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Just a note that "occupied" != "can see people milling about". A lot of people (particularly in NYC) treat their apartment as just a place to sleep. During th

Just a note that "occupied" != "can see people milling about". A lot of people (particularly in NYC) treat their apartment as just a place to sleep. During the day, they're at work. For breakfast and dinner, they eat out. In the evenings, they hit the clubs, or go over to a friend's, or visit one of any number of cultural attractions. That's why they live in NYC, because of the density of non-home forms of entertainment. Particularly if you value your privacy, it makes sense to keep the blinds permanently shuttered, leave your apartment in the morning and come back at night, and just sleep & shower there.

bunderbunder 2y ago
Heck, it can make financial sense too. We tend to keep our windows covered most the day regardless of season. In winter it helps to keep the heat in and there's no natural light to miss out on anyway. In summer it helps to keep the heat out, and we mostly don't care about natural light in the apartment because we're outside enjoying the weather. (What's even the point of living in the city with the highest % public green space in North America if we're going to just stay at home bingeing Netflix all evening?) And you can't necessarily see the lights on when somebody's home because we use the most blackout-y blackout curtains we can get. Urban light pollution has gotten so bad - especially since the switch to superbright LEDs - that they've become a sleep hygiene necessity.
vidarh 2y ago
This effect is also exacerbated in wealthier areas by bigger units. Units are less likely to seem lively because people are using a smaller proportion of rooms at any given time, and those rooms may not always even be visible to you. E.g. my grandparents flat would often have looked dark and abandoned from the courtyard, because that side of the flat was unused for much of the day, and often only lot when the curtains were closed, even when they were home and had visitors and a full house.

bunderbunder 2y ago

Heck, it can make financial sense too. We tend to keep our windows covered most the day regardless of season. In winter it helps to keep the heat in and there's no natural light to miss out on anyway. In summer it helps to keep the heat out, and we mostly don't care about natural light in the apartment because we're outside enjoying the weather. (What's even the point of living in the city with the highest % public green space in North America if we're going to just stay at home bingeing Netflix all evening?) And you can't necessarily see the lights on when somebody's home because we use the most blackout-y blackout curtains we can get. Urban light pollution has gotten so bad - especially since the switch to superbright LEDs - that they've become a sleep hygiene necessity.

vidarh 2y ago

This effect is also exacerbated in wealthier areas by bigger units. Units are less likely to seem lively because people are using a smaller proportion of rooms at any given time, and those rooms may not always even be visible to you. E.g. my grandparents flat would often have looked dark and abandoned from the courtyard, because that side of the flat was unused for much of the day, and often only lot when the curtains were closed, even when they were home and had visitors and a full house.