I live in a duplex in NYC right now, the bottom floor of which is the ground floor. Security isn't much of a concern for me as the backyard area is in the rear of the building and I'm mid-block. Meaning someone would have to go over multiple fences, some of which have razor wire on them, in order to access the yard, not to mention they'd have to go through a business or another apartment building first just to get to that point.
The leakage thing concerns me a bit, but honestly that can hit you in a 5th floor apartment too so it didn't really factor into my decision.
I guess it depends on your options, for me the only way to have private outdoor space was to be on the ground floor or the top floor, and private roof decks around here are either very hard to find or well out of my price range.
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