Outdoor mailboxes

My husband and I have lived in our home home since we got married.   Recently he was sent on assignment for six month in Washington D.C. and I decided to accompany him since his company was paying for the apartment.  We had a lot to get use to in that place.   Some was good and some was bad.  I did not mind carrying my trash down the hall and then opening a door and letting it drop to the basement.  The residential mailboxes were all mounted together and on the outside of the building.  It was impossible to get your mail without getting wet and cold.