Even at Marina City Steely, how many people actually make use of their balconies?

I love balconies. I am always outside on mine. I love to sit out and watch the world go by. Nothing is better then sitting out there watching it pouring rain and having a nice drink. With that i will not look at a place unless it has one. Its funny one of the first things i do when i go to someones place is to go to their balcony and have a look outside...

:cheers:

Personally, balconies are not necessary for me.

Architecturally, balconies often hurt buildings, but they can be well integrated, occasionally even essential to a building, as in Marina City or Aqua.

Yes please, but I'd also better be allowed to dry my clothes on them.

More than anythign else balconies seem one of the only ways to get an open window in many new highrises. I enjoy fresh air, and air filtered through a HVAC system just isn't the same.

i haven't done a survey of all my neighbors, but it seems that everyone under the age of 60 uses their balcony regularly from may-oct. then there are some hardcores like me who will grill out in the middle of january without even thinking about it. those in the knocking on heaven's door club often don't use their balconies at all because they are always cold due to poor circulation, even in the summer. i guess that's why so many geezers retire to places like phoenix and florida.

Yeah. I have a balcony off my bedroom that's more of a fire-escape officially (since it provides access to a stairway--I have a 2-level unit and the fire code also says you have to have an escape route from both levels) and I actually got in trouble for grilling out there once. Since then, I've tried doing it in my fireplace (in the living room) but with a small charcoal fire the thing doesn't draw well enough and the room can get a little smoky. I've learned to live with those electric indoor grills--they'll probably save me from stomach cancer anyway (fingers crossed).