If you are young, learn from my mistake. If you are not at the stage where you can buy a house, take different steps.
Avoid basement. It leaves a severe mental scar on you for lifetime.
You're not a super old person stuck in a chair that needs to see things from the inside. Go outside.
If you are young, you should view the place you are living as your basecamp to sleep so you can go out and explore your world - not look at it through a window.
Plus basement dwellings tend to be cheaper in which you can use the extra money you save for exploring.
Though I can imagine that it can wear you down along with other things that may be going on in your life, at which point perhaps it's time to change things up in a big way, like moving, to reset your disposition and find new experiences.
10 years in a place you despise seems like one of those points.
The last few years have been significantly worse for out-of-home adventuring. Yes the parks exist, yes there's tons of outdoor stuff you can do. But the baseline "go to the grocery and passively see other human beings" fell of a cliff. Basements don't help with that.
Also, something something vitamin D?
I dunno. I spent a lot of the Pandemic working out of my basement. I did not enjoy it at all. I'm making fairly large & expensive changes to avoid it in the future.
Some lifestyles may not need change to live in such places, for some some room for improvement may exist, and for others you will get some damage anyway.
And, of course, you should take into account country, city, culture and so on to see if that fits for you and there.
You can use the extra money inside too, like, I don't know, pictures or screens showing nature, fish bowls, furniture and so on, if you have to stay there for too much time anyway. But maybe it may be a better investment to use what you save to go to somewhere else better by some definition, if you can't change too much how depressing it is for you.
> You're not a super old person stuck in a chair that needs to see things from the inside. Go outside.
You may not enjoy windows, but I do, and lots of other people do as well. I would prefer my home to not be a solid box. I go outside, but sometimes I come home, and when I do I like windows.
> If you are young, you should
Unless you're basing your next words on what the reader's personal interests are, this would be better phrased as "when I was young, I liked to [...]". Your lifestyle goals are obviously different from mine and so your advice has little relevance to my life.
> basement dwellings tend to be cheaper in which you can use the extra money you save for exploring.
Again you take for granted that everyone cares about exploring as much as you do.
> What you're saying is just plain wrong
This would have been better phrased as "What you're saying is not how I live my life". Wouldn't it be more helpful to first learn more about what the reader actually wants, instead of just assuming everyone is the same as you? If the OP is unhappy about living in basements, they probably won't benefit from being told "you're wrong" lol. I'm happiest when I have a comfortable home with big windows and a great view, and when I spend almost all of my waking life inside that home. The pandemic lockdowns were the best times of my life because I didn't have to see people or leave my home. There are people out there who enjoy different lifestyles than you, and conversations would probably be more effective if we started with that in mind.
No, this is just how people should live.
> Unless you're basing your next words on what the reader's personal interests are, this would be better phrased as "when I was young, I liked to [...]". Your lifestyle goals are obviously different from mine and so your advice has little relevance to my life.
So then this post is moot so crap on the OP rather than my post
> Again you take for granted that everyone cares about exploring as much as you do.
Well if they want to be stuck inside like a hermit then don't complain about a lack of sunlight - go outside.
> This would have been better phrased as "What you're saying is not how I live my life". Wouldn't it be more helpful to first learn more about what the reader actually wants, instead of just assuming everyone is the same as you? If the OP is unhappy about living in basements, they probably won't benefit from being told "you're wrong" lol. I'm happiest when I have a comfortable home with big windows and a great view, and when I spend almost all of my waking life inside that home. The pandemic lockdowns were the best times of my life because I didn't have to see people or leave my home. There are people out there who enjoy different lifestyles than you, and conversations would probably be more effective if we started with that in mind.
Nope, was phrased correctly. Going outside is not a lifestyle - it's what normal people do.
You can say that all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that it's an opinion. I think people should live far apart from each other and definitely not in cities, but saying that won't do anything to change your opinion either.
> Well if they want to be stuck inside like a hermit then don't complain about a lack of sunlight - go outside.
