What happens when a day care moves in

When moving into a new place, most consider who their new neighbors will be — loud? Messy? — but they don’t consider this common type of unexpected neighbor: children.

Nurseries and day cares are the most common facility to set up shop within residential zones, according to the New York Times, and usually they’re run out of a neighbor’s apartment. Last year, about 10,000 child care centers opened in the city and almost 7,000 were based in homes.

Though some of the center’s owners say they get pushback from their neighbors, most people view nurseries as good neighbors — whether or not they have kids themselves.

“The preschool was one of the reasons I wanted to move here,” said Stephanie Weldon Leimbacher to the Times about why she choose to live above a nursery. “It’s one thing if you’re in your 20s and you’re changing apartments all the time and going roommate to roommate. It’s another when you’re an adult and you need a space you can feel stable in.”

Even for those in their 20s, some prefer the scholastic feel of having their neighbor be a nursery, especially in comparison to alternatives.

“Our favorite neighborhood is the Lower East Side, and we really wanted our first apartment to be there, but we didn’t want to live above a bar,” 23-year-old Kevin Brosnan said. He and two roommates live above a day care in the LES. [NYT] — Erin Hudson