Apartment living
I’m sure there has been a time when we have all imagined a lush lifestyle in an upper east side apartment in New York, or a small Parisian nook nestled on top of a tiny bakery, if not, well, I’ll speak for myself, I absolutely have.
So, what is it that makes the Parisian and New York apartment lifestyle so, somewhat, ethereal to us living soundly within our hinterland retreats and sandy floors?
The main thing to consider is very obviously the weather. There is just something special about the tip of your nose freezing while you’re bundled up with layers of clothes, sipping on a steamy cup of coffee (Or hot chocolate, each to their own.) It’s a feeling of a distinctive life. That here is where we live, this is who I am, and this is what I do.
As well, unless you are willing, and able, to splurge the top dollar, living the inner-city apartment life will probably amount to an apartment that is just about as big as your surfboard shed. So why is it so desirable?
Excess. It is a habit that many of us find hard to kick. If we have the space, we fill it. Our lives can get clustered with trinkets that we have collected over time. Things that we call our own and that make us who we are. However, in your tiny New York apartment, it comes down to a sculpture you bought on a whim at a garage sale, and your couch (If you are like me, the ‘on the whim’ sculpture will more than likely win). But this is the appeal, a life without excess. It brings us joy in the comfortable, the simplicity.
What we have on the Gold Coast is special. We pretty much have a splash of all lifestyles and I think our multicultural population is to thank for that. The appeal of apartment living is just as relevant here as it is across the seas in New York. To have a life of simplicity, where a garage sale sculpture wins over a couch.