You couldn’t pay me to go out on a balcony if it’s higher than 1 story. Fuck heights.
I had a friend that was drunk and was smoking and leaning back on a balcony and went over. No one even heard him. One minute he was there, the next minute he was gone. No one even looked down for a few minutes because people were regularly coming and going from the balcony and people just assumed he went back inside.
Broke both his arms, his neck, fucked up his back, and had a major concussion. I think maybe he broke some ribs too. Really fucked him up. He didn’t die, but the head injury caused a dramatic personality change and the neck and back stuff created chronic pain.
Another guy I knew intentionally jumped off a dorm balcony and severely and multiply fractured both his legs and fucked his knees forever.
Don’t… uh, accidentally drop from great heights, people.
That’s funny. I see all the skyscrapers around here with balconies and I get jealous, but I never thought about the fact that I almost never seen people on those balconies until I read your question.
In some places that is a strategy to satisfy zoning requirements. The builder has to provide a minimum amount of outdoor area per dwelling unit. They could create a large ground-level courtyard, or they can create a bunch of tiny balconies that sum up to the same total area. The ladder strategy allows a larger building to exist on the same lot.
A different design other than a basic box would allow them to make a large outdoor area at basically any level they want, not necessarily the ground, but that’s of course more expensive as well.
I think people value private outdoor space differently than public outdoor space. I don’t actually have a balcony but I think I would usually prefer a private space to a public one, even if the public one was much nicer.
It helps a lot if the balcony is somewhat enclosed. The balconies that are just iron fences with no privacy at all are basically useless.
so like, even if it were a box…
They don’t really have to encase each floor. most buildings are concrete, and they could just as easily seal that floor off and leave the observation platform open. But the reality is that it gets pretty windy up that high, and most people won’t want to be out there for very long at all. And not at all if it’s at all inclement.
not to mention… jumpers.
jumpers deserve rights too
Jumping is a bad way to go.
Personally, assisted suicide should be allowed; (but also maybe mandate a few rounds of therapy?) this way people don’t have to find out what being a human shaped puddle is like, because they jumped from not-high-enough.
I approve of the ladder strategy. Work those legs!
Maybe a way to make use of all those unused balconies. I’m on board.
What a Thrill…
God damn, son! I’m only on the 63rd floor! How big is this ladder???
That’s a stepladder
What are you doing, stepladder!?
Mines handy for being able to clean the outside of the windows
For smokers
plants and barbecues
I occasionaly hear about people having their freezer out on the balcony. It makes sense for colder countries, as the temperature difference would be lower than if it were inside. But on the other hand, I’m pretty sure most freezers are not built to endure weather.
freezers work reasonably well in cold climates, provided they don’t try to auto-defrost, fridges not so much.
I’m curious, what makes fridges bad in cold climates?
the insides freeze, also compressors need their oil to not be a gel.
Except BBQs are often against fire code so they’re not allowed 😭
where I am at we can only use electric. Would seem wierd to me to not allow any.
Are you in Europe? In the US, our 120 volt mains limit the size of what can go in our normal outlets. I’ve never seen an electronic grill, unless you mean something that we would call a griddle.
certain ones can sometimes be allowed, go figure. fire is different depending on what’s producing it!
They are not human friendly.
It’s for emergency exit.
/s
I use mine to play Civ
Rapunzel.
I find them too windy and noisy half the time. They are also wet half the time, either from condensation or recent rain.
Depends on where you live. In Japan, most of the time it’s either way too hot to hang out on the balcony or way too cold. In Europe it’s fine in many places for most of the year.
Some of it also has to do with rent prices which can be higher if you have a balcony.
Also, and again in Japan: There is an emergency balcony exit in some apartment buildings in case a natural disaster hits. It’s probably easier to climb your way down a bunch of balconies with holes in the ground than a blank wall
I live in Berlin, and while I don’t have a balcony myself, I spend a lot of time enviously starring at my neighbours that do, as they use them quite a bit.
…smokers…
A friend of mine in Toronto is forbidden to smoke on his balcony now.
300sqft for $3500/month and they’re not even allowed to smoke?
Maybe in order to give each resident the same chance to jump?
/s
There aren’t many smokers anymore, and small apartment balconies were usually used for smoking.
