People that lived in walk up apartments *with no elevator*, did you like it?

That's the norm in most urban centers in Europe. Houses are older than elevators, there's no space for a refit, and rebuilding them from scratch is often not feasible due to the time and cost involved.

I didn't particularly mind it though. Been living anywhere from 2nd to 5th floor without one, and it's perfectly fine.

We also don't buy truckloads of groceries as it works in the US apparently, but pick up stuff we need for the evening or next day on the way back from work, and that's that. I hardly ever broke a sweat from shopping.

Honestly, doing laundry in the basement when I lived on the 3rd floor was the most annoying part of having no elevator.

Third floor ain't that bad as long as you don't exceed your carrying capacity. Going up 3 floors by stairs isn't much compared to the ~10 minutes of walking back from the store. Really not that bad with a bag each hand.

It starts getting much with places with > 4 floors but that's pretty rare without an elevator. You waste more time waiting for the elevator than actually going up anyway when you're on floor < 3.

I lived on the 3rd floor in my first apartment, no elevator. We had no car either so we dealt with it by getting groceries more often. The grocery store was only a few blocks away, so it wasn’t terrible. We could have made it easier with a bike or a folding cart, but we were young and stupid so we just carried it.

I also took the subway to work which added at least another 2-4 sets of stairs I walked up every weekday. Getting to my front door honestly felt like only half of my commute home. It absolutely sucked, but my calves were incredible.

I used to work in public health in NYC. I got to see all the people comign into the hospital. The elderly folks who had lived their whole lives on the higher floors of walkup apartments were almost always in great shape compared to their contemporaries who weren't getting exercise every day.

It's the standard in NYC outside of bougie luxury buildings with a lobby. 4 floor walkups are painful, especially while carrying heavy shit.

It's also commonplace to walk up and down a half dozen sets of subway stairs here before you even get to wherever you're going. Most subway stations are not accessible.

Lived 4th floor for 2y (4th floor as in 4th floors up from the ground floor), good for exercise

6th floor, no elevator. I think of it as part of my daily exercise. It doesn't bother me day to day, but moving in sucked. I think I would be annoyed waiting for an elevator.

It was fine. In NYC roommates and I have been in different apartments that were both 5 and 6 floor walkups. This was when we were in our 20's - early 40's. Thing is that after a few weeks you don't really notice the stairs anymore. Bonus is your legs will be pretty strong!

Sure we also had to lug groceries/laundry up the same flight of stairs, a bit annoying but nothing unusual. Didn't have a car either so all that stuff would get carried x amount of blocks from the apartment or even a subway trip.

In my late 40's / going into 50's I'm not so sure I'd still do those type of walkups anymore.

PS - Yeah pay for movers when doing moves in/out of walkup buildings, you really don't want to do that yourself. It's fine when you only need to go up the stairs once/twice a day but repeatedly for a move is much harder.

3rd floor

You buy less stupid shit because you have to carry it. Also never skip leg day.

Fine for living without children.

But moving in and out was a lot of work.

Exactly how much groceries do people have? I currently live two stairs up from the ground floor as I have lived for more than 15 years. It has honestly never even crossed my mind that carrying up groceries could ever be a problem.

It used to annoy me when I still had a car, because I had to carry up a lot more groceries at once and I was an unfit sack of shit. Now I walk to the store every three days or so, meaning the weight is a lot less at once and it's just a minor extension of my evening walk...

Third floor (two sets of stairs), ten years with my mother. Groceries were the worst, but you haul and you get used to it. The human brain and body can get used to a lot of things. Carrying groceries is not one of the worst things it can get used to. Not even close lmao.

It has never bothered me. I paid movers to get my shit up here, and they did. It is rare that an extra flight of stairs or two matters on your way to/from the car.

Yeah, I liked it. I carried the groceries two or three blocks from the store already, what's a couple flights of stairs?

It's ok, I think more about the apartment itself than the stairwell up to it but it's an ok enough stairwell.

People who live with stair cases have better overall health outcomes as they age. Turns out that exercise is really good for your health.

Day to day life was fine but it sucked ass when...

1. Moving furniture in or throwing out/giving away old furniture
2. You buy too many groceries at once
3. You store your bike upstairs

I've had in unit laundry so I can't comment on that

I've never lived in a building with an elevator. I've lived in multistorey apartments, townhouses and live in one now.

Stairs are part of life.

I've never had an issue with groceries and stairs.

Heavy furniture and stairs on the other hand are a reminder that you need friends in your life, if only to have them help you move :)