apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I live in a ground floor apartment in Queens and absolutely love it! Move in was a breeze, and I didn't have to buy any new furniture despite the fact that the couches I have are quite bulky. Plus I am the sole resident with access to our lovely backyard. Granted, I have to mow the lawn (blech)... but I also have the pleasure of tending a garden in the city. It's ideal.

Oh yah, and not having to haul groceries upstairs is a gift not to be taken for granted.

We just moved in to a ground floor apartment and I do agree with all the benifits no hauling heavy loads up and down stairs, garden access etc.

However:

I'm a little more concerned about security, specifically the window AC unit we just installed last night. It feels like anyone could just push the window open or take the unit out and come in. Anyone have any suggestions?

Also, we're renting, what are the chances we could get the landlord to install those window bars?

I lived in a garden-level brownstone apartment in Brooklyn for years, and it was lovely. Sometimes I was a bit bothered when there were smokers outside in the summertime, but otherwise it was fine. Having a garden in the city was so special -- it actually made me feel more connected to my neighbors (there was no fence between our yards, and they were avid gardeners).

Another bonus of my apartment was being the only occupant of the building with access to the basement, which was partially finished. A bit annoying when someone needed me to to flip a breaker for them, but pretty wonderful when I needed a place to store extra furniture or do a load of laundry!

meenasyaz: I would definitely look into getting security bars on the windows. They make them with space to allow an A/C unit to fit in. It's most definitely a security risk to not have the bars!

I live in a ground floor co-op on Thompson St. No garden - my neighbor has access to the small patch of concrete -but I appreciate not having to haul things up many flights. And being able to wheel the bike right out the door is wonderful. Drawbacks: there IS noise on summer weekend nights; I dread it when NYU kids are back. And a lot of black dust from passing traffic has me resigned to keeping the windows closed almost 24/7. There's a rental apartment below so I can't stomp around. I do enjoy seeing people go by, since I work at home it's a wee bit less isolating.
Oh and when you're getting something heavy delivered (i.e. furniture) the look of relief on the hauler's face is priceless. No stairs!

If you do get the window bars installed, they can make them surround the AC too, so you wouldn't have to worry about somebody getting in that way.

I would much prefer to be on the ground floor. The best part to me is that you can just walk right into your home and not have to worry about stairs or elevators.

Another plus about being on ground floor is often times, apartments have nice hardwood on first floors, but they have to carpet the upstairs floors because of noise.

Right now I am living on the 4th floor with no elevators and I can't stand all the stair climbing I have to do, although I do like my view from up higher. The reason I chose this time not to do ground floor was for fear of the people above me being heavy walkers. Last time I had someone over me, it was a nightmare!
My choice was a lot of stairs to walk up or chancing loud upstairs neighbors again, so I chose the stairs. The lesser of the two evils.

I'm on the ground floor which does have its perks, but the drawbacks are security, and natural light. I love 2nd floor apartments for the lovely natural summer light that fills each room! Being a 1st floor is much dimmer & I can't leave the windows open in the heat when I'm alone at night cause I get the heeby-jeebies.

One advantage not mentioned, is when you own a dog. I live in a suburb and I wanted a first floor so I could have a lead and just let the dog out. But I ended up getting a 3rd floor. So when my dog got up at 3am to go to the bathroom I had to get dressed and walk around with him. Its a lot easier to put him on the lead and his barking would wake me up again to let him back in. It got so bad I sent him back to my parents. (That and the destroying of my things.)

I lived in a ground floor apartment the past three years, but forget about it being cooler in summer -- it was right on top of the building's boiler room, and it was radiant heat under the hardwood floor all year round. It was lovely in winter, but man, did I cook in August!

That Savannah ground floor apartment shown in the photo has a couple disadvantages - crime and roaches. The roaches come off the street and into the first floor apartments much easier than if you lived upstairs! But.. that's a Savannah thing.

I do like the feeling of it being more like a single family home. I miss that. Moving and bringing in groceries also comes easier.

I lived in a ground floor apartment for 5 years, and it did feel almost like a house. I had my own entrance and didn't go through the lobby. It was great for my dog too, as others have said. The two main downsides for me were that I had to deal with lots of insects and plumbing problems. Plumbers have told me that first floor units have more plumbing problems, and I seemed to have more than my share. That's the main reason I won't be living in a ground floor apartments again.

i used to live in a first floor unit and while initially hesitant i thought it was pretty great.

i wasn't concerned with safety as much since i was in the front and right beside a 24 hour concierge. no waiting for elevators, easy and quick access to my own unit and little frustration in trying to get things moved into the building.

the only detractors were how often people felt that they should stare into my home as they walked by when the windows were opened and didn't even blink if i looked back at them, and the smokers right outside that made it difficult for me to open my windows for fresh air.

now it's on my list of wants/needs that i never go above 4 floors. it's almost too easy to take the stairs at that height.

I had a peeping tom when I was in school (apparently there was a small gap I had never noticed where my blinds met my window sill). And my ex could just show up and knock on my window and grin at me unless I kept the blinds down in all my rooms all the time.

No ground floor apartments for me ever again, thank you very much. I feel completely vulnerable in them.

I enjoy living on the ground floor here in Montreal, and fortunately, I live on a small, quiet street. I love being able to see trees and greenery outside my window, and enjoy watching the pedestrians walking by (great for a weather check too: are they wearing jackets or coats?). Also, no stairs means I can pop in and out to the corner store without batting an eye. Another bonus is that in the summertime, I don't need the air condition on full blast all the time.

I hate living on the ground floor and am really disappointed that the only new apartment we could find was another ground floor, though thankfully it is a little higher up and gets more light than our current place. The only way I would ever happily move into a ground floor place would be if it had a yard/garden...

Laura -- Those aren't roaches they're Palmetto bugs ;-)

I have a ground floor and like/dislike it for many of the reasons listed above. One advantage I find is that I now can get my bike in/out of my apt much easier, so I ride more.