Do not rent and live in basements
If you do not own a house, please try not to live in a basement. I have rented a basement for 10 years. I never get to see what's happening outside, the weather, the traffic, the people, the nature etc.
If you are young, learn from my mistake. If you are not at the stage where you can buy a house, take different steps.
Avoid basement. It leaves a severe mental scar on you for lifetime.
What you're saying is just plain wrong.
You're not a super old person stuck in a chair that needs to see things from the inside. Go outside.
If you are young, you should view the place you are living as your basecamp to sleep so you can go out and explore your world - not look at it through a window.
Plus basement dwellings tend to be cheaper in which you can use the extra money you save for exploring.
While I'm inclined to agree - I wonder why you are still in a basement if you're renting?
Surely the benefit of renting is the ability to quickly change living environment as you want, rather than stay somewhere you're unhappy for ten years?
Some people have no choice. In NYC, basement apartments are the only units you can find for under $1000/month. If you're an immigrant new to the US, if you're trying to find your footing after a tragedy, or if you're a new graduate looking for your first job after school-- it works as a (hopefully temporary) solution.
Lived in a basement apartment as a child for a decade. I came out fine. But yes, would certainly not recommend if there are alternatives.
Yes, I think maybe some people underestimate how important natural sunlight is for physical and mental health.
I own a house but my remote work space is at the basement. There's a small window but it's quite dark and cold here still. Not ideal but way better than coding in the kids' room as I did still year ago.
Many years ago I worked for a "Megacorp" and our team was in the basement of one of the buildings on their corporate campus. We joked about working with the mushrooms.
One day, some other engineers from a Norwegian company came to visit, looked around at our spaces and were astounded. They said that this would be illegal in Norway - they said workplaces in Norway were required to have windows!
Even when living above-ground, pay attention to how much natural light you will receive. I spent years living in apartments with windows facing North, and it was depressingly cold and dark even in sunny California. When I finally moved somewhere with windows facing South, the difference was astounding. Even better if you can get a corner unit with windows on the south and east sides. Of course it will take longer to find housing with ample natural light, and you can expect to pay a premium for it, but I think it is worth it.
That being said, I prefer to have my office on the North side of a building, as there is less glare to deal with on my monitor, and the temperature is more consistent.
I stayed in my parents basement during high school and again for some time after college graduation. I've found it okay. It takes some getting used to, and you need to make an effort to go outside periodically and get some sunshine, but I've found staying in the basement gives me a better sense of privacy and control (my parents were less concerned with what I might rearrange in the basement hallways than say the upstairs hallways).
Still, sunshine is a good idea generally for both physical and mental health, and its easy to slip out of a reasonable sleep cycle when staying in the basement away from the rhythms of the sun. So your mileage may vary.
I agree with the general sentiment of this & wish I had a better view. My office is currently in my basement (only practical place in our house for it). I probably spend around 60% of my working hours there, the other 40% I'm on my laptop in various locations around the house to keep it fresh.
One thing I've found to help is growing some plants indoors. I have a few grow lights on 12h timers that keep me a little grounded to the rhythm of the Earth. However nothing beats the energy you get from a natural view.
That's a good one. I have another one:
Never live in a place where there's a lot of house renewals going on. I lived in Lisbon, Portugal for a while and still after a few years the sound of a jackhammer in the distance still stresses me out.
I had construction workers drilling through the dinning room ceiling by mistake, or removing the the ceiling of the downstairs appartment with a hammer just below me. An all that pain only to see your rentals not being renewed because of the ongoing gentrification process.
I have rented a basement for 10 years.
This is the problem. Unless you have absolutely no other options, don't rent one place for a decade. Try to move onwards. Rent a basement at the start, but as you progress in your career rent an apartment with a view, a whole house, maybe buy somewhere of your own eventually.
Don't settle until you're where you want to be. Accepting something that you're not happy with is what leaves scars. This applies to much more than just the place you call home.
This could be good advice for people who are cheap but otherwise I can imagine most of the people living in basements do so because they don't have money to live elsewhere.
I'd more worry about humidity/mold problems and mobile network signal issues. At least that was my only experience with living in basement for few weeks, once in a life was enough. And I had actually big full sized 2m glass door with empty space in front of them, it was just under the regular surface level, but still technically basement.
That is a bit one sided.
Living in a basement allowed me to live in a substantially larger place than a studio apartment, 50m from a big park with playground, 100m from the main public transit of the city (train) and save so much in rent that I can now afford to buy. All of this while happy, now have two kids (still in the basement)
I agree 100%. I have been lucky enough to not have to live in a ground-level apartment, let alone a basement, for my adult life so far, and I never will until I buy a house. The boost to quality of life from having nice windows and a view is immeasurable to me.
You have a similar problem at very high floors, you are disconnected from street life (in fact, the higher you are, the less frequently you leave the dwelling), but at least higher up you get sunlight. I think the sweet spot is the 2nd to 5th floors.
I rented a basement apartment for my last two years of college. It was totally great because I got a cheap place to rest my head but was rarely home otherwise. I think the real advice here is to not become a hobbit.
There are a lot of NYC apartment that also do not have windows at all. Priced at $2k and above.
NYC leaves a severe mental scar on me (not just windows, but everything pretty much), yet I am still here because I need the money.
This is tagged as "Ask HN", but I don't see any question.
Anyway, for The IT Crowd, basements are essential.
I'd like to introduce to you this thing called going outside. Or moving if you can afford it.
My cubicle has no windows either ...