Apartment building
From Freepedia
An apartment building, block of flats or tenement is a multi-unit dwelling made up of several (generally four or more) apartments (US) or flats (UK). Where the building is a high-rise construction, it is termed a tower block in the UK and elsewhere. The term apartment building is used regardless of height in the US.
A two-unit dwelling is known as a duplex (US) or maisonette (UK); a three-unit dwelling is known as a triplex.
United States
Apartment buildings are multi-story buildings where three or more residences are contained within one structure. These apartment buildings can be found in almost every city in the United States with the exception of the most rural areas. Apartment buildings in suburban areas are generally occupied with tenants who either hold low or minimum wage jobs, or families just starting out and not yet able to afford a house mortgage. In more urban areas, apartments close to the downtown area have the benefits of proximity to jobs and/or public transportation. However, prices per square foot are often much higher than in suburban areas.
The distinction between rental apartments and condominiums is that while rental buildings are owned by a single entity and rented out to many, condominiums are owned individually, while their owners still pay a monthly or yearly fee for building upkeep. Condominums are often leased by their owner as rental apartments. A third alternative, the cooperative apartment building (or "co-op"), acts a corporation with all of the tenants as shareholders of the building. Tenants in cooperative buildings do not own their apartment, but instead own a proportional number of shares of the entire cooperative. As in condominiums, cooperators pay a monthly fee for building upkeep. Co-ops are common in cities such as New York, and have gained some popularity in other larger urban areas in the U.S.
In the United States, Tenement is a label usually applied to the less expensive, more basic rental apartment buildings in older sections of large cities. Many of these apartment buildings are "walk-ups" without an elevator, and some have shared bathing facilities, though this is becoming less common. Historically, the connotations associated with the word are poverty, crowding, and lack of amenities. However, tenements in certain areas of New York City - such as the East Village, Lower East Side and Williamsburg - which once only housed recent immigrants, have become highly sought after. Some of these tenements rent for prices that would have been at one time considered exorbitant. Similar in nature to tenement housing and equally stigmatized are public housing projects, usually refered to as "the projects".
All rights in the land that happen to pass with the conveyance of the land is described as tenements. Tenement is a broad term covering rights to buildings, fences, easements, and rents.
Scotland
During the 19th century tenements became the predominant type of new housing in Scotland's industrial cities. (In Northern England, 'back-to-back' terraces were more common). Scottish tenements are usually four to six stories in height, with three or four flats on each floor. They are sometimes still referred to as closes or closies (a reference to the passageway through which entry is gained). Stairs and landings are generally designated 'common areas', so residents must take it in turns to sweep clean the floors (this rarely happens in practice). Tenement flats are the most common form of accommodation for students who have moved out of University Halls (dorms).
Tenements in Glasgow were originally built with public houses on the ground floor, one for every 200 people. Many of these pubs have since been converted into housing.
Many multi-storey tower blocks were built in the UK after the Second World War. These are gradually being demolished and replaced with low-rise buildings or housing estates. In Scotland those that remain are usually called simply multis.
In contrast to most other parts of the world where the designation "tenement" implies poverty and deprivation, Scotland's remaining tenements are mostly of high quality construction and are now much sought after. In Glasgow, where Scotland's highest concentration of tenement dwellings can be found, the urban renewal projects of the 1950s, 60s and 70s brought an end to the city's slums; slums that consisted of older tenements built in the early 19th century. They were replaced by high-rise blocks that, within a couple of decades, were riddled with crime and poverty. The tenement, it would seem, was more than just an architectural style, but a means to build and galvanise communities.
Today's tenement dwellers are typically young professional people keen to live close to the city centres of Scotland. Most young people living in Scotland's cities will buy a tenement as their first step on the property ladder.
