There are some concerns with each. While a sunny location tends to keep compost hotter which speeds up the process, I'd be concerned about having it on a deck simply due to moisture - compost piles need to be moist but not soggy - and weight. Of course, the size of your bin will impact the latter. Having the bin in a shadier spot will slow, but not stop, the process. But since I have no experience in urban composting, I will refer you to http://www.nyccompost.org/how/smallspace.html, which offers step-by-step information on urban composting. You also could do a google search on urban composting to see what you find.

Hope this helps, and thanks for stopping by.

I live in a condo in Danbury and want to start composting. I have sunny deck and a shady patio below it. Which place do you think would be ideal to place the compost bin, the deck or the patio? If the deck is a good place, then it would also recieve the full brunt of winter. Would that be ok?
I plan to use a regular plastic tote box as the composter. Thanks for your blog.

I've also been composting for years, but just yard waste. Our compost pile is located behind a fence so no one even knows it's there. We simply pile everything behind the fence and when we need compost we dig in the pile until we find our black gold. I haven't purchased a soil amendment in years.