This apartment will be considered opulence for the working class by 2050

[Zalatix]

http://shine.yahoo.com/decorating/couple-lives-240-square-foot-apartment-213500626.html

How a Couple Lives in a 240-square-foot Apartment

While most people dream of having more space and complain about being overwhelmed by clutter, one Brooklyn couple has found a way to live comfortably in just 240 square feet -- a space smaller than a one-car garage.

Related: NYC asks developers to test out tiny "micro-unit" apartments

Writer and photographer Erin Boyle, 28, and her fiance, biologist James Casey, 30, share a 240-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn Heights, which they described to the New York Post as "dungeon-esque."

"Our last apartment was in Providence, Rhode Island," Boyle told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "It was probably around 1,000 square feet, though I admit, I never took a tape measure to it."

They moved to Brooklyn in June 2011, and their main living space -- which includes their kitchen, dining table, and living room -- is a mere 140 square feet. The $1,500-a-month studio also has tiny bathroom off to one side, a 4-square-foot closet in the hallway, and a sleeping loft built over the kitchen; a curtained-off closet is tucked beneath the steep staircase to the 10-by-6-and-a-half-foot loft, which is barely big enough for a double bed and a single dresser and impossible to stand upright in.

[gateley]

1. That's amazing!

[Maine-ah]

35. I think it is too!

reminds me of Tiny Houses

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

[HiPointDem]

2. Bloomberg wants lots of people living in 275-sq foot apartments

Mayor Bloomberg launched a contest Monday to stir development of teeny-tiny apartments — called micro units — for young singles willing to cram themselves into shoebox-sized digs.

The new closetlike flats will be just 275 to 300 square feet — larger than a jail cell but smaller than a mobile home — and will have special permission to ignore city rules requiring newly built apartments to exceed 400 square feet...

This will be the new norm - work 12 hour days, live in a 275 square foot apartment, slave until they put you in a costly hospice to die.

All so Bloomberg and his business and corporate cronies can live in 80,000 square foot houses, own tropical islands and have two SUV's idling on the corner waiting to take them for their ride on the subway.

http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2012/07/bloomberg-wants-lots-of-people-living.html


there's a reason these micro-living arrangements are getting so much play lately, and it ain't the environment -- it's because the rentier class wants to bust existing zoning laws to develop these little iceboxes and charge more per square food than for traditional apartments.

not to mention that a significant fraction of the working class, having been denuded of a lot of their $$ in the real estate bust, can't afford traditional housing.

[Zalatix]

4. And that's the good news. Here's what's really in our future:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/hong-kong-cage-people-tens-thousands-rabbit-hutches_n_1201557.html

Hong Kong Cage People: Tens Of Thousands Live In Rabbit Hutches

[img][/img]

[HiPointDem]

5. jesus.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. Or cubicles like some cubicle hotels in Japan - but on a high-priced permanent basis

[Zalatix]

12. That'll be for the middle class of tomorrow.

[hifiguy]

20. This is porn for the 1%. It makes them feel all warm

and sexytime inside just to contemplate it coming to pass. And it surely will if they get their way.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. I don't like sleeping spaces that are near the ceiling.

[MrScorpio]

6. Things are going the way of Bruce Willis' apartment in The Fifth Element

[marmar]

32. So funny....when I first saw this story that's the first thing I thought of.

Though it would be cool to have fast food delivered to your window by a floating snack stand.

[FreeJoe]

7. Maybe in NY

Here (Houston, TX area), homes and apartments seem to steadily get bigger. The only reversal I've seen in that trend is for people moving into the areas near downtown. Even there, it isn't uncommon to see small homes torn down and replaced with larger ones.

[Zalatix]

8. Are they trending toward McMansions?

[angel823]

24. absolutely trending to McMansions

and I hate it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the micro-apartment idea much either. My house is not suburban, is less than 1,000 sq ft and was built in 1949. Seems plenty big for me and my daughter. If I sold my house right now, it would be torn down and a 3000-5000 sq ft monstrosity with no green space (except for the front yard since the build line is set by the HO association) would be put up in it's place.

