Would You Live In A Women-Only Apartment Building?
Posted by: Wendy Atterberry
Filed in:
news
1:30PM, Thursday November 5th 2009
An article in the New York Times this week about women-only apartment buildings in New York City brought back memories of my first college dorm way back in the mid-‘90s. It was the only remaining all-girls dorm on campus and I was in the last class of freshmen to live there before it became co-ed. I didn’t choose the dorm and I wasn’t happy when I was assigned to it; I remember feeling especially frustrated that I’d finally escaped the clutches of my over-protective mother only to be stuck in a place where I had to sign-in every male guest, escort them in the halls and elevators, and make sure they left the building before 11 p.m. Lame! Of course, back then basically the only guys who were interested in hanging out with me were my plethora of gays who liked to watch “Ricki Lake” on my tiny 13-inch TV and gossip about our mutual friends. What can I say? I was a hag at a young age. I doubt it was any coincidence that the next year, when I moved into a co-ed dorm, I finally branched out and actually started dating straight guys who liked making out with me instead of just counseling me on how to wear my hair. All this is to say I couldn’t imagine living in an apartment as a grown woman where the same rules that I had to abide by when I was 18 applied.
But abide by strict rules is exactly what the women of Webster Apartments in New York City do. They are forbidden to have male guests in their small dorm-like rooms (there are small, public “beau parlors” on each floor where male guests are welcome to sit with the resident(s) they’re visiting). In exchange, the residents, most of whom are in their early 20s, get “a small single room and shared bath but also a hot breakfast and dinner, maid service, use of a large walled garden and a roof deck with a spectacular view of the Empire State Building” for about $1,000, which is dirt cheap by Manhattan standards. For many newbies to the city, Webster Apartments also provide a safe place to jump-start their new lives and create an immediate social circle/support system. So, what do you think, readers? Would you live in a place where you couldn’t have male guests in your room if it meant cheap rent, two warm meals a day, maid service and an awesome view? I mentioned the shared bath part, right? [via NY Times]
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intuition
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:35 pm: [report]
You could always stay at his place.
Lilypie
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:37 pm: [report]
How very Bosom Buddies…
tigerstripe
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:39 pm: [report]
Ugh never. My college is in the same place that yours was in the 90’s, with one all-female dorm left after going co-ed a few years ago. That dorm is notorious for being full of girls who either hate boys or just don’t know how to talk to them, and they have the strictest, most unreasonable rules by far. I can see how those girls would want to continue to not have to deal with boys after they leave college, but this is a little too much.
camille905
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:40 pm: [report]
Obviously geared towards straight women…..
equnsuocha
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:47 pm: [report]
I think this is a great idea for any young woman moving to NYC. It is not the safest place to be a fresh face from the midwest somewhere and the most dangerous places are usually the halls and stairways in the crappy neighborhoods which is where many of those girls have to live because of cost. I see nothing wrong with this at all.
tabby
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:54 pm: [report]
If I still lived in NYC, I would move there. Only a grand for a place to live including two hot meals AND maid service in Manhattan?!?! Hell yea. I paid $900 a month to live in the heights and didn’t get any of those extras. If you meet someone, you can always go to his place and get our own place when you are ready/richer.
EastCoastMale
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:56 pm: [report]
yes yes a thousand times yes. Oh, if I were a woman? let me get back to you
lea322
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 01:57 pm: [report]
I’m not diametrically opposed to the idea. I lived in an all-girls dorm for three out of my four college years, and I didn’t mind it. I think this set-up has a lot of perks, and as was stated before, you can always go to his place.
C.Munro
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 02:02 pm: [report]
Beat me to it. I was going to say, “Only if I didn’t have to dress in drag like Kip and Henry.”
Raugiel
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 02:06 pm: [report]
When I was in college, we had two floors of the dorms that were still all female. One was called the Brothel, and the other was called the Virgin Vault. You can guess which floor was better at following the “no boys” policy.
