apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We live in condos, not apartments, but they are set up similar to this picture (but closer together) and I love the neighborly love we get. Especially during summer, everyone sits outside on their front stoop and the kids play on the grass, everyone looks out for one another, its awesome. Sometimes I wish we lived in a traditional home (a big yard would be nice) but then I think I'd really miss the connections we've made. When you live right on top of one another it can be annoying, but you also can form some really great relationships, with people you wouldn't normally be friends with.

10 feet between buildings???
That's Suburbia.

Try No Feet between buildings - That's a Real City!

At the end of our block there is a low income housing apartment, which is part of a larger community of apartments within a few blocks of each other. The building at the end of our block has large BBQs Saturday evenings during the summer for residents. They always play a variety of upbeat music. The music and sound of laughing and people having a good time can be heard from the balconies in the alley, but it's not so loud you hear it inside your apartment.

It's just nice to hang out on our balcony with a couple drinks, listening to music and people, even though we're on the outside of the party. :)

I love hearing different languages being spoken. Last night I was in our back yard (our fourplex is blessed with one) and I could hear a conversation in Spanish on one side of the building and then a Russian convo on the other side of the building...that didn't happen in my old Texas neighborhood where I was born and raised. I love living somewhere that there are vast differences in people. Makes life interesting!!!

Oh man! My husband and I moved to this great apartment in Pasadena a couple weeks ago. The best thing about it is that it has a TON of windows aka a lot of natural light. This also means we like to leave the windows open as much as possible esp. on hot summer nights.

One thing we didn't consider was how close in proximity we are to our neighbors. We have found ourselves talking softer to one another when we have our windows open because figure if we can hear everything our neighbors are saying, then they can probably hear us too.

All that is pretty tolerable but last night was awful! Just a few feet from our bedroom, we have a neighbor who must be a bartender or something. He showed up last night around 2:30am with a ton of people. They were all drunk, hootin' and hollerin'. I finally had to get up, open my bedroom window and shout over to them (they were so loud they couldn't hear me the first few times) to keep it down. It took me forever to go back to sleep and just when I was dozing off, they all came barreling out making a complete racket when it was time to pack it in at 4am! Argh!!

Neighbor/friend below plays accordian music on the porch.
Makes me feel like I'm in an Italian bistro.

Husband smokes his ol' tobacco pipe. Neighbors love the aromatic smell wafting around.

Long, philosophical stoner talk from the kids next door late at night. It can be very amusing.

There's a music teacher below our apartment. I finally understand those parents who say they love the sound of their child practicing the piano. It's beautiful and somehow so soothing.

NO. I want my peace.

I love our townhomes and waving to neighbors. It helps that this is a property populated mostly by law students, resident doctors, and professionals on shift work, so we are mostly very respectful. The only obnoxious noisy neighbor moved out and left us with great neighbors who have a lovely fire pit!

Back in May I moved to a new apartment. I only moved four blocks but the difference is amazing. I used to live on a high traffic street and it was always pretty noisy. Now, I'm on a quieter street and there's always someone sitting out on their front steps or gardening or whatnot. It's so nice seeing familiar faces and being able to wave and say hello to people on the way to and from work! (Yeah, biggest perk of living in the city: I am a 10 minute walk from work.)

I love the sense of connection I have with the others in our building, as well as those folks I pass regularly on the street. It is one of the reasons my husband and I have decided to stay in our two-bedroom condo in the city - despite the mid-winter addition we are expecting - rather than move to the burbs. Just the thought of giving up the human element our urban living situation brings us makes me feel lonely and isolated. It's one thing to vacation from it but as part of our daily life, we love the activity and energy of the city.

easy access to public transportation to work. i don't have to buy a car. the 'T' is right across the street from my building.