Anyone live in a high-rise?

wodom1

Anyone live or lived in a high-rise apartment/condo before? I'm seriously considering moving into a high-rise apartment next year. I currently live in an elevated first-floor apartment in a vintage courtyard building, but I wanna go high. What are the pros/cons? One aspect I like is having a doorman so that entry is controlled, and I don't have to worry about getting burglarized like I did in this place in December. I know there are usually a lot of amenities that you don't get in a typical walkup too.

Josh

Demiurge

wodom1 wrote:

Anyone live or lived in a high-rise apartment/condo before? I'm seriously considering moving into a high-rise apartment next year. I currently live in an elevated first-floor apartment in a vintage courtyard building, but I wanna go high. What are the pros/cons? One aspect I like is having a doorman so that entry is controlled, and I don't have to worry about getting burglarized like I did in this place in December. I know there are usually a lot of amenities that you don't get in a typical walkup too.

Josh

It's a complete buzzkill on speakers. I used to live right in smack dab in the middle of the night time 'scene' in Milwaukee in a bit of a high rise, and you can't do anything with speakers and stuff without people whining about it. A condo is different if they have sound proofing between units.

venomclan

Depends on what you mean by high-rise. My last place was a condo on the 7th floor of a 10 story building. I also lived in an apartment in NY on the 13th floor of a 24 story tower.

I do like living high up but your stereo/HT life will suffer. My condo had neighbors on both sides and below. I built false walls and insulated a lot to sound proof, but the floors and ceilings were shared and neighbors van be heard. A house rules.

wodom1

venomclan wrote:

Depends on what you mean by high-rise. My last place was a condo on the 7th floor of a 10 story building. I also lived in an apartment in NY on the 13th floor of a 24 story tower.

I do like living high up but your stereo/HT life will suffer. My condo had neighbors on both sides and below. I built false walls and insulated a lot to sound proof, but the floors and ceilings were shared and neighbors van be heard. A house rules.

I would consider that a mid-rise. I'm wanting to live 30+ stories up. That would suck if I couldn't fully enjoy my stereo. Hell, that may end up being the deciding factor against living in one. I've got neighbors above me and on one side, but never have any issues. It probably helps that my apt. building was built in 1910 and has 1'+ thick masonry walls. The only time I ever hear anything is from my upstairs neighbor. I can faintly hear their wood floor creaking when they walk around.

nadams

lugging everything up all those stairs when the elevator is out of service...

Demiurge

Ugh, that too. That was a nightmare.

The problem is Wodom...it's a crapshoot. You can get cool neighbors, or you can get bad ones. Some people are real sound **** in apartment buildings. I will never live in them again.

wodom1

Well I'll be in an apartment regardless. I can't afford a house in Chicago, at least not in any neighborhoods outside the ghettos. I tend to like the vintage walk-ups, but it just seems like it would be cool to live in a high-rise for a year or so. I've got a lot of time to think it over as my current lease doesn't end until next April anyways.

George Grand

Be nice to have a functional Chicago Fire Dep't. installation next door to your proposed 30 + stories.

Demiurge

wodom1 wrote:

Well I'll be in an apartment regardless. I can't afford a house in Chicago, at least not in any neighborhoods outside the ghettos. I tend to like the vintage walk-ups, but it just seems like it would be cool to live in a high-rise for a year or so. I've got a lot of time to think it over as my current lease doesn't end until next April anyways.

Just a question, but do you need to be 'in' Chicago, or even around it? I love that city, but it's just a place to visit for me. Too damn expensive. For example, mixed drink here $3-4 tops. Chicago it's like $7-8+. You guys make more money statistically, but damn. My friend drives from South Milwaukee to Deerfield every day.

wallstreet

Having just watch Underworld Evolution at theater volume levels, I would not be a candidate for high rise living.

wodom1

Demiurge wrote:

Just a question, but do you need to be 'in' Chicago, or even around it? I love that city, but it's just a place to visit for me. Too damn expensive. For example, mixed drink here $3-4 tops. Chicago it's like $7-8+. You guys make more money statistically, but damn. My friend drives from South Milwaukee to Deerfield every day.

I don't need to be in Chicago, but I love living here. When I first moved here in October of '03, I lived in the suburbs for a year and a half and hated it. I've been living in Lincoln Park for the last year and a half and absolutely love it. I plan on staying in the city for a while to come.

Thanks for all the replies, guys. The sound-proofing issue could be what stops me from making the move. I might just stick to the vintage walk-ups on the north side. I was listening to some tunes at about 83 db last night with no complaints, and I don't want to have to give that up.

wallstreet

wodom1 wrote:

I don't need to be in Chicago, but I love living here. When I first moved here in October of '03, I lived in the suburbs for a year and a half and hated it. I've been living in Lincoln Park for the last year and a half and absolutely love it. I plan on staying in the city for a while to come.

Thanks for all the replies, guys. The sound-proofing issue could be what stops me from making the move. I might just stick to the vintage walk-ups on the north side. I was listening to some tunes at about 83 db last night with no complaints, and I don't want to have to give that up.

Hey, I occasionally travel to Chicago for work. I'll give ya a holler next time I'm up there.

brettw22

wodom1 wrote:

I would consider that a mid-rise. I'm wanting to live 30+ stories up. That would suck if I couldn't fully enjoy my stereo. Hell, that may end up being the deciding factor against living in one. I've got neighbors above me and on one side, but never have any issues. It probably helps that my apt. building was built in 1910 and has 1'+ thick masonry walls. The only time I ever hear anything is from my upstairs neighbor. I can faintly hear their wood floor creaking when they walk around.

Few thoughts:

1. Don't throw a party where you let people gather en mass on your patio.

2. Don't get mad when some dipshit cuts the power line doing construction and you're elevator-less and ac-less for up to 3 days.

3. Knock on the neighbors doors and see what they're like.

ESavinon

I lived in the 35th floor of a modern building. The soundproofing was great due to the building being made fireproof between apartments and floor. It was all made out of concrete. I had great views of the tristate area in ny. Unfortunately the building complex was located next to a interstate highway and the noise coming in was unbearable. Also, i had a traffic chopper park itself about 150 feet from my living room window every morning. That was annoying as hell. I only lived there for 1 year because of these little annoyances.