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The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

nytimes.com

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Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#31

Post by melq »

ggm wrote: post #2

Schadenfreude but.. also not. Nobody wants to have a home beset by a ticking clock you can't stop, rich or poor its the minor irritation which nags. For the poor it's the constant hunt for newspaper to wrap themselves in over a steam vent. For the rich, it's losing your free breakfast in a Michelin starred restaurant you have to spend $15,000 pa in by contract, but which is closed by covid. Oh well. Anyway..

I get where you're coming from, but sheesh you could hardly have made a more tone deaf analogy.

Aside from the fact that their private restaurant is almost certainly not closed, some billionaires being inconvenienced by what amounts to minor condo fees on their second (or third, or fourth) home is wildly different than a person with no home struggling to keep themselves warm at night. And 'wildly different' is an understatement.

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#32

Post by nanidin »

ilkkao wrote: post #22
katbyte wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the apartment and when it was built - you can do good or bad noise insulation. Live in a condo and never hear anyone on my floor, and once a month maybe? Sorta hear someone above me. Windows closed I head nothing from outside

I live in Europe and decided to buy an apartment from a building that has been constructed in 1936. Brick walls are about 2ft thick, no issues with the neighbor noise. Still happy with my choice. I think it's the same everywhere. Construction companies optimize everything to make more profit. Hundred years ago, at least here, apartment buildings were constructed mainly by people that had become wealthy. They directly…

I live in America in an apartment building that was destined to become condos (in American terms, a purchasable apartment) just before the 2008 market crash. Due to the market crash and subsequent changes in mortgage requirements for condos, it became rentable apartments instead. It was built in 1913. It has brick walls that range from 2-3' thick, and I almost never hear my neighbors except through my front door. If I could own it, I would!

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#33

Post by BrentOzar »

colordrops wrote: post #20

I don't understand how anyone would want to live in a high rise. Rational or not, if feels dangerous to live high up in a narrow bottlenecked artificial construct.

Quick rundown of the advantages (I usually live in high-rises):

High rises usually have spectacular shared amenities: grand pools, exercise rooms, party rooms, theaters, etc. One of mine had outdoor grilling areas that you didn't even have to clean up: the apartment had cleaning staff who would scour the grills every day.

High rises usually have 24/7 door staff to sign for & lock up packages, get taxis, handle dry cleaning, store grocery deliveries in a fridge, and let you into your unit if you get locked out. The sheer number of units makes this cost-effective for them because the costs are shared across all tenants.

High rises usually have maintenance staff during business hours and on call after hours to fix issues. Sometimes you can also hire them for handyman duties, too - I've had them install TVs, hang green screens, or paint a wall.

High rises are often the only cost-effective way to live in the core of a really vibrant city like Chicago: we couldn't have afforded a town home, let alone a single family home.

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#34

Post by RodgerTheGreat »

vmception wrote: post #19
ramraj07 wrote: post #4

I get conflicted feelings about this. On the one hand it's highly unlikely anyone in that tower would get a shred of empathy from the common man (and highly unlikely this is even one of their 5 other homes), but on the other it's just a damn shame that some of the most prominent landmarks in the greatest city in the world are crappy places to live at. I'm not of the opinion they're eyesores - the nyc Skyline was stag…

interesting. from the article > making clear that even multimillion-dollar price tags do not guarantee problem-free living this reiterates that you can make a living simply catering to wealthy people's problems instead of dismissing them pick and choose your battles

You can make a living in organized crime.

You can make a living polluting the environment.

You can make a living defending corruption, helping the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer.

The problems of the wealthy are as the problems of a tick sucking the lifeblood from a host. Rest assured that extending them empathy and compassion will be a strictly one-sided arrangement when push comes to shove.

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#35

Post by klodolph »

BrentOzar wrote: post #33
colordrops wrote: post #20

I don't understand how anyone would want to live in a high rise. Rational or not, if feels dangerous to live high up in a narrow bottlenecked artificial construct.

Quick rundown of the advantages (I usually live in high-rises): High rises usually have spectacular shared amenities: grand pools, exercise rooms, party rooms, theaters, etc. One of mine had outdoor grilling areas that you didn't even have to clean up: the apartment had cleaning staff who would scour the grills every day. High rises usually have 24/7 door staff to sign for & lock up packages, get taxis, handle dry cl…

High rises are the closest thing we have to arcologies.

Not saying that they’re close to arcologies, just that they’re the closest.

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#36

Post by simonebrunozzi »

taneq wrote: post #16
nradov wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also see the Millennium Tower in San Francisco which is sinking and leaning. They built it on unstable ground without a sufficiently deep foundation.

Could have taken some hints from the Italians...

For the ones that didn't immediately catch the reference, it's the leaning tower of Pisa [0].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#37

Post by chuckSu »

RodgerTheGreat wrote: post #34
vmception wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

interesting. from the article > making clear that even multimillion-dollar price tags do not guarantee problem-free living this reiterates that you can make a living simply catering to wealthy people's problems instead of dismissing them pick and choose your battles

You can make a living in organized crime. You can make a living polluting the environment. You can make a living defending corruption, helping the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer. The problems of the wealthy are as the problems of a tick sucking the lifeblood from a host. Rest assured that extending them empathy and compassion will be a strictly one-sided arrangement when push comes to shove.

Making a living off “rich people problems” has nothing to do with empathy. If their problems put food on my table you best believe I’m going to cater to their bullshit. If it makes me rich even better

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#38

Post by mmanfrin »

sam_bristow wrote: post #11

Ignoring the content of the article for a second - how exactly was the author pronouncing that title in their head? Leeks creeks breeks? Lakes crakes brakes?

Leeks, Creaks, Breaks -- they're not all meant to rhyme. The last element is pronounced differently.

I don't know what the term for it would be, but it's reminding me of 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles'. Rhyme, Rhyme, Schema Deviation.

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#39

Post by kelnos »

EvilEy3 wrote: post #27

> The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: life in a supertall tower Ftfy.

This is kinda a weird comment; I would find living in a supertall tower like that pretty cool, if not for the issues mentioned in the article... most, if not all, of which could have been designed around during construction if it'd been done right.

Re: The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

#40

Post by choeger »

> Initial findings showed that 73 percent of mechanical, electrical and plumbing components observed failed to conform with the developers’ drawings

How is that even legal? Let alone technically possible? How does construction of these monsters work? "Yo, Bert, I need some 5x5 high-elastic steel framing for the 72th floor!" "Sorry man, we ran out of that when we 'redesigned' the elevator shaft, how about you take this plywood we should have used for the 68th floor?"

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