BALCONIES—WHY?
Whenever I drive around in Toronto, whether in the city or suburbs, I cannot help but look at the abundance of tall buildings, either condos or rental units. At a guess at least 90% have balconies of between 50 and 60 square feet. I swear , I have hardly ever seen people enjoying the nice summer weather in the outdoors free of the pollution from the cars in the city. On occasion, I do see a smoker not wanting to pollute the apartment. So what is the use of the balconies? As I have paid a great deal of attention, what I find there are old outdoor furniture and the odd bag of garbage that the inhabitant, as of yet, has not found the time to place at the curb to be collected. In speaking to David Fingold, a well known realtor in Toronto, you cannot rent or sell a unit unless there is a work-out room, a swimming pool, or the ubiquitous balcony, and of course the reality is they are generally unused. Why then do builders put in these unused facilities? It is in my opinion psychological. When you choose an apartment, you can see the balcony, the pool, or the workout room but the extra square feet you would get in a building without the facilities is difficult to envision. In the building in which I live most long term owners have glassed in the balcony.
I received a personal e-mail from a friend, Faila Marcus, who gave me a good reason for balconies, and even for swimming pools and work out rooms. There are numerous people unable to get out for health reasons and this gives them a way of compensating for their inadequacies.
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“In speaking to David Fingold, a well known realtor in Toronto, you cannot rent or sell a unit unless there is a work-out room, a swimming pool, or the ubiquitous balcony, and of course the reality is they are generally unused. Why then do builders put in these unused facilities? It is in my opinion psychological.”
It may very well be psychological, but I think there is more to it then that. The other two options take up a considerable amount of space and money to run, while balconies sit outside of buildings and therefore cost virtually no extra space and has minimal upkeep. Basically what it comes down to, in my opinion, is “what has the most potential profit with the lowest cost?” and that would equal balconies.
I think you are absolutely right. In the building where I live most owners have put glass walls around the balconey. Thanks for commenting Murray Rubin