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Original poster

i think they are mad...

19 replies

hermykne · 13/04/2006 14:17

would u move to an apartment with a 16mth old boy, shared garden, 1st floor, not sure about balcony? 2 bed maybe 3.
i have friends doing this and cant understand it

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 13/04/2006 14:18

depends on where they are coming from. we moved from a one-bed on the 2nd floor in a very rough area to a two-bed on the 2nd floor in a better area. no garden. small rooms. there are 4 of us in there now, but it's all we can afford.

Original poster

hermykne · 13/04/2006 14:20

well its the location but where they are is nice too.

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 13/04/2006 14:21

maybe that's what they can afford. we'd all love to live in a detached house w/a big garden and 4 bedrooms

Original poster

hermykne · 13/04/2006 14:28

expat no offence, they are downsizing for loacation rather than garden/space, to me its a bit unfair for the child when they have space/garden. the location is pretty prime for the new place and its more suited to maybe a couple than a family. i am sort of being a devils advocate really.

OP posts:

waterfalls · 13/04/2006 14:30

Maybe they have other reasons that they dont want to share.

MrsBadger · 13/04/2006 14:43

But maybe nice new location means better trips out to park / library etc, closer to good school / doctor / their parents. Maybe it'll improve their quality of life to be better located and have reduced commuting time so father gets to spend more time with DS.
They have a communal garden so are not sacrificing all outdoor space, just the convenience of running in and out of kitchen. Maybe his mum is planning to play out there with him rather than watching from window.
Maybe there are other kids in the block of flats and there'll be more of a community feel?
Maybe it's a better investment than their current house and they're planning to move when he's older and let it out?

Are you jealous of their shiny new flat?

Original poster

hermykne · 13/04/2006 16:11

no mrsbadger ! more than happy with my lovely back garden!
no i just feel for the child.

plus we wont be able to visit. us 2 kids, them 1 child. bit tight

OP posts:

Original poster

hermykne · 13/04/2006 16:12

visit = staying over as its a diff country

OP posts:

Caligula · 13/04/2006 16:16

I wouldn't like to move somewhere with a balcony. A year ago or so, a child in my friend's block managed to climb up and fall off his 3rd floor balcony. Miraculously he was not killed or seriously injured, but he could so easily have been dead. I would just hate to have that worry all the time. Like having a pond in your back garden. Yes you can have various safety features, but why bother? Just live without the pond/ balcony.

jac34 · 13/04/2006 16:29

We live in a 3 bedroom house with a smallish back garden.It's fine for sitting in and pottering about,but now my boys are older and want to kick a ball about constantly,(including in doors),I'm very glad we live right next to a large park with playing fields.
Is their new flat near a park???
Perhaps,it's just more convenient,also,if they are abroad,in some counties it isn't very common to live in a house with a garden.Accomodation is mostly flats.

swedishmum · 13/04/2006 17:24

We lived in an apartment last year with 4 kids for 8 months - I loved it. Park was right on hand and so were lots of other fantastic walks. Now I'm back in the countryside with my big garden and we hardly ever go out.

hulababy · 13/04/2006 17:33

LOL! Yes, i did it! And it was fantastic.

We actually bought the apartment with a view tomoving in when Dd would have been 3 months. n the end, because of delays, she was 16 months old at the time. We moved out last year, when DD was 3.5 years.

This was a 2 bed city centre apartment. 5th floor with balcony. We had shared gardens on the roof tops. The floor space was actually more than our previous 3 bed detached house. It was mainly open plan. And it was great with a young child - one floor living is a doddle when you have a toddler around.

Everything we ever needed was on our doorstep - shops, restaurants, going out, open space....you name it. Hardly anyone used the gardens so most of the time me and DD had it to ourself. She had her prams down there, we picniced down there. We also had a shared terrace on our floor, for our floor only. We played out there and ate and rank out there. The balcony had a couple of chairs on, but nt large. We put a stair gate up and it was safe for her.

The whole apartment was wipe clean - laminate flooring, tiles. Very practical with a little one.

We loved a lot because of schools. The catchment primary was poor for our needs. And also because we were thinking at that time of having a second child, and didn't want them to have to share. And at 3.5yo we felt DD needed outdoor space - although even now I still have to be with her so not really that much different to using the gardens there, but she now has more outdoor toys. And we have loads more room - but the house was double the cost of the apartment, which wasn't cheap in itself.

We loved our apartment. it was only ever going to be a short term move, but hoped to have gone in a year earlier. And we are so glad we did it. City centre living was great. DD has very fond memories of living there. She even has a brick with her name on in the building :)

hulababy · 13/04/2006 17:34

hermykne - DD was never deprived int he apartment at all. She loved it and got all the outdoor time she needed at that age.

FioFio · 13/04/2006 17:36

This reply has been deleted

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Original poster

hermykne · 13/04/2006 18:40

hulababy
thanks! you set me straight
i know its diff strokes for diff folks

i am just used to space i suppose. and space for me as well in the house

OP posts:

hulababy · 13/04/2006 19:59

As I say, we had as much space in the apartment as we had had in the 3 bed detached house DH and I had shared previously, infact slightly more. DH and my bedroom was our own space.

However, now she is older and has so much more stuff(!!!) and our needs have changed, having this new house - with even more space again - is fab too!

cod · 13/04/2006 20:00

i remmeberer you saying your dd was going on and on abotu havign a garden hula

hulababy · 13/04/2006 20:29

Yes, before moving when she knew she was getting one she did a lot. it was one of the things, along with the promise of a little house for outside, we used with her to get her excited and not too worried aboving moving. It took us a year from start to finish to move - from first putting the aopartment on the market (because of a dodgy first buyer) - so by time she got in there she was always on about it! Trouble is we moved late September int he end, so has ha little use of the garden so far - and tends to use the park on the estate much more than our own garden at the moment.

LIZS · 13/04/2006 20:35

We did - ds was 3 when we moved there and dd lived there from newborn to almost 3. She did scare me a few times on the balcony and by then felt they both needed more space to run around securely. You often get more space , or at least a feeling of, in an apartment without the worry of a toddler and stairs, and you can feel like they are closer by when in their bedrooms. 1st floor more secure than a ground floor flat.

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