Subtle Differences

Opinion

6 minute read

October 15, 2012

It’s been one year since I moved from 230 King Street to 112 George Street, and it’s those “subtle differences” that are most notable.

Laugh if you want, but I hate walking an extra block to get a coffee…

Hard to believe that it’s been ONE YEAR since I moved!

I didn’t move far – only a block, to be exact.

I left King’s Court and went to Vu; aka 230 King Street and 112 George Street, respectively.

The current condo is newer, bigger, and better – in every way, but it’s the “little things” you get used to that you start to miss.

The biggest difference between the new place and the old place, of course, is that my fiancée moved in with me!  What a lady – who could ever imagine that I’d find a woman to put up with me, let alone pledge to spend the rest of her life with me!

We love the new place, and “wouldn’t change a thing,” in theory, but there’s always something you’d change, if you could.

Last November, I wrote a post called “The Little Things” where I described my first few observations in the new condo.  Well, consider this a follow-up to that…

Living in the same place for a while, you get comfortable with your lifestyle, whatever that may be.  I’m not a big fan of change, and even though we moved into a massively superior place, it took a lot of getting used to.

Those subtle little differences may not be the toughest to get over, but they’re the most annoying!

First and foremost: the garbage chute.

The garbage chute at 112 George Street is “Out of Service” probably 75% of the times we go to put garbage or recycling down.  I had to pause for a moment and think about that figure before I posted it, and in the spirit of honesty, I wrote “85%” before I thought better.

But no word of a lie, the garbage chute always seems to be out of service.  For example – I’m typing this on a Sunday at 1:03pm – hold on a moment while I check……….yes, it’s out of service.  SEE!

The garbage chute at Vu Condos is locked at 10:00pm, every night.  This is annoying, but it’s probably fair.

At my old condo, the chute was unlocked 24/7, and if you wanted to throw a massive bag of broken glass, marbles, bells, and ringing alarm-clocks down the chute at 3:00am on a weeknight, there was nothing to stop you.  There was a sign that said “Garbage Chute Hours: 8:00am – 10:00pm,” but that was an honor system that was rarely followed.

When the chute at the old condo did go out of service, people would just stack garbage on the floor in the room.  CLASSY!

At least that doesn’t happen in my new condo, where there are only four units on my floor, and where we would likely be found out.

But when I say that the garbage chute is out of service 75% of the time we go to check it, I’m not including after 10:00pm – I’m talking about any time when it is supposed to be in service!  Sunday at 3pm?  Don’t even bother!  There hasn’t been a Sunday yet when the chute is working.  Friday at 8:30pm?  You want to get rid of all that garbage from your dinner party?  Well that’s wishful thinking!  No way, no how – that chute ain’t gonna be working on a Friday night!

I don’t know the reasons why, to be honest.  Maybe it’s a big building with many residents and the bin fills up fast.  I don’t know.  But I do know that every time I go to my car, I have to take a bag of rotting garbage with me and throw it in the garbage can in the parking garage.

Next up: guests can never find our unit.

Vu has two buildings – the “north” tower and the “south” tower.

But we don’t really need north and south, since the buildings have different addresses!

I live in 112 George Street; simple enough, right?  Adding an “S” for “south” to the front of everybody’s unit, ie. S1215, just  adds to the confusion.

When you write “S881,” often people think that the “S” is a “5” because it’s so exceptionally rare to have a letter in the unit for a condo.  How many packages end up going to the non-existent 50th floor?

Guests are always confused between the south and north towers, although that might be due to the fact that most people don’t know which direction is south, and which is north, but that’s another story.  How many friends do you have that ask, “Is it left or right?”  And you reply, “Well, that depends on which direction you’re facing…”

In the south tower, we have two sets of elevators as well.  One elevator only goes up to the 8th floor, and this is the main elevator through the lobby.  We tell people to come to the 9th floor, and they get in the main elevator, which only goes up to the 8th floor.  Then they assume, “We must be in the wrong tower!”  So they cross the courtyard, get into that elevator, and head to the 9th floor in the wrong building.

Now I make a point of explaining, “We’re in the south tower on the ninth floor – that’s 112 George, not 116 George.  And our building has TWO elevators, so make sure you walk down a LONG hallway, until you get to an elevator that looks out to Jarvis Street.”

Of course, there is a 112 George Street, south of Front Street, so that doesn’t help either.  When I say “112 George Street, south tower,” sometimes people think I mean “112 George Street South.  It’s a tower.”

I’ve had a lot of people call me and say, “I’m…..like….around….120 George or something, but I don’t see any tower!”

I think I’m going to hang a giant flag off my balcony…

As I alluded to at the onset, Tim Horton’s is so far away!

I know, I’m really nit-picking here, but I said that these differences were “subtle.”

I used to exit through the back stairs on the second floor of 230 King Street, which exited onto Adelaide, and I was about thirty paces from the Tim Hortons on Richmond.

Now, I have to take the elevator, navigate the maze, the courtyard, the street, and hike a city block east.

This leads me to another subtle difference: the building size.

