Big Daddy said:
Forbidden or not it will become storage. Whether it happens now or in four or five years from now, it will happen.
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My development is 7 years old now and there is not an issue. Of course we have a great board and excellent property management.
 
marsh said:
glass balconies let everyone see people's stuff which can look messy - whereas brick/concrete would hide clutter and give an overall neater appearance if designed correctly. I personally don't understand the appeal of glass buildings but I don't expect the trend to die any time soon.
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Many older rental buildings are going with glass balconies nowadays, which doesn't help matters. The glass balconies may make the building look better overall, but like you mentioned, it won't hide the clutter that some people have on their balconies.

With many condos, the board/property management will and does enforce the by-laws. I had an electric bbq on my balcony at X and was told to remove it, as I was breaking the 'rules'. X was pretty strict about what people had on their balconies. I am pretty sure property management will enforce the rules even down the road, say in 4-5 years (10+ years and so forth).
 
^ I can second that. In my building and many others, if you are storing something on your balcony that violates the rules of the condominium, you are going to hear from property management PDQ.
 
Surely the solution to that problem would be for the owners of condos all over town to elect a kinder, gentler breed of gauleiter to their respective boards, to make wiser decisions on their behalf? Then, they can enjoy similar rights of self-expression to property owners who live in little houses.
 
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Is there any point having balconies if one is not allowed to keep there the normal accoutrements that make them useful and pleasant? The point of balconies is not to look attractive to passersby but rather to enhance the enjoyment of the inhabitants.

Is this not a version of the same appearances first mindset that has banned the healthy and ecologically sound practice of hanging out the laundry in suburban backyards?
 
67Cup said:
Is there any point having balconies if one is not allowed to keep there the normal accoutrements that make them useful and pleasant? The point of balconies is not to look attractive to passersby but rather to enhance the enjoyment of the inhabitants.

Is this not a version of the same appearances first mindset that has banned the healthy and ecologically sound practice of hanging out the laundry in suburban backyards?
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Back when I was younger and lived in a rental apartment, I did use my balcony pretty much on a daily basis. On those very humid nights, I would sleep on the balcony as the unit had no AC. I even ate my lunch and sometimes even dinner on my balcony. I do see people enjoying their balconies by reading books, having that odd smoke or even sun tanning (those generally facing Westerly - even going so far as to seeing nude suntanning at South Beach :)).

There is an electrical outlet on most balconies, which suggests you can cut your hair out there? Or have a dance party with music? I assumed the electrical outlet meant I could have an electric bbq (I understand propane bbq's are not allowed), but even that wasn't allowed. My question to property management was, what's the point in having an electrical outlet on your balcony if you can't utilize it? Chances are, no matter what you do on your balcony, someone is always going to complain about it and you'll be told to stop.
 
We have a fairly large balcony (about 6' X 20') that we practically live on May through September. We don't have large parties but when we have friends over we mostly sit on the balcony plus every free bit of time I have I'm out there with my dog reading, on the phone or on my iPad.
I'm in an apartment (no propane BBQ's allowed) so I use my electrical outlet for an electric grill which management said was fine (my upstairs neighbour had his window open a couple of summers ago and I set off his fire alarm one night around 2am when I was grilling large shrimps that I had marinated in virgin olive oil with fresh herbs which put out a scary amount of smoke!), to power my mini speakers that I plug into my iPhone for music and for lights that I have all over the place. It's also a handy power source for quickly plugging in the vacuum cleaner to do a quick sweep of the fake green AstroTurf every week or two.
I do store my granny cart & a dolly out there plus I have a small microwave sized table/cabinet out there that I keep my gardening stuff in but it can't be seen from the street.
 
My point was that balconies are ugly and ostentatious when you build them at heights. Yes some houses may have ugly garages but they don't stick them 600 feet in the air for everyone in the city to see. It would be good if they banned balconies above a certain height, say 180-220 metres, the designers of aura seem to get it, one bloor not so much. Comparing balconies to a back yard is ridiculous. You can't toke up cuz u have neighbours 2 feet away who will rat you out to the police or condo board.(unless your neighbours are the qadaffis, then they might just kill you).
 
Balconies are a small bit of open space to sit outside and relax like the porch on a house and many people like myself need those spaces. Good architects can successfully make these spaces look good on a building, great architects can go further and make them an attractive feature of a building. Balconies are a common features in a good majority of low-rises up to high-rises and will continue to be.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Good architects can successfully make these spaces look good on a building, great architects can go further and make them an attractive feature of a building.
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That's quite a matter of fact way of saying it. Maybe you could give some supporting examples if you're going to state a thesis.
 
rpeters said:
That's quite a matter of fact way of saying it. Maybe you could give some supporting examples if you're going to state a thesis.
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Balconies everywhere are a dogs breakfast. Many pre-1980 residential buildings that have balconies are generally a very noticeable feature on the building, post 1980 is a whole other matter. Some buildings attempt to integrate a random combination of balconies and solarium's (see 130 Carlton, 55 Wellesley E. etc.) others integrate balconies much more discretely by design (hence, attractively if you find them to be an unpleasant feature) mostly with the use of glass (see Murano, Radio City, Crystal Blu etc.) and then some make no bones about visible balconies (Uptown, Opera Place etc.).
A newer and exciting way of dealing with balconies that we are starting to see is by making the balconies an important feature of the building (see the Market Wharf tower, Casa, One Bloor, Massey Tower etc.). I rarely find balconies on buildings to be unpleasant but what's happening with some of our better buildings here is how Architects are willing to play with these spaces that many people desire and make them less visible to the eye or as a part of the building to further enhance - or in some cases, completely define a building.
 
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