Photo by Scott Matthews.
It’s Open Thread Wednesday, your chance to discuss an issue or ask a question in the comments.
Here’s a random thought that perhaps someone would like to address: Why don’t more Upper West Siders use their balconies and terraces more? I feel like they’re usually empty, even on nice days. I used to live right across a guy with a gorgeous terrace. In five years, I only saw him out there once. And in developments like Lincoln Towers, where many apartments have terraces, people rarely seem to be out on them.
Agreed! Interested to hear people’s thoughts!
Lincoln Towers is sad. lol. The only ones who seem to use their terraces are a group of young people who go out and smoke several times a day. I imagine they are renting the apartment.
I’ve lived in Lincoln Towers for 28 years and LOVE my terrace. From the sandbox I had for my son growing up to the time I caught him peeing off said terrace when he was a youngster. As for me, I have coffee out there many mornings in the nice weather and now that the world is connected through WIFI, my iPad is a frequent companion. I have an electric grill (the only legal type)and love to BBQ. Recently I bought a new bench to relax during the sunsets. I also love to take photos of the changing weather and neighborhood configurations as time marches on. Additionally, it’s a great place to be during a big storm………..very powerful. I have from time to time campaigned for terrace owners be allowed to develop a building approved design to enclose or partially enclose their terrace. Making a sun room would be amazing. The argument against such a plan is 1) the cost and 2)The building feels the haphazard spotting of enclosures would “detract from the uniformity” of the buildings. I realize LT is not an architectural marvel but I love living here and am fine to keep it’s natural beauty intact. I’ve slept out there but lacking a proper bed, it has been infrequent.
It’s sad to see other terraces unused or worse being used as outdoor storage of all sorts of crap. Private outdoor space in NYC is a luxury to me and much appreciated. Now if I could only find a legal outdoor fire pit, I could conquer the winter months too.
I love my terrace, and use it all the time even if it’s just to poke my head outside and get some (relatively) fresh air. This summer I’m determined to grow vegetables and hot peppers. Any tips on growing a potted garden in the city would be appreciated!
Urban gardening is the best! I love my terrace–it’s actually the reason I chose my apartment. You’ll be surprised how much of your own food you can grow, even in a very small amount of space. Last year I grew peppers (red and yellow bell, jalapeno, habanero, cubanelle, banana), green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and tons of herbs, as well as plenty of flowers. Tips: 1) Choose plants based on the amount of sunlight your terrace gets (there are lots of websites to help you determine which plants are best for which types of light–Life on the Balcony and Urban Gardeners’ Republic are two of them–and the guys at the greenmarket can usually help too.) 2) If you cook it together, it will probably grow well in the same pot (for instance, tomatoes and basil grow together quite nicely). 3) Peppers like to be crowded–I’ll plant 5-6 plants in a big bot. 4) Start from plants, NOT seeds–it’s much easier. Hope that helps! Feel free to post if you have specific questions.
Thanks RF, these are awesome tips and thank you for the website recommendations.
No problem! And be forewarned–once you start balcony gardening, it’s hard to stop. Every year I’m looking for ways to cram MORE plants into my tiny space!
I live at Lincoln Towers, the terrace is my favorite “room”. Once weather is warmer, I have meals out there, take naps on the chaise, and the light is perfect for reading & studying. Why don’t others use theirs? Acrophobia? Feels too lonely and vulnerabg new? It does seem a shame to ignore such a gift.
Why don’t others use their terraces? Acrophobia? Feels too lonely and vulnerable out there? Fear of losing privacy? Afraid to try something new? It does seem a shame to ignore such a gift.
I live at Lincoln Towers, the terrace is my favorite “room”. Once weather is warmer, I have meals out there, take naps on the chaise, and the light is perfect for reading & studying. Why don’t others use theirs? Acrophobia? Feels too lonely and vulnerable out there? Fear of losing privacy? Afraid to try something new? It does seem a shame to ignore such a gift.
