Would You Live Or Work In A High Rise?

I wouldn't have a problem with living in a high-rise if I had a fairly good sized apartment. This is probably the future of housing:
Fredrick_Douglass_Housing_Project_Towers_2010.jpg


These buildings where known as "the projects" since they were government subsidized housing. They were demolished several decades ago because of all the problems with crime and filth, but that was before the housing crisis. Today, people would be fighting to get an apartment in a place like that. Considering the price of land, it makes sense to build up.
 

No. This is mainly because the people who build them sometimes take shortcuts or use cheaper materials than were specified which later causes parts of building to collapse. A structural engineer I know had that happen in a building he helped to design. Also, I am concerned about what happens if there is a huge fire. Can the ladders reach it? What happens to people who can't go down so many flights of stairs? What happens when a mob of panic-stricken people are trying to go downstairs at the same time?

There are fireproof materials that can be used to build buildings but they are likely too expensive to be used.
 

Would I live/work in a high rise.? Yeah, no problem at all. The highest for me was the 13th floor. You come in, close the door, and you're home. It doesn't matter if you're in the basement, or the 154th floor. There's no real danger that happens on the 154th floor that can't happen in the basement.
 
I would if I had to, but I wouldn't like it.

Irwin said:
I wouldn't have a problem with living in a high-rise if I had a fairly good sized apartment. This is probably the future of housing:
Fredrick_Douglass_Housing_Project_Towers_2010.jpg


These buildings where known as "the projects" since they were government subsidized housing. They were demolished several decades ago because of all the problems with crime and filth, but that was before the housing crisis. Today, people would be fighting to get an apartment in a place like that. Considering the price of land, it makes sense to build up.
Click to expand...
They would if the plumbing was fixed. Generally, gov't-funded/gov't subsidized housing isn't nearly as substandard these days but still suffers from corner-cutting and cheap materials. In the apartments I live in, they used recycled fixtures in most of the units, which isn't a bad thing except some of the tubs, sinks and toilets are chipped and/or have deep abrasions and discoloration from industrial chemical cleaning.

Also, old projects like the one you pictured were poorly maintained. Too bad; millions of tax dollars were wasted. Today, it would be billions. About 4 years ago, here in Calif, people voted yes on a $2.2 million housing bill that was supposed to fund 4 city blocks of low-income apartment complexes, but after the state paid designers, engineers, and the contractor's bid there was no money left for actually building them. They couldn't even afford one back-hoe or even a guy with a shovel, I kid you not. And this was after the state squandered a flat $2 million doing exactly the same thing 2 years earlier. No surprise, Californians are extremely reluctant to get fleeced a 3rd time.

Another disgrace - some military veteran down in L.A. decided on his own (with people's cash donations and some volunteer workers) to build hundreds of tiny homes, and he got a whole slew of homeless people moved into them, and then about 3 months later the city had the police throw the people out of these homes, load them up on huge trucks (rented w/tax $$), and take them to a dump site to be destroyed (the tiny homes, not the people in 'em). The homes were placed on public and donated property, and the dude even had the required permits for it. The city's excuse was that it wasn't this guy's job to take care of the homeless. 😵
 
Murrmurr said:
I would if I had to, but I wouldn't like it.


They would if the plumbing was fixed. Generally, gov't-funded/gov't subsidized housing isn't nearly as substandard these days but still suffers from corner-cutting and cheap materials. In the apartments I live in, they used recycled fixtures in most of the units, which isn't a bad thing except some of the tubs, sinks and toilets are chipped and/or have deep abrasions and discoloration from industrial chemical cleaning.

Also, old projects like the one you pictured were poorly maintained. Too bad; millions of tax dollars were wasted. Today, it would be billions. About 4 years ago, here in Calif, people voted yes on a $2.2 million housing bill that was supposed to fund 4 city blocks of low-income apartment complexes, but after the state paid designers, engineers, and the contractor's bid there was no money left for actually building them. They couldn't even afford one back-hoe or even a guy with a shovel, I kid you not. And this was after the state squandered a flat $2 million doing exactly the same thing 2 years earlier. No surprise, Californians are extremely reluctant to get fleeced a 3rd time.

Another disgrace - some military veteran down in L.A. decided on his own (with people's cash donations and some volunteer workers) to build hundreds of tiny homes, and he got a whole slew of homeless people moved into them, and then about 3 months later the city had the police throw the people out of these homes, load them up on huge trucks (rented w/tax $$), and take them to a dump site to be destroyed (the tiny homes, not the people in 'em). The homes were placed on public and donated property, and the dude even had the required permits for it. The city's excuse was that it wasn't this guy's job to take care of the homeless. 😵
Click to expand...
Wow! 😟
 
I would if I had to. I can adapt to just about anything. I would not particularly want to though. I have always shied away from multifamily dwellings. Mainly because of fires and bugs. I am somewhat of a happy hermit and all those people would freak me out.
 
Jeni said:
NBC News

Leaning San Francisco skyscraper is tilting 3 inches per year as engineers rush to implement fix​

https://www.yahoo.com/news/leaning-san-francisco-skyscraper-tilting-233244444.html

this sounds related to this thread. 😁
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Yeah, this place is just a Disaster waiting to happen. People are probably paying a fortune to live in this place, and it is built on porous and settling land. Unless some construction "miracle" can be found, it will eventually suffer the same fate as the condo in Florida which collapsed a year ago. However, if this thing collapses, it will be like the destruction and collapse of the WTC, on 9/11.
 
