living in a walk-up
Hi, We are looking at buying in a co-op brownstone in prospect heights. It’s a four flight walk-up, but most other criteria are met by the apartment. Would you live in a walk-up with kids (baby)? And how do you think resale will be? (I did see the NYT article today, which was helpful).
Hi, We are looking at buying in a co-op brownstone in prospect heights. It’s a four flight walk-up, but most other criteria are met by the apartment. Would you live in a walk-up with kids (baby)? And how do you think resale will be? (I did see the NYT article today, which was helpful).
I would think that lugging a kid or two up the stairs might actually be easier than walking those same stairs when you’re 8 months pregnant!
the resale of the babies will be dependent on several factors including, but not limited to, race, sex, and various parental characteristics. for an accurate quote, i would need more information about the child and its biological parents. thank you.
Look around the lobby/foyer in the building. Do you see any strollers? That’ll be an indication of the board’s willingness to allow for stroller storage downstairs.
Personally, I don’t think the kids are going to mind stairs. The parents on the other hand…
I second the advice to verify that you will actually be allowed to leave a stroller downstairs. I live on the 4th (top) floor of a walkup with a 4 month old and have found it pretty unpleasant to lug a stroller and growing baby up and down the stairs. I’m not sure how I will do it when the baby gets bigger or if I have a second child (even children who can walk sometimes get too tired or might be sleeping and unable to get themselves up the 4 flights). When we moved into the building, there was always a stroller in the entryway, but now the coop has gotten stricter about rules. There’s plenty of room for strollers, but they have threatened to dispose of anything (including a stoller) left in public areas.
You can’t just look at the foyer for room for your junk, you have to ask the board if leaving a stroller there is permitted. Most coops/condos have clear rules that forbid using common space for personal items. In our coop we decided to permit 1 stroller (folded and hung) per child under 5. We had to do this after finding big wheels and baby SUVs repeatedly blocking the entry of the first floor owners. People can be so rude.
I love stairs! Stairs are a great workout. Studies say short bursts of heavy activity like that are essential to building strength in bones.
I’ve never lived on the top floor in a walk-up but I would not be turned off by that. I’d rather walk up stairs than have pounding feet above me, like we experienced being on the 2nd floor. Horrid. We are now in a house, 2-stories plus finished basement den, so I’m up and down all day. I dig it. It’s a sad day when I become too overwhelmed or weak to use stairs.
The first post that said to pay attention to the foyer and whether there is room for strollers and things – that is most important. Whether you’re on the 2nd floor of a coop or the top floor you do not want to have to go up and down bringing child and parcels, then double-back for the stroller.
last fall i bought an apartment on the 4th floor of a walk up building… the walk can sometimes be difficult but sometimes i am surprised and don’t really notice it – it all depends on what kind of day i am having. despite the walk up i am always happy to walk in the door to my sunny and bright apartment. i am planning on having kids in this apartment and i know it is going to be a pain in the butt most of the time but my husband and i felt it was worth it… we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to live in such a great location in the school district we wanted. i am sure i will be cursing the decision at times once i am struggling up the stairs with 2 small children… but i’ll deal with that when the time comes and hey, it beats going to the gym!
i say go for it.
I don’t have children but I wouldn’t want to live in a four story walk-up. I remember how hard it was to get up just one flight when I had a broken foot. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to drag up strollers and such. The child itself isn’t the issue..its all the child related crap that comes with.
But really, its mostly b/c Im lazy 🙂
My wife and I live on the top floor of a four story townhouse and would only ever choose to live at the top of a building in the future. It’s quiet, bright, we have outdoor space, and private.
In all, it’s not really that many steps and, considering that the buildings in the neighborhood are all over 100 years old and are all walkups, you’re not the first to live on a top floor with children. People have been doing this for a long time; it’s only recently that we expect everything to be so easy.
Buy the apartment and turn it into a home – you’ll get your money back and then some when you sell in a few years.