I’m an LT owner too, and I love my terrace. I’d post a photo of my last summer’s window box if I knew how! I can see a neighbor used what looks like sidewalk chalk to color the bricks on their terrace. I won’t say where it is, because I appreciate this little act of defiance and it’s beautiful!
Switching gears from the terrace convo, I think someone touched on this last week, but is it possible to switch to a different messaging platform for comments. The current one seems a bit antiquated. There are platforms like Disquis and kinja which allow users to “like” or “thumbs up” a comment as well as be notified if someone has commented on a comment. I think that would allow for more robust conversation on this board. My impression is that now there are the same handful of commenters and probably MANY more lurkers (like myself) who would be more involved using a more interactive platform.
Thoughts?
Agreed would love a “like” feature. I’ve suggested this to WSR before
While the platform is not as involved as others, it’s minimally restrictive. One just needs to provide e-mail address, which is nice. If you go into newer systems, a lot of them have “crowd control”, which forces one to use facebook profile or other silliness. If WSR moves away from this platform, I would like to see the new platform to be just as open as current. The main thing ( in my opinion ) is to let people express their opinion, which I think current system accomplishes just fine.
I 100% agree with this idea! I’d love to see WSR use a platform like Disqus. In addition to being able to view commenters’ profiles/past posts, I’d love the ability to upvote/downvote or flag something as inappropriate.
This completely boggles my mind. Before finding my current apartment with a room full of windows (Still no balcony) I searched and searched for something with a terrace/balcony and couldn’t find one in a reasonable price range. So people obviously pay more to have that extra space, why not use it? I would be out there probably 80% of my waking hours! It makes no sense to me when I see all these balconies not being used and even moreso when I notice that the doors leading out to them have the blinds drawn all year…not being used and hidden from view. Yikes.
I used to have a terrace and then a fire escape which I used as a terrace i.e.. sunbathing, growing flowers many years ago. And now there are some terraces that are bigger than some chopped up minuscule bedrooms.
We use our terraces all of the time. It has to be below like 40 to not even just briefly sit out there and have a cup of coffee in the morning. When the weather is nice it is heaven.
It’s usually too windy to use the balcony
My wife wants us to move to a bigger place, but our present one has a large terrace that we (and our cat) use with joy. I have little desire to move to something that might be a little bigger (even a lot bigger) if it lacks this wonderful outdoor space. We ordered chairs from Germany (all-weather EMU, the kind you see in museum plazas) and my life is exponentially happier when sitting in my chair and reading alongside my sunbathing kitty.
John, does your cat instinctively know not to jump down off the terrace? I’ve been wanting to bring mine out on the terrace but I’ve been, well, a scaredy-cat that she would fall.
Terraces – in post-war high-rise buildings – are not used much. This is probably a combination of height and the fact that most terraces jut out.
There is more use of terraces on lower floors or terraces that are set-back.
Lincoln Towers is no different than any other similarly structured building
I agree that the majority of terrace owners do not use or under-use their wonderful space. I had a terrace when I lived downtown and I had flowers and plants in the summer. They are hard to cultivate because the sun burns the flowers if you don’t water twice a day. But the joy of sitting out there on a nice summer night after work and unwind with a nice cup of coffee surrounded by beautiful flowers is unprecedented. I think people are just too busy to appreciate what it is they have. Just as the majority of New Yorkers don’t use the parks that are such a wonderful quick ‘getaway; year ’round.
I live in Lincoln Towers and enjoy our terrace all year round. I plant tons of flowers and herbs in the spring, and enjoy them until a hard freeze in late fall. In the colder months I go out after dinner and enjoy the air and the stars. I even made a snowman a few years ago after a major snowstorm! I don’t enjoy it when it’s hot and humid and no breeze — not pleasant anywhere when it’s like that. And it’s also a perfect ‘room’ for some projects that you don’t want to do on your dining room table.
I wonder the same thing! What a waste of outdoor space if you’re not using it!