@fmf saidI would never have coped with living in a tower block.
It might be a nice diversion to psychoanalyze you in public and then move on to a broader discussion of Britain's social ills.
Was your thread partly inspired by this recent photographic exhibition of Soviet-era buildings in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan?
https://www.calvertjournal.com/features/show/11123/fuel-soviet-central-asia-architecture-photography-roberto-conte-stefano-perego-extract
04 May 19
@fmf saidNope, one does not. Although British English is a strange beast. It could be something I'm familiar with, but with a different name. Confidence of that, though, is low.
One doesn't have the slightest idea what tower blocks are?
04 May 19
@fmf saidMy parents were on a waiting list but we never made it.
It might be a nice diversion to psychoanalyze you in public and then move on to a broader discussion of Britain's social ills.
My uncles, aunts and cousins lived in tower blocks in Tottenham, North London.
I was always jealous when we visited because
they had a plumbed in bath and a fitted kitchen.
They all bought their flats in the 80s.
04 May 19
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@drewnogal saidI once lived on the second floor (i.e. the third floor for you Americans) of an inner-London Edwardian terrace. That was the highest off the ground I ever lived aside from my halls of residence at university where I had a room on the third (U.S. 4th floor) floor in my first year.
I would never have coped with living in a tower block.
I lived in a caravan for a few weeks when I was 7 years old because there was a mix up with the people vacating the house we were to move into down south, and we'd irreversibly moved out of the house in Manchester. That was a one storey caravan.
04 May 19
It appears that the topic here is called, in America, by the rather ordinary name of 'apartment building', although I confess there could be more to the description. In highly populated urban areas, sometimes these are referred to as simply 'the projects', and are meant as low-income housing.
04 May 19
@drewnogal saidNo, I've spent this morning doing some preparation for a radio programme about the tower blocks 'era' in British cities in the 60s.
Was your thread partly inspired by this recent photographic exhibition of Soviet-era buildings in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan?
04 May 19
@wolfgang59 saidI had a good friend who lived in Trelick Tower, Kensal Town, London, just up the road from where I lived. It was kind of grotty in its public areas and a wee bit scary late at night or in the early hours - if coming and going - but my friend's flat was a very cosy den on the 27th floor. Great view too.
My parents were on a waiting list but we never made it.
My uncles, aunts and cousins lived in tower blocks in Tottenham, North London.
I was always jealous when we visited because
they had a plumbed in bath and a fitted kitchen.
They all bought their flats in the 80s.
04 May 19
@suzianne saidFlats - or apartment buildings - in Britain could be just two storeys, or maybe even just all on the ground floor [not sure about this]. I'm not sure how many storeys a build has to have to qualify as a "tower block", six, eight? You could call them "high rise" flats too, I suppose.
It appears that the topic here is called, in America, by the rather ordinary name of 'apartment building', although I confess there could be more to the description.
04 May 19
@fmf saidYeah, "tower block" is a bit arbitrary but I think
Flats - or apartment buildings - in Britain could be just two storeys, or maybe even just all on the ground floor [not sure about this]. I'm not sure how many storeys a build has to have to qualify as a "tower block", six, eight? You could call them "high rise" flats too, I suppose.
6 floors will always qualify, maybe even 4? (G,1,2,3)
I think the footprint influences the description too.
04 May 19
@fmf saidWe call these mobile homes, or trailers, and we stayed in one in North Carolina for about 9 months when I was 8 or 9. There was a shortage of housing in the area for military families, so they just rented half the park and we stayed there with some other families nearby. I remember some multi-family barbecues while we were there. This was just before we moved to Phoenix.
I lived in a caravan for a few weeks when I was 7 years old because there was a mix up with the people vacating the house we were to move into down south, and we'd irreversibly moved out of the house in Manchester. That was a one storey caravan.
04 May 19
@fmf saidI spent one year, nine months actually living from in a room on the top floor of “the tower” at University Halls, Cardiff. I could see the both Severn bridges from sitting on my bed and the views across to Somerset and Avon were spectacular.
It might be a nice diversion to psychoanalyze you in public and then move on to a broader discussion of Britain's social ills.
In the next room there was a cute redhead studying medicine.
I mention this only as a footnote to add a pulpy dimension to my postcard from another time.