MuchoMacho
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 02:07 pm: [report]
yes. yes i would. and @rau - we had a “virgin vault” at our dorms on the top 2 floors too… how inappropriately named that turned out to be…
jimnist10
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 02:19 pm: [report]
I love the idea. And that is totally dirt cheap! Jealous!
xifeng882
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 02:30 pm: [report]
Considering I went to a women’s college… NO! Its a good idea, but I don’t feel the need to live like that again.
Memphis Blues
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 02:33 pm: [report]
On a site aimed at women, is there nobody who finds this just the slightest bit ... sexist?
Put the other way, if there were an apartment building designated men only, would that be acceptable?
abbylyn
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 03:00 pm: [report]
Seems like it could be a good way to get started in a new city. I mean, you don’t sign the lease for life! It is kind of a built in support circle, it’s an amazing deal, and if you meet a guy and want to get hot and heavy, go to his place! Assuming he doesn’t live in the male version of this place anyway. Then you’re screwed. But not in the fun way.
Lexington
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 03:01 pm: [report]
Mmmm, part of me says yes and part of me says no. Love the idea of safety, love the idea of maid service, etc… Buuuut remembering living in my all-girls dorm I’m going to go ahead and say it- no one should put that many hormone-driven people cooped up all together like that. I really think that one girl’s hormones push another’s (this is validly nonscientific, fyi) and that many girls all put together equals craziness. Craziness galore.
joyy
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 03:28 pm: [report]
I don’t think I could live anywhere that didn’t have a full kitchen. Neat concept though.
spatula
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 03:40 pm: [report]
But WHY? It is an awesome concept that I love, I just don’t understand the no guys rule. It seems like you could do the whole affordable living situation without that little gem of a rule, and I don’t see a point, really. Safety concerns, maybe?
NikkiL
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 05:34 pm: [report]
Sounds like the sorority I dropped out of… I feel like I’d get kicked out for breaking the “no boys” rule.
Dianasof
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 06:58 pm: [report]
It sounds like some sort of church plot to promote (or enforce) chastity. But I can definitely see the benefits. For example, what if you have a steady boyfriend and you can just stay over at his place whenever you want. Maybe it all depends on your neighbours. What if you have such a good time that you forget about that stupid rule?
Fiend
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 07:13 pm: [report]
They cook your meals for you? Why would a grown person WANT that?
b_brilliance
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 07:34 pm: [report]
f*ck yea i would be all over that! seeing as that i don’t want a bf and am not dating right now anyway lol. in fact, lemme google this right now…
BlueVibe
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 09:10 am: [report]
I’d like to think I would, but, really, I avoided all-female dorm floors like the plague in college, and I’ve been much happier in gender-balanced work situations than in female-heavy ones. Women can be as raunchy/obnoxious/psychotic as men, so I’m not sure I think “all women” is an advantage.
I mean, I like the rest of the concept: Affordable living, possible housekeeper and meals, shared garden, etc. But not so keen on the all-women bit.
TotallyRidiculous
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 09:39 am: [report]
I had the all girl dorm sprung on me too. My sister was moving me in and she said “you didn’t tell me you lived in an all girls hall.” I said, “I don’t.” Her reply: “Ummm all of these names are girls.” I looked at the names on the doors and freaked. Luckily there was no rule against boys and all the other girls were pissed about it too. Although this did result in frat boys prowling the halls constantly, which was very creepy.
workerbee
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 10:23 am: [report]
Half the dorms at my college had unisex floors but there weren’t those rules on them. The guys were supposed to use the bathroom on the boys floor, but we let them use ours and just supervised them. Other than that it was a free for all.
workerbee
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 10:25 am: [report]
Oh, and to answer the topic question: I would probably do it for a year. Saves money and the hassle of cooking and cleaning (which in turn saves more money)? I can put up with the no boys rule for a year.
bogart4017
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 12:57 pm: [report]
I’ve heard women talk about the ladies rooms in public places so i would NOT want a shared bathroom.
DancerNinja
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 01:11 pm: [report]
I would miss having mixed company over for dinners. I would miss having my own bathroom. I would miss having control of my crazy diet for competitions. I was on dance team in high school, and that was quite enough of any all-girl environment for me.
