• sp3ctr4l
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    1421 month ago

    You add tiny, mini, useless balconies so that you can check off another tick box on a zillow or trulia search, justify an increased rental cost.

    Then you make the balconies as small as possible, as featureless as possible, and throw a whole bunch of rules into your rental agreement that prevent you from actually using them for basically any reason: Can’t smoke on the balcony, can’t dry clothes on it, can’t cook on it, can’t display any thing like a flag or banner on the balcony because of some made up aesthetic code, etc.

    I’ve lived in a lot of different apartments of differing quality and location, and while I’m not saying that modern apartment residential balconies are entirely a scam, they very often are.

    • FuglyDuck
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      721 month ago

      Can’t smoke on the balcony,

      Because that smoke goes into other people’s apartments. People who may not also be smokers or may have asthma or other medical conditions in which 2nd hand smoke is bad. not actually a building choice… most states now bar smoking inside or near a multi-unit residential building.

      can’t dry clothes on it,

      19 states have some form of “right to dry” legislation, most of which would protect drying on patio space.

      can’t cook on it,

      usually a matter of firecode. where I am, it’s illegal to have wood burning fire pits or charcoal grills, but gas grills are fine. Also, turkey friers.

      These rules are because people are stupid and have caused apartment fires numerous times with these things. can you use charcoal safely? sure. Also, another reason smoking is generally illegal. there’s always that one smoker that forgets to clear out the ashtray every so often and that catches fire. (or they put a tissue in it or something, and that’s not at all fire retardant.)

      can’t display any thing like a flag or banner on the balcony because of some made up aesthetic code, etc.

      not actually legal. if there’s a residential building code that bans political speech (banners, flags, etc) then that’s a first amendment violation. The apartment can (maybe) ban things in their contract agreement, but that’s not a building code. that’s a contract agreement, and as long as it’s not exactly graphic, it probably falls into the “unenforceable” category.

      • @EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 month ago

        19 states have some form of “right to dry” legislation, most of which would protect drying on patio space.

        Two points which I would like to interject here:

        1. OP (of either the post or comment above) may not be in the United States, and

        2. Even if they are, there are 50 states and 1 capital district. That means those 19 states only make up roughly a third of the United States. Odds are they are not in one of them.

        • FuglyDuck
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          1 month ago

          Fair enough.

          though, my understanding is that the opposition to clotheslines is a mostly US thing. Especially in places where the weather is warm year-round. (specifically its the HOA’s because HOA’s are the devil.)

          edit: also, there’s no state here that forbids the practice. (there may be cities that do, but I imagine those are in places like… florida. Government small enough to fit in your backyard.)

          • though, my understanding is that the opposition to clotheslines is a mostly US thing. Especially in places where the weather is warm year-round.

            That’s fair. I’m not personally knowledgeable about said rules; I just thought I’d point out those couple things.

            (specifically its the HOA’s because HOA’s are the devil.)

            Agreed. I would say they need to go fuck themselves with a cactus, but really now. What did the cactus ever do to deserve that?

          • @HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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            31 month ago

            My house is in an HOA. I’m not allowed to have a clothesline.

            I do anyway. It’s on my screened in porch, and not visible unless you’re climbing trees in my backyard. And if you are, fuck you, I’ll walk around naked all day if I goddamn well please.

      • sp3ctr4l
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        1 month ago

        So, a bit of discussion about a hypothetical me has spawned from this and I’ll say some things here:

        I am from the US, have mostly rented in the PNW.

        I am aware that smoking is bad and can affect other people, and that idiots running grills can be very dangerous, but I’m old enough to remember when these used to be a major use case for residential balconies.

        AFAIK, generally, you can still do these things if you own (or even rent) a house in a lower density area with a balcony or patio.

        Hell, I’ve lived in places and with roommates who are entirely capable of nearly burning down an apartment complex by not knowing how to cook on the oven/range in their apartment, or by just smoking inside and woops that cigarette butt or spliff or joint missed the tray.

        I’m not saying it should be the case that we ignore safety concerns in more dense housing, I’m more just pointing out that things which many people are used to be able to do on some kind of residential balcony are not actually doable as more and more people live in rentals.

        As for clothes lines, decorations, hell in some places even public drinking of alcohol on a balcony all being technically legal to some extent but still being against a rental contract:

        Surely you are aware that the landlord and property managers hold basically all the power in these situations unless you have the time and depth of pockets to legally challenge their usually illegal frivolous stipulations.

        They can just fine you and threaten eviction or withhold your security deposit, and it will almost always be 5x to 10x less expensive to just accept this than to attempt to challenge it.

        Hell, I have literally never received my security deposit back, anywhere I have ever rented, despite doing no actual ‘damage’ to the unit. They will always just invent some reason to withhold it.

        … Anyway, my main drive here isn’t that you should just be allowed to do whatever you want on an apartment balcony, its that these balconies are functionally useless to the renter due to them being designed as an afterthought to drive up rental costs, as well as having all kinds of functionally real restrictions unless you want to get into a legal fight with your landlord.

        Basically, at a glance, the balconies are just scams, false advertising that looks like a neat bonus at first, but then you realize you can’t actually do anything on them besides maybe sit on a chair on them, if one will even fit.

