Why I love living in a condo
“How could you live here? It’s so busy.”
One of my friends came to visit me recently at my downtown condo. He was surprised by the amount of people out on the streets. The nearby activities and noise also struck him as unpleasant. He lives in a calm area and wasn’t used to seeing so much foot traffic. To him, my condo in downtown Toronto was too busy, and it was surrounded by too much.
Things are different for me. I love condo living and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
There’s always something going on
I get bored fairly easily, so I’m pretty happy with how there’s almost always something to do in a when living in a condo downtown. You can walk downstairs to the gym for a quick workout or you can check out the party room to see if there’s anyone around. There’s so much more to do when you live in a fun building with plenty of people near your age.
In some cases, the condo association even arranges social activities. And, when you get tired of the condo activities, you easily walk someplace else or catch public transit to a different part of town.
There’s less work to do around the place
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t mind mowing the lawn on a warm summer day. However, I prefer to focus on getting work done on my blog and other areas of my life. When you live in a condo, you don't have as much work to do for maintenance and upkeep. You aren’t in charge of a yard or outdoor maintenance in many cases.
The unit is tiny, and doesn’t take long to clean on the inside. You don’t have to stress out over fixing the roof or shoveling the snow in the winter.
The location is perfect
It’s difficult to be able to afford a home in a busy downtown area of any major city. When you live in a condo, you can easily find a place in an attractive part of your city. I couldn’t imagine going to back to the suburbs and having nowhere to walk to for a night out. Where I live now, I can walk to some of the busiest bars and best restaurants in town. These days, I don’t even want to go somewhere if I can’t walk there.
The community
As soon as I moved into my condo, I made a new friend in the elevator who told me about the private Facebook for the building. I was instantly impressed by the community feel to condo living. You see the same folks in the elevator daily and you build connections with the other residents. Where my parents live in the suburbs, they hardly speak to anyone on the street. I like to run into friends and to make new friends in the hallways of my condo.
Not everyone is cut out for condo living like I am. Carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages, and decide if it might be the right choice for you.