condo life; the good and the bad...

having now lived in a condo for 2 months (a little tour of our place here), i've come to the conclusion that there are good and bad things about living in one. for me, the good outweigh the "bad" and i say that in quotes, because i really don't think there's anything that bad.

the good:
-security; i like knowing that there's people (security/concierge) in the lobby at all times if i ever felt uncomfortable. 

-indoor parking; no more waiting for your car to warm up or cool down or shovel snow off in the winter!
-the cost; while we are paying typical toronto rent (ie pretty high), we're able
to live somewhere that we couldn't afford
to buy. also, because we're renting, the amenities/maintenance cost is built into our rent (instead of paying your mortgage + maintenance fees).

-the amenities; we've got it all. a gym, pool, hot tub, sauna, spa, pet spa, theatre, lounge, yoga classes, bootcamp classes, squash court.. i mean, it's all included and i do take advantage of a lot of it.

-something wrong? we don't pay for it. and both times we've needed something fixed or checked on, there's been someone here within a day or two.
-easy garbage take out; the garbage chute is just outside our unit door (thanks to concrete walls, we don't hear people using it, or smell anything) which makes it super convenient to drop garbage and recycling off any time. 

the 'bad':

-the elevators can (and do) go down. lately it seems only 1 or 2 of the 3 elevators are working at a time, so it gets pretty congested. and when they go down completely for hours because of a fire (this happened 2 weeks after we moved in; small kitchen fire, people were fine), and a million trucks show up, well yes, that does suck. and living very high up, stairs are simply not an option. 

-(some) people who live here; a lot of people here rent, and we've found there's no pride in ownership. it's young people and i find they just don't show the place a lot of respect.

-kind of related to above, some odd people. we were in the lounge playing pool with 2 friends and all of a sudden we here "sshhhh quiet down!!!! you're being really distracting!" i'm pretty sure this is the common area (there's couches, ping pong, a poker table, pool table), and if you want quiet, you're in the wrong spot!! stay in your condo, please.

-there are visitors parking spots, but in my opinion, not enough. and i know for a fact that some tenants have opted not to buy or rent a parking spot and are using visitors. not cool. still waiting for concierge to start having that parking be by permit only. "it's coming" they say. 

-the garbage chute seems to be "out of service" quite a bit. we still throw it down anyways. 

-you're not allowed bbq's on your balcony, and that's unfortunate. on the plus side, there is a terrace with 2 big bbq's that all residents can use, and also has plenty of outdoor lounge seating, tables, chairs, and a fireplace.

condos, condos everywhere. and this isn't even the main condo 'hub'. (this city is always under construction)