Richard White
Senior Member
So, interestingly, this week I began running the stairs in my high-rise, given gym closure. I got in on my floor because I realized I'd never seen the entrance to the stairs before in the lobby / ground floor area. After my workout I went all the way down, and eventually found the exit - which spit me out into a locked courtyard area outside, that isn't a) accessible or b) open from the outside. Found it odd that even if you wanted to take the stairs, you wouldn't be able to. Previously I've lived on the 2nd and 4th floors of buildings and would prefer taking the stairs over waiting for the elevator.
All condos no longer have exits into the lobby. The reasoning is that they do not want people exiting into the lobby during a fire. They would prefer they exit to the outside if something goes wrong. Usually only one staircase per building is accessible with a key for the fire department so it makes sense that the others would be locked from outside for security reasons.
That being said I can see them closing the courtyard during the offseason.