looked at a unit today..tell me what u think

[jackrose]

I just moved into a two bedroom unit above a shop with a closed in verandah and big time steps.... it is working out wonderfully for me!!

As Fiona warned, it can be a deal breaker, but for me the steps are providing great exercise and DD is loving going up and down them with me and the verandah is providing great play space for her. DD is two though so not sure if that makes a huge difference for you.

We moved from a house with a backyard, but the yard was such a mess and impossible to use I never used it! DD sometimes went out there but we make much more use of the park instead. Also, my DD is not much of a climber and is pretty chilled as far as other toddlers go (was as a baby too) so climbing and monkey antics are not such a worry for me.

I guess you have to think about how it is for you with regards to your DD and her personality.

FWIW, living above a shop can be great, can be noisy too (people, bins being emptied etc) I can live with it as I find it a real saviour as a social thing. Everyone around here says hi and knows DD. I find it a really lovely aspect of getting out and it gets me out of the house more than I did before - a definite plus.

Hope that gives you something else to think about and doesn't add to the confusion!! Good luck!

[Oorki Galoorki]

is there space at the bottom of the stairs to keep a pram and other bits you may not need upstairs?

[Sopdet]

is there space at the bottom of the stairs to keep a pram and other bits you may not need upstairs?

That is something that would be a deal breaker for me, personally, having to drag a pram upstairs each time I go out.

If the location is fine, near all the amenities you require, within walking distance of a park for your DD, then I would consider it. I spent most of growing years in a unit, we were near the beach and my mother would take me to the beach each day. Even when we moved into a house, a backyard just wasn't as much fun as going to the park, we didn't have the fun toys in my back yard and the park did.

[mrsmac]

I don't think the lack of yard would be a deal breaker for me, when i only had one child she wouldn't go outside and play by herself anyway!
Above a cafe sounds like heaven to me!!!!

[Madissun]

Lol MrsMac... I agree!

If not having a backyard doesn't bother you all that much and as a PP pointed out, you can still store pram etc somewhere then i'd go for it! Particularly if it's hard to find what you're looking for in your area.

GL hun!

[~Hestia~]

Sounds like a great place!! Personally I'd love to not have a backyard to maintain.

[Amity]

I've got two kids and I've got a unit (with a front yard which I think we've used TWICE in five months).

I love it. Less maintenance, less to clean than an house.

Only issue, as previous posters have said, is whether there is storage for the pram (or whether you give up on a pram and have DD walk everywhere, not sure on her age?)

GOod luck. I'd go for it.