Both buildings look daunting from the outside, and both look like they comprise an entire city block.  But Vu is massive, and I kind of miss the smaller stature of King’s Court.  That building had one lobby, one set of elevators, no messy, no traffic-filled courtyard, and no Smart Car parking lot in the middle of everything.

Vu is just so damn big!  It’s no skyscraper, but the layout makes for congestion in almost every area of the building grounds.

You see there were some major building design flaws.

As I said – we’re talking about very “subtle” things here, like the size of a “moving door.”

Most delivery areas have double-doors that can be propped open, and are located in a convenient place.

But at Vu, our “delivery door” to the south tower is a standard 32-35 inch door, and when most delivery men show up, they say, “Nah, nah – that’ can’t be it.  There’s gotta be some sort of loading dock, and a large entrance to the building.”

You would think so, wouldn’t you?

There is a loading dock!  But you basically just unload items, then carry them through the walkway, navigate the bicycle racks, and try and fit them through the single door.

And it’s not like that loading dock is conveniently-located either, since it’s right next to the entrance/exit to the parking garage!  Do you know how many times there’s a massive truck making a delivery, and cars are in each other’s way?  Because in addition to the loading dock, driveway to the underground parking, and Smart Car parking pad, there’s also an island in the middle of the courtyard that makes backing-up and squeezing-by impossible.  Add in a few pizza delivery men, and people picking up or dropping off friends, and you can see how this courtyard “design” was somewhat lacking.

As I’ve mentioned before – the party room situation is a mess as well.

Most condominiums have a party room that is stand-alone, ie. it’s not connected to any other amenities.

Well at Vu, the rooftop terrace common area is ONLY accessible through the 9th floor party room!  This means that the party room is open all day, and it’s led to many issues before, which I’ve described on this blog.

In a perfect world, the terrace would be accessible on its own, and the party room would only be for parties, booked by residents, after putting down a deposit (ie. not available for drunken 15-year-old kids to smoke pot in, while their friends puke in the halls).

In the end, I love where I live.  I think this is a great building, and it’s been a fantastic year!

There will always be issues in your condominium, and if you move to another building – it’ll have its issues as well.

If these few “subtle” differences are the biggest complaints I have, then I think I’m doing well.

No house or condo will ever be perfect, but “close to perfect” is pretty damn good…

Written By David Fleming

David Fleming is the author of Toronto Realty Blog, founded in 2007. He combined his passion for writing and real estate to create a space for honest information and two-way communication in a complex and dynamic market. David is a licensed Broker and the Broker of Record for Bosley – Toronto Realty Group

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8 Comments

  1. Ralph Cramdown

    at 7:42 am

    You should get the name of the architects and feature it in the title of this post. Without publicity, bad architecture and design will continue to flourish. And if you save only one condo buyer, or better yet, one whole project from a bad architect, the world WILL be a better place.

    You know, scientists have recently shrunk the most important part of Tim Horton’s into a countertop appliance. Then the marketing droids ‘improved’ it with mess-free but expensive single serve packets. Just saying. And remember: “Coffee is for closers.”

  2. RT2020

    at 9:04 am

    Building size – I couldn’t live in a large building with 100’s of units or amulti-building complex.

    Smaller condos(boutique condos with less than 100 units) have a much quieter and private feel. I like quiet hallways and lobbies, not having to wait for elevators, share elevators, etc.

    Of course this comes at the price of few amenities and generally higher maintenance fees.

  3. Darren

    at 9:16 am

    I know from my own Horton head friends that change is blasphemy but have you considered getting coffee elsewhere? I used to get my tea there then one day I tried McDonalds tea and it’s far superior. It doesn’t have to be McDonalds but perhaps you live near another place you can try.

  4. Brennan

    at 11:26 am

    Biggest condo pet peeve? People who leave garbage/recycling on the floor. It literally takes 2 seconds to open the chute with one hand and drop the garbage into said open chute with the other hand.

  5. moonbeam!

    at 1:07 pm

    As for guests getting lost… it’s not just condo buildings…I know entire neighbourhoods that have no logical planning and create chaos for non-residents…

  6. Digilon

    at 9:41 pm

    All good points although we love it here – the light and, yes, the VU is spectacular.

    I live in the south tower – I generally say to visitors: “if you don’t see 3 elevators you’re in the wrong tower”

  7. Horrido

    at 9:52 pm

    I share your sentiment, although in my case, I have even fewer nits than you do. Offhand, I can’t think of anything that I’m unhappy about at West Harbour City 2. Location. Transportation. View. Construction quality. Condo fees. They’re all good. I will say, however, that our garbage chute has been a little frustrating from time to time, but overall it’s okay.

    I like the building’s architecture very much. The elevators are fast and quiet. I love the lobby. The loading dock is very sensible. However, security is a minor concern, since there is no exterior door to the parking garage. At least it’s one fewer door for me to open when I drive back in.

    As you say, no condo is perfect, but mine is as close as you can get.

  8. Joshua Kerrigan

    at 4:37 pm

    This is a great post, I think you should turn it into a 2 or 3 part series.

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