Kids in apartments can it work?

As our cities grow larger and our population continues to increase at double the rate of the rest of the world, it’s clear that more of us will be living in high rises. We often talk about the “death of the quarter-acre block” in hushed tones that sound like we’ve lost someone and should be holding a funeral. Apartments have long been referred to as places you are “forced into”, as if a little bit sinful, only for the down trodden. Especially where there are kids involved.

But are they really that bad? More than that, can they actually be great places to live? Opinion is divided it seems, and part of the problem is the way apartments are designed. Many of us think of apartments as inner city, but in reality they are cross-city, spreading out to the urban fringes as well, and in smaller number, country and coastal towns.

Up to 20 per cent of people living in apartment developments of four storeys or more are families with children, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. One Sydney study found that half of the families in apartments on the city’s urban fringes didn’t want to be there, not because of the apartment per se, but the lack of maintenance and dearth of usable open space.

A Melbourne paper, Vertical Living Kids, found that many children in fact liked living in apartments. But co-author Carolyn Whitzman, an associate professor in urban planning at the University of Melbourne, laments that developers are too short-sighted, building units aimed at DINKS (double income no kids) and older empty nesters. Many units were one and two bedroom, and simple not big enough to comfortably accommodate the average family of mum, dad and two ankle biters.

“The needs of children and families have been virtually ignored, and the newly developed areas are lacking essential facilities, services and appropriate open space for these residents. Yet, it is projected that almost 10,000 children aged 0 – 14 will reside in the City of Melbourne by 2021, many of whom will be accommodated in high rise housing,” Whitzman says.

What’s needed, says Whitzman, are larger units of three bedroom-plus on the bottom three floors of apartment buildings. Internal courtyards provide safe play spaces for children that can be overlooked by parents in the apartments – thus allowing older children some autonomy. Playgrounds and interesting open spaces, not just boring patches of grass, that cater to a range of ages, should also be included within 300 metres of a development. Often play spaces are aimed at the under fives, and are shunned by older children as babyish.

Whitzman is right about the lack of larger apartments. Many three-bedroom apartments are penthouses – fantastic views, great locations – but hardly in the price range of your average family.

Whitzman’s study looked at how much kids in apartment blocks walked and got out and about by themselves. Her research uncovered a frightening figure for Australian children in general (including those living in houses). “One longitudinal study in a primary school in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon found that 65 per cent of children walked to school and 25 per cent were driven in 1974. At the same school in 2005, only 8 per cent walked and 89 per cent were driven.”

One big advantage of apartments is that they can be built close to facilities – shops, public transport, schools – and the closer you live to something, the more likely you are to walk or cycle there.

Just as some apartment developments are being tweaked to make them pet friendly, are we about to see a new breed in Australia of “kid friendly” high rises? Or are developers missing the boat?

Are apartments suitable for families? Should more be done to accommodate them?

Article found @ http://blogs.domain.com.au/2010/04/kids_in_the_block.html?s_cid=FDMedia:Xpromo1_070410_CTA_Melb

Kids in apartments can it work?

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