I’m looking at renting my first apartment (not first rental, just first APARTMENT) and it is a upstairs unit. I never would have given it much thought, but I can see pros and cons of upstairs and downstairs apartments. My main concern is I have a 19 month old daughter and am wondering how much trouble it will be going up and down stairs all day and if she’d wander outside and possibly fall down the stairs? I know it is a longshot, but what do you all think?
Tags: Apartment, Downstairs, Rather, Rent, Renters, Unit, Upstairs, Would
Definitely down stairs apartment. Just think of dragging a baby coach or grocery’s up and down the stairs
With upstairs apartments you don’t have to deal with people walking above you. Carrying groceries up the stairs stinks, but it’s worth it. When I had my first apartment, we had to pay extra for a top floor apartment.
I prefer a downstairs apartment with no one above you. But if there is someone above you, the downstairs is the way to go. You won’t have to worry about your daughter falling down the stairs, you falling down the stairs, your guests also falling down the stairs. Especially if you have older guests that come over. They don’t want to climb the stairs. Believe me my first apartment was upstairs and no one came over unless they were young and could climb the stairs. Also if there is no washer and dryer you have to luge all your laundry down the stairs along with your daughter. Also when you go to the grocery, taking all the food up along with your precious daughter. Good luck!
Upstairs is generally preferred because you hear significantly less noise – downstairs residents hear a lot of noise from people walking around. Upstairs is also safer, because it makes it that much harder for a thief to break in.
However, downstairs is more convenient for anyone with children or a medical condition that might make stairs difficult.
If you choose upstairs, you should take precautions so that your daughter can’t open the front door or open a window far enough to squeeze out. (Which would still hurt from the first floor, but wouldn’t be as deadly as a fall from the second floor.) Presumably you would need to take precautions to keep her from wandering outside on her own no matter where which floor you lived on.
Carrying her gear up and down stairs would be bothersome, but you can also think of it as great exercise.
UPSTAIRS PROS:
* No noise above you.
* Less chance of a window intruder
* More privacy from lurkers on the street
* Free heat from downstairs unit in the winter
DOWNSTAIRS PROS:
* Easier access – no stairs
* Cooler in the summer
* No one to disturb downstairs and less likely to disturb anyone upstairs.
If you plan on leaving your door and windows open, it seems there is just as much chance of your daughter being harmed on a ground floor unit as a second floor unit. That said, I would choose a ground floor unit with kid(s) because their running around the apartment is likely to disturb downstairs neighbors.
I lived in a ground floor apartment once. Never again!
I can’t tell you how many hours of sleep I lost because of noise coming from above me. It was awful. And some of the noise wasn’t my upstairs neighbor’s fault. I always knew when she ran her dishwasher and flushed her toilet not to mention some places where her floor (my ceiling) creaked from simply walking.
I also felt safer on the top floor. Nobody could climb in my windows!
I’d assume that your toddler will master walking up and down stairs eventually and go for the security and quiet of a top floor.