Murrmurr said:
I would if I had to, but I wouldn't like it.


They would if the plumbing was fixed. Generally, gov't-funded/gov't subsidized housing isn't nearly as substandard these days but still suffers from corner-cutting and cheap materials. In the apartments I live in, they used recycled fixtures in most of the units, which isn't a bad thing except some of the tubs, sinks and toilets are chipped and/or have deep abrasions and discoloration from industrial chemical cleaning.

Also, old projects like the one you pictured were poorly maintained. Too bad; millions of tax dollars were wasted. Today, it would be billions. About 4 years ago, here in Calif, people voted yes on a $2.2 million housing bill that was supposed to fund 4 city blocks of low-income apartment complexes, but after the state paid designers, engineers, and the contractor's bid there was no money left for actually building them. They couldn't even afford one back-hoe or even a guy with a shovel, I kid you not. And this was after the state squandered a flat $2 million doing exactly the same thing 2 years earlier. No surprise, Californians are extremely reluctant to get fleeced a 3rd time.

Another disgrace - some military veteran down in L.A. decided on his own (with people's cash donations and some volunteer workers) to build hundreds of tiny homes, and he got a whole slew of homeless people moved into them, and then about 3 months later the city had the police throw the people out of these homes, load them up on huge trucks (rented w/tax $$), and take them to a dump site to be destroyed (the tiny homes, not the people in 'em). The homes were placed on public and donated property, and the dude even had the required permits for it. The city's excuse was that it wasn't this guy's job to take care of the homeless. 😵
Click to expand...
Wasn't the problem with those homeless communities that they were in residential communities and a lot of people complained about the homeless people wandering around their neighborhoods? I remember hearing about some of them trying to molest children or something.
 
Irwin said:
Wasn't the problem with those homeless communities that they were in residential communities and a lot of people complained about the homeless people wandering around their neighborhoods? I remember hearing about some of them trying to molest children or something.
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You're probably referring to Skid Row in LA. No, there were no molestations that I know of, CPS went in regularly to remove babies and children, but there extremely violent gang conflict was a daily occurance. Skid Row was several residential blocks of run-down houses and the city basically just cordoned it off and let the homeless have it. Soon there was no policing whatsoever and gangs took over, imposing taxes on anyone who lived there (in the form of drugs, food, women, furniture, weapons, etc). They even charged everyone to use the porta-potties. Violations were punishable by death, or you could get a very serious beating after which they burned your tent down.

The stuff I posted about is related to 2 different areas, one of them not too far from Skid Row.

I've read that Skid Row is pretty much totally cleaned up now, and that's where they want to build new low-income housing, but Los Angelians want it to be a business district. Can't blame them.

I have no idea where all the former Skid Rowans went. I haven't kept up.
 
When I was working in Toronto my office was on 52nd floor. Marvellous view and saw the CN Tower as it was built.
Did own a condo at one time on 27th floor of a 33 floor building.
Splendid view of Halton Hills and Mount Nemo

Presently renting on the 8th floor of a 12 floor building as 'lakeview apt'.
Marvellous view of Lake Ontario until a 27 floor condo went up.
We all feel we should have drop in rent since we no longer have the view of the lake ..dang !!
..ah well, c'est la vie..
 
I live on the 3rd floor of a 4 floor apartment complex. Fourth floor is about as high as I want to get. Don't care for high rises where planes that land are below you.
 
I remember when I was working for AT&T in NYC in the early 1980's, their new headquarters building was just completed on Fifth Avenue. I was
part of the first employee group that moved in. I think I worked on the 30th floor. Leaving for home one evening in that first week I got in the elevator with several coworkers. We moved about a half a floor and then stopped for over two hours. So glad I used the restroom before I got in the elevator.
 
I lived in a modestly high highrise for a while during college and I loved it, but it was a special place. I don't remember ever hearing any neighbor noise, there was a super convenient trash room where we could just drop our bag of trash down a chute, and people could leave bigger items to be disposed of. I found a wonderful chair there once, my mom didn't think much of it, but it was a sort of bucket shape and I could sit sideways in it with my legs over one arm and spin in circles, I did a lot of happy spinning in that chair in my college years.
Also the apartment building was above an underground complex so I could take the elevator all the way down below ground and the underground was a fun maze of hallways (large bright clean) that had specialty shopping areas, hair salon, dentist, a major type grocery store, restaurant, food carts, access to the Metro train to go to other places in the city. It was really nice.
I wish I could find someplace like that to live now, except I'd want easy access to a park with grass & trees & birds, because I've become very attached to seeing nature.
 
I worked in them when i lived Manhattan, including the couple of months office temp job in the Empire State Bldg. The height didn't bother me, being closed up in crowded elevators for 85 floors did. Sheer act of will to do it every weekday for 3-4 months! My claustrophobia was at full force those days.
 
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I am on the 2nd floor and it is as high as I want to go. I don't like heights at all. But I would not want to be on the first floor either because it is too busy for me.
 
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