      • @datelmd5sum@lemmy.world
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        11 month ago

        interesting that charcoal is banned but gas is fine. I’ve never had the grease accumulated on the bottom of the grill catch fire on a charcoal grill, but with a gas grill…

        • FuglyDuck
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          21 month ago

          gas can be turned off, charcoal can’t.

          it’s caused way more fires than uncleaned gas grills. mostly because people go inside to eat and forget about the coals (an then the wind comes up or something happens and sparks fly).

  • kersploosh
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    1 month ago

    In some places that is a strategy to satisfy zoning requirements. The builder has to provide a minimum amount of outdoor area per dwelling unit. They could create a large ground-level courtyard, or they can create a bunch of tiny balconies that sum up to the same total area. The ladder latter strategy allows a larger building to exist on the same lot.

    Edit: Stupid voice-to-text always gets me.

    • @halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      91 month ago

      A different design other than a basic box would allow them to make a large outdoor area at basically any level they want, not necessarily the ground, but that’s of course more expensive as well.

      • @ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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        111 month ago

        I think people value private outdoor space differently than public outdoor space. I don’t actually have a balcony but I think I would usually prefer a private space to a public one, even if the public one was much nicer.

      • FuglyDuck
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        21 month ago

        so like, even if it were a box…

        They don’t really have to encase each floor. most buildings are concrete, and they could just as easily seal that floor off and leave the observation platform open. But the reality is that it gets pretty windy up that high, and most people won’t want to be out there for very long at all. And not at all if it’s at all inclement.

        not to mention… jumpers.

  • @visnae@lemmy.world
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    611 month ago

    97% of the time, the average car just sits in the parking space, taking up space not being used.

    I guess you can say something similar applied to balconies. They are probably being used, but only a small portion of the day.

    • @WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I had a friend that was drunk and was smoking and leaning back on a balcony and went over. No one even heard him. One minute he was there, the next minute he was gone. No one even looked down for a few minutes because people were regularly coming and going from the balcony and people just assumed he went back inside.

      Broke both his arms, his neck, fucked up his back, and had a major concussion. I think maybe he broke some ribs too. Really fucked him up. He didn’t die, but the head injury caused a dramatic personality change and the neck and back stuff created chronic pain.

      Another guy I knew intentionally jumped off a dorm balcony and severely and multiply fractured both his legs and fucked his knees forever.

      Don’t… uh, accidentally drop from great heights, people.

      • @daggermoon@lemmy.world
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        11 month ago

        I’m sorry to hear about your friend. I hope he’s doing well, all things considered. I will refrain from being drunk on a balcony. I don’t like being drunk anyways.

    • @Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      I don’t sit on my balcony despite the table and chairs I have out there, but I have lots of plants that soften the view and spark joy. It’s also a place the firefighters could pluck me from.

    • @ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      I wanted a balcony but the real estate agent politely implied that I couldn’t afford one in the area where I was looking for housing. With that said, I can see myself using it for just an hour or two a week while the weather is nice. I like the idea of sitting out on the balcony but I expect that in practice it would be noisy out there and boring on my own.

    • @some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 month ago

      Me too. I have an outstanding rocking chair out there for reading. We also have a tiny table between two chairs, perfect for drinks.

      Edit: I just set a reminder for tomorrow morning to go out before it gets warm.

  • @someguy3@lemmy.world
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    161 month ago

    People want the option to use their balcony. Then they realize it’s usually not so pleasant being exposed like that to the sun, wind, temp.

    • @adarza@lemmy.ca
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      191 month ago

      … or just ‘exposed’. to neighbors, passers-by, and the pervert in the corner office across the street.

      • @ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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        51 month ago

        Heh, I walk around naked with the blinds open because where I live, people would need binoculars to see me and if they choose to, their resulting suffering is their own fault. One advantage of being unattractive…

      • @200ok@lemmy.world
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        41 month ago

        There’s definitely a guy in the building across from me that stares. I don’t think he’s a creep – he’s probably just bored and looking around – but his face is pressed up against the window so he stands out. I’ve made eye contact a few times, ugh.

    • @200ok@lemmy.world
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      71 month ago

      Agreed! They’re always filthy/dusty and annoying to clean.

      And even though no one gives a shit enough to stare, it’s hard not to feel… watched.

  • udon
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    141 month ago

    Depends on where you live. In Japan, most of the time it’s either way too hot to hang out on the balcony or way too cold. In Europe it’s fine in many places for most of the year.

    Some of it also has to do with rent prices which can be higher if you have a balcony.

    Also, and again in Japan: There is an emergency balcony exit in some apartment buildings in case a natural disaster hits. It’s probably easier to climb your way down a bunch of balconies with holes in the ground than a blank wall

    • @forgotaboutlaye@lemmy.world
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      71 month ago

      I live in Berlin, and while I don’t have a balcony myself, I spend a lot of time enviously starring at my neighbours that do, as they use them quite a bit.

  • @Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
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    131 month ago

    As someone who can barely approach the edge of a 3-story parking structure, I would come unraveled on one of those balconies.

  • @HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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    111 month ago

    As a counterexample, look at the Marina City towers in Chicago (aka the corncobs); all of the units have balconies, and the balconies are definitely a selling point. They’re quite large; in the case of the studios, the balcony can be nearly as large as the living space. (I think that I recently saw a nearly all original condo in Marina City go up for sale in the mid $400s? It was an interesting time capsule.)

  • @ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    That’s funny. I see all the skyscrapers around here with balconies and I get jealous, but I never thought about the fact that I almost never see people on those balconies until I read your question.