Brooklyn Inside & Out

Is universally accessible and aging-friendly housing an American concept? If so, it is a good one. Some older folks (and younger folks) can easily scamper up and down multiple flights, others not so much. In many European countries they allow smaller and cheaper elevators so you see them in lower rise buildings, while US standards demanding that they big enough for an EMS gurney means fewer new apartments are accessible to people with mobility issues, heavy bags and strollers. In my own house I plan to renovate the ground floor tenant's apartment bathroom (hopefully before it falls into the cellar) with an eye for the possibility I may need to move down there at some point. And perhaps the owners of the house in question plan one of those stairway seat lifts if need be.

I think the notion that you have to live on a single floor as you age is a peculiarly American one. Think of those elderly folks you see trudging up impossibly steep steps in European hill towns, a plastic shopping bag in each hand. Maybe that's why many of them live so long! In all seriousness, that's the family's intention. If it doesn't work out as planned, they'll adapt.

Jeeze they really skimped on the bathroom finishes. When you’re asking a rent like that can you really cheap out like that?

Great house and one of the best locations in a dynamic and beautiful neighborhood but that rent means a very transient occupancy or tenancy...hhm suspect a near future sale