It’s pretty common, I think, for leases (and condo rules) to prohibit storing bicycles on balconies.
I’ve never heard of forbidding them in units, but I can imagine a landlord worried about damage to hallways from bringing bikes in and out. I can imagine this being especially worrisome in Chicago’s ubiquitous courtyard apartments, in which apartments are entered from fairly steep and tight stair halls rather than from corridors, and where entries are often “air lock” double doors quite close together.
That’s exactly the set up, courtyard apt just as you described. The property Mgmt company owns several residential and commercial properties in the Lincolnpark. Andersonville and Ravenswood area.
I read nothing about balcony restrictions just the rule against bikes inside.
Mgmt did offer them something like $250 off 1 no rent for storm damage compensation. That’s something but they’d rather move really so negotiations on their lease term have commenced Im told.
I don’t think our condo has any rules about bikes on balconies.
But they do prohibit bikes in the hallways, and they do enforce the rule. I think this is actually a fire code thing (so I’m told), and it makes sense. In case of fire or other emergency, there shouldn’t be anything cluttering up the halls.
LOL, for several years I lived in an apartment a few blocks from the diner in Seinfeld. It was a 1920s building with no storage or bike room. I kept my bike right inside my apartment door (there was a 14 foot hallway between the door and the rest of the apartment) and when my husband moved in, his bike moved in too. The building superintendent knew the bikes were there and never said anything.
Now that I have a house, the bike lives in the garage (when it isn’t strapped to my car). But when I had an apartment, the bike went
1.) In the bike rack outside. This wasn’t the best solution, because once I had a bike stolen this way. Yes, it’s was locked, with a good quality lock. They cut through it, which was ridiculous, because the bike certainly wasn’t worth that effort.
2.) In a locked bike room – a good alternative, if such a room exists. Not everyplace has them.
3.) In the apartment living room – Fortunately, there was no clause against bikes in the apartment. Unfortunately, I lived in a fourth floor walk-up. no elevator.
4.) In a closet in the apartment. No, it wasn’t that big. The bike stood upright on its rear wheel. It worked, but I ended up with skid marks on the wall from the front wheel.
One of the apartments I lived in had a bike rack outside. The problem I had with that solution was that the bike was exposed to the elements. After a while the chain and gears started to rust, even in dry, sunny, California.