Trends - Smoke Free Apartments

Property Management Trends in 2012:  Smoke-Free Apartments

inShar

Smoking bans at apartments have trended upward in recent years, and in 2012 it began a chain-like ascent that’s heated up conversations not only around the water cooler but at conferences and apartment associations and board rooms from coast to coast.

California became one of the early frontrunners to eliminating smoking inside apartments, prompting the American Lung Association’s Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing to proclaim the state as the “the next frontier” in combating second-hand smoke last year. The pace of the Golden State’s territorial migration quickened in 2012, with at least a half a dozen cities and counties joining 13 others with no-smoking ordinances at apartments and condominiums.

In early December, despite the formal objections of the North Bay Association of Realtors – citing that the ordinance would prohibit owners from utilizing the property for something that isn’t unlawful – Petaluma became the latest to ban lighting up at apartments and other multifamily dwellings, as well as hotels and motels.

While new territories were designated no-smoking at apartments and condominiums along the West Coast, other cities across the U.S. are snuffing out smoking at multifamily properties, receiving mixed reactions. Some property owners and associations are opposed to aspects of bans, while others are hoping to monetize on the benefits of reducing second-hand smoke.

Tobacco Road Setting the Smoke-Free Example

Of all places, Tobacco Road is quietly setting an example that smoking restrictions at apartments do work. In the past few years, TMG has slowly begun instituting no-smoking at its properties, recognized along with Kentucky as leading U.S. tobacco producers. The majority of residents want to live in smoke-free environments, and it’s only a matter of time before that becomes the industry norm.

The Management Group
Property and HOA Management in Vancouver WA and Portland OR
http://www.TMGnorthwest.com

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