Do you feel safer living in a house or an apartment? for Questionland Seattle

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Do you feel safer living in a house or an apartment?

I always find it sort of ridiculous how much safer I feel living in a complex, rather than a small building or house. What about you?

RM asked in House & Home over 2 years ago | Report

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elenchos

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I feel like with my house I have a much smaller perimeter to survey, and I have total access to all the vantage points that have clear sightlines to the approaches. In an apartment, you'd typically have to break through a shared wall if you needed to move quickly from one position to another, and the occupants of the other unit could be hostile, slowing you down at a critical time. If you wanted traps or automated defenses, you couldn't put them in places where strangers in the building could walk into them, and you could never completely trust everyone in the complex.

The other thing is that some apartment dwellers are sketchy types. They often bring a rain of shit down on themselves, such as Vincent Vega and Jules Winfield come to send a message from mob kingpin Marsellus Wallace, or just an everyday thing like the police come to serve a warrant. You could get caught in the crossfire. Thin apartment walls woudn't stop a stray spitball.

You hear terrible things in an apartment and you ignore them because you're used to it. But in your own place, nothing out of the ordinary is allowed to pass without checking it out.

elenchos answered in House & Home over 2 years ago | Report

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Geni

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I never liked the transient nature of some apartment complexes - it's hard to get to know your neighbors when they're always moving away. The neighborhood I'm in, most of the neighbors have been in their houses for more than 30 years (I kid you not - we're among the newbies at 11 years), so someone who doesn't normally belong at a house really stands out.

When I was on vacation in Canada last month, the neighbors not only called me to tell me my carport had blown over, they jury-rigged it so it wouldn't blow about any more and damage my car. When the old lady across the street has breathing difficulties, someone in the neighborhood is always checking on her and can get her help promptly. If one of us needs help carrying stuff into the house or lifting something, we know we can knock on a door and get a quick hand. Hell, the guy across the street quite often mows my lawn for me.

In a neighborhood like mine, I feel safer in a house. Especially a house where I installed all the locks, so I know no one else has keys, I installed the windows, so I know they have decent locks on them, etc.

Oh, and the thing that always made me feel least safe in an apartment was neighbors who light candles, smoke, etc. Having one of your neighbors' fire alarms go off under you at 3 a.m. is not a happy thing.

Geni answered in House & Home over 2 years ago | Report

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I feel safer living in an enclosed apartment building -- I like the idea of there being >1 locked door between me and "danger."

Angelina Allen answered in House & Home over 2 years ago | Report

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I like having my windows well above ground. Unless a criminal has excellent lock picking skills, I'm going to know if someone's trying to break into my apartment while I'm at home. Climbing through an unlocked window is too quiet, and when I lived in a house, it was too easy to get paranoid about accidentally leaving a window unlocked.

keshmeshi answered in House & Home over 2 years ago | Report

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It depends on the neighborhood. My house in the central district never felt safe but my current house seems very safe. It is the same with apartments some have seemed safer than others.

Kip Waddle answered in House & Home over 2 years ago | Report

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I feel safer living in a *small* apartment building with no more than four other apartments. I like to know who my neighbors are. Big buildings contain too many unknowns. Not just all the renters but all the people those renters may be letting in. And a house just by itself can feel a bit creepy unless you're sharing with a bunch of other folks.

V answered in House & Home over 2 years ago | Report

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