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I grew up in Edinburgh - which along with Glasgow has the highest percentage of households living in flats in the UK (greater than even London). The apartments
by leoedin 3y ago
I grew up in Edinburgh - which along with Glasgow has the highest percentage of households living in flats in the UK (greater than even London). The apartments in Edinburgh can be incredible - often 150-200 square meters, 3.5-4m ceilings and large reception rooms. Sometimes even larger. They make a great streetscape too.
I live in London now, and the buildings are far less impressive. London is a very low density city - it very quickly becomes 2-3 storey terraced houses, even in central areas. With the exception of a few grand mansion blocks in the centre, flats in this city are pretty small - most of them were built as social housing or created by subdividing existing houses. It's a shame, as living in a well built large apartment can be excellent.
The English problem with flats is primarily a legal one. The leasehold system puts power in the hands of an uninterested landlord - and so makes owning a flat an exercise in frustration. Nobody desires to live in a flat because they're small and owning them is bureaucratic and expensive. The system perpetuates itself.
- antiterra 3y agoThose Georgian apartments in Edinburgh are up to like 6th floor walk ups. It’s something you can get used to, but sprain your ankle and it’s suddenly a much different experience. Usually it’s more steps per floor than a comparable NYC walk up. Great idea if you are young or have a good social support system in case you need help.
- HPsquared 3y agoGood for fitness, I suppose.
- smegger001 3y agoI lived in fifth floor apartment that spent about a year replacing the elevator that was not a fun trip up the stairs on grocery shopping day with six months old child. Then too neither was moving out after as the new elevator car was smaller and much of the furniture that had fit in the old elevator needed caried down a staircase with three 90° turns per floor.
- jahewson 3y agoMostly 4 stories. I used to live at the top of one, at first it’s hard but after a while you stop noticing. We had all types in our building, babies, old people, musicians, you name it. British people walk everywhere anyway.
- frereubu 3y agoI loved living in Edinburgh's New Town because of the tenement blocks. The huge windows were a life saver in the winter because they let in so much light. (Not so sure about the energy efficiency of single-glazed sash windows though). As you say, it makes for a handsome streescape. My experience of flats in London was almost exclusively badly-converted victorian terraces, where rooms could have really odd shapes because of the way they needed to be divided, and terrible noise insulation.
- dist-epoch 3y agoPeople in central London drink outside on the curb, because there is no place to drink inside the pub. It's so funny.
- asdadsdad 3y agoit's london charm
- InCityDreams 3y agoEverything I see screams 'well, you're kinda wrong', but 'curb' and 'kerb' are two different things.
- dragonwriter 3y agoIn US English. the noun spelled “kerb” in British English is spelled “curb” just like the verb spelled “curb" in both places.
- vladvasiliu 3y ago> London is a very low density city - it very quickly becomes 2-3 storey terraced houses, even in central areas. To me this was actually quite surprising. I remember my first time visiting London. Apart from the very center with a bunch of towers, the impression I had was "this isn't a city, it feels like a small town".
- saiya-jin 3y ago... and if you want to go visit somebody or something on the other side of the same city, expect easily 2-3 hours regardless of mode used, so a lot of people just don't. Its bearable place but you are literally stuck in it, at least compared to places which are smaller or more concentrated where you actually do and see stuff, not just spend your day getting to/from it