Jayne
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 02:03 pm: [report]
I love the idea! Although, preferably there would be a ‘gray area’ regarding the male visitors, lol. But I really think it’s a great idea.
It’s a lot more comforting, especially when you’re young and living by yourself, to know that you’re surrounded by women. It would feel a lot more secure, I think. I’m all for it!
NaomiK
wrote on November 6 2009 @ 06:44 pm: [report]
If I were still single… still no, although it seems really tempting. Maybe if I couldn’t find another decent place. My first impressions was HOLY GOSSIP. Also, I’d hate to live someplace with so many rules. I don’t really like having people up in my business.
catmcroy
wrote on November 7 2009 @ 11:44 pm: [report]
I probably would - I HATE cooking and a maid? Heck yes!
alpikann
wrote on November 8 2009 @ 12:45 pm: [report]
oh frisky, why does your site keep refreshing itself on me while i am writing comments forcing me to rewrite them.
i would consider this. i do like to cook so i’d have to see what exactly that food situation is because i don’t want to eat just any old crap. also i’m vegetarian and not quite diabetic so that could be an issue.
but otherwise i’d totally consider this for that price. it helps that i’m looking for a girlfriend and not a boyfriend and i’m assuming they aren’t banning me from having girls sleepover.
RedDahlia
wrote on November 8 2009 @ 01:15 pm: [report]
I lived in this place when I was nineteen. I was entering my second year or drama school and I no longer wanted to live in the school dorms because they had moved from the Upper West side out to Brooklyn Heights…and well Bklyn sounded dangerous to my dear mother back in Canada!
I didn’t mind the no boy rule at first because I was so caught up in school that I was rarely not studying but once I got a boyfriend (who had the fortune/misfortune of living at home still with his parents in a small loft in Chelsea) well then I got fed up because we had NOWHERE to go to be alone!
Also I was a vegetarian and the pre-cooked meals usually didn’t cater to my dietary restrictions. Their “veggie” option would usually be fish. Umm ok. And when they say that most of the residents are in their early 20’s that’s a lie. Honestly it was 90% old angry ladies in their 60’s (who had been there FOREVER and thought they owned the place) and Asian girls who were trying to learn English. I made zero friends in my year there. Oh and the old ladies would go to bed at about 7 pm and they would scream at you through the walls if you ever talked on the phone in your own dorm room after about 6 pm (walls were paper thin!)
It was very safe though. I have never felt quite so safe since in fact. Even now that I life with my boyfriend in West Hollywood!
If I were ever single again would I ever move back? No. But it was an okay period of my life and I’d recommend it to any girl new to the city who has a boyfriend with a great apartment that she can crash at anytime she wants to get frisky!
eden
wrote on November 9 2009 @ 11:28 am: [report]
I would totally do this for a year or two while I saved some money. Its not ideal but its hard to move to a big city all on your own. Shared bathrooms with girls would suck, but to be stereotypical, at least you’d be waiting for someone to put thier mascara on or something rather than wait for them to finish taking a massive man-crap and then having to deal with pee everywhere.
snap
wrote on November 9 2009 @ 01:38 pm: [report]
@eden. hahahaha
roastchicken
wrote on November 10 2009 @ 12:32 am: [report]
Hell no! Kind of reminds me of boot camp when most of us shared the same ‘cycle’.
Hell no.
Ghirardelli
wrote on November 11 2009 @ 08:12 pm: [report]
No, probably not.
TaraMonster
wrote on November 12 2009 @ 10:19 pm: [report]
idunno. I’ve lived in NY my whole life so I know how to afford a decent place in a decent neighborhood- albeit w roommates or an S.O., though it’s not easy. I’m apt hunting right now, so I know.
The idea is kinda heterosexist, but I suppose it could be a safe zone for women. I dig that. It’s like Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland sans the xx-xx phantom conception. Would I do it? It’s not practical for my life, plus I like to stumble home drunk and make a mess of my sheets with a sweaty man too much. I guess if you’re moving to NY and you don’t know anyone it’s a good deal.