You seem incredibly upset that some people enjoy being indoors. You also write as if windows and doors don't exist. Enjoying the indoors and an outside view at the same time is fundamental to human nature, as shown by thousands of years of windows. If anything, there is more evidence to say that your opinion is wrong, that humans shouldn't live with windows.
> Going outside is not a lifestyle - it's what normal people do.
Normal people also go back indoors lol, and normal people enjoy windows when they're inside. I can't begin to imagine why you take it so personally that somebody would dare to want an apartment with windows. I won't be responding further but I hope you enjoy your chosen way of life
Everyone has opinions, but OP's is in the minority and some opinions are less valid than others - you can't hide behind an opinion.
> You seem incredibly upset that some people enjoy being indoors. You also write as if windows and doors don't exist. Enjoying the indoors and an outside view at the same time is fundamental to human nature, as shown by thousands of years of windows. If anything, there is more evidence to say that your opinion is wrong, that humans shouldn't live with windows.
I enjoy being indoors just as much as outdoors - doesn't mean I'm a hermit. Windows are fine. But who cares if you don't have them when you're young and should be grinding.
> Normal people also go back indoors lol, and normal people enjoy windows when they're inside. I can't begin to imagine why you take it so personally that somebody would dare to want an apartment with windows. I won't be responding further but I hope you enjoy your chosen way of life
They do! I'm not taking it personally. You and OP seem to think living in a basement is not ok. You're young - life is not perfect - get out of your house.
My chosen way of life is the right way.
Surely the benefit of renting is the ability to quickly change living environment as you want, rather than stay somewhere you're unhappy for ten years?
1) Possibly to decrease coats of living?
2) Location might not have much better to offer? (Dunno how likely?)
3) Social situation (family, friends, niche industry?)
Lived in a basement apartment as a child for a decade. I came out fine. But yes, would certainly not recommend if there are alternatives.
Also, people don't exist in a vaccuum. Many are grounded in certain places because of familial obligations. Others - particularly recent immigrants in places like NYC - are tied to a local ethnic or expatriate community that they rely on for social and emotional support.
That being said, I prefer to have my office on the North side of a building, as there is less glare to deal with on my monitor, and the temperature is more consistent.
Still, sunshine is a good idea generally for both physical and mental health, and its easy to slip out of a reasonable sleep cycle when staying in the basement away from the rhythms of the sun. So your mileage may vary.
One thing I've found to help is growing some plants indoors. I have a few grow lights on 12h timers that keep me a little grounded to the rhythm of the Earth. However nothing beats the energy you get from a natural view.
Never live in a place where there's a lot of house renewals going on. I lived in Lisbon, Portugal for a while and still after a few years the sound of a jackhammer in the distance still stresses me out. I had construction workers drilling through the dinning room ceiling by mistake, or removing the the ceiling of the downstairs appartment with a hammer just below me. An all that pain only to see your rentals not being renewed because of the ongoing gentrification process.
This is the problem. Unless you have absolutely no other options, don't rent one place for a decade. Try to move onwards. Rent a basement at the start, but as you progress in your career rent an apartment with a view, a whole house, maybe buy somewhere of your own eventually.
Don't settle until you're where you want to be. Accepting something that you're not happy with is what leaves scars. This applies to much more than just the place you call home.
Living in a basement allowed me to live in a substantially larger place than a studio apartment, 50m from a big park with playground, 100m from the main public transit of the city (train) and save so much in rent that I can now afford to buy. All of this while happy, now have two kids (still in the basement)
NYC leaves a severe mental scar on me (not just windows, but everything pretty much), yet I am still here because I need the money.
Even with recent price moves one can readily find an apartment for less than $2k here in decent parts of Brooklyn and Queens. And if your housing budget is $2k, one can find absolutely incredible places anywhere in the city if you’re willing to have a housemate or two… you shouldn’t have a problem finding a duplex in a nice brownstone, and you could each have a separate floor and entrance.
Anyway, for The IT Crowd, basements are essential.