Unless you have a huge family, I just don't understand the need for all that space - I like my big yard, even though it is a bit overgrown, and so do all the "urban forest" animals that it attracts.

What's the "happy medium" here? Enough room to feel comfortable, without being excessive - this would certainly vary depending on where you live.

And I wish there was more of a movement to take older homes like mine and do a green makeover/remodel. Bringing energy efficiency and updated looks to an existing older home without going off the deep end on size and opulence.

Angel in Texas

[Zalatix]

27. Tax incentives, subsidies.

That's what it's going to take to make homes more green.

[marmar]

33. The imminent water and energy crises will take care of that.

nt

[MadHound]

10. No way could I comfortably live in an apartment that small,

Smallest place I ever lived was three hundred square feet, and that was cramped for me. That was when I was young, single and didn't have much more than the clothes on my back. Now that I'm older, married, with a good many animals, there is absolutely no way. Hell, my book collection alone would take up all the room. Besides, I like to have some elbow room, which is why I have a house with 2,700 square feet sitting on twenty acres of land. Room to do what I want.

[RebelOne]

28. I would have a problem also.

I live in a 2-bedroom, 1-bath mobile home. Fortunately, I have an attached garage where I can stash all stuff I don't use. But I am having trouble hiding all the stuff I do use inside.

[backscatter712]

11. We may end up living like Mexican workers south of the borders.

Have shanty-towns where everybody lives in little shacks made from old shipping containers and pieces of garage doors.

Or maybe something like the old Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, before it was torn down...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City

[MissMarple]

13. Shipping containers are being used to build nice dwellings.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-container-homes-460309

http://weburbanist.com/2008/05/26/cargo-container-homes-and-offices/

All is not lost. And people have been living in tiny apartments for ages.

[meaculpa2011]

14. When my wife and I were first married...

we lived in a 300 square foot apartment. We were both night students with full-time jobs and needed something near Hunter College.

Never felt cramped.

After living in a 3,000 square foot home filled with worthless junk for thirty years, I'm ready to track down my old landlord and sign a 25 year lease. Trudging up four flights of stairs, though........

Oh yeah, she just reminded me about the kids.

[Zalatix]

15. 3000 sq for 2?

[meaculpa2011]

16. 3,000 square feet for two adults...

two teenagers, one dog (recently deceased), my office (I work at home) and friends and friends and friends and more friends of both kids too numerous to count.

I traded my large office with a view of the water (and a constant stream of kids entering and exiting the house) for the small office with a door and a triple dead-bolt lock.

BTW: We had that 300' apartment when Nixon was in the White House.

[rox63]

17. There is a tiny-house movement that is all about sustainability and living simply

I rather like the idea, even though I live in roomy 850 sq ft condo.

Some info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_house_movement

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/07/25/110725fa_fact_wilkinson

http://tinyhouseblog.com/

[cali]

18. .....

[rox63]

37. Thanks for posting the video

[CreekDog]

19. where can you find and rent an apartment in Manhattan for $1500/month? (in a decent neighborhood)

the alternative is sharing a barely larger apartment with more people!

[Sterling]

22. It depends

A lot of it comes down to who you meet. If you are working class and get to know people around you you can luck out and find a deal. Also depends on what is a good neighborhood in your eyes. I would LOVE to live right off the park in the UWS and there are probably buildings in that area that the owners are more interested in good solid long term tenants instead of high turn over and premium rent.

As it is I'm still downtown in the EV/LES and I can't complain. There are some really great people here and it is as safe as the rest of the city. It's a little too busy with bars/clubs at my age but when you live here you tend to go out on off nights anyway to avoid the mad weekend party rush.

[stevenleser]

26. You can find 5th floor walkup studios at that price in the upper east side. Also, Harlem has many

apartments at that price.

[Sterling]

21. I've lived here for 14 years now (NYC)

First year was a real struggle to find ANY place to live I could afford. The longer I have been here the more opportunity I have lucked into. I thought I had a solid plan and one day I could maybe buy a small but adequate place just big enough to maybe have one child. That seems to be more of a pipe dream all the time no matter how well I do or how much I save.

That being said I LOVE this city and would very much like to be able to live here for the rest of my life. It is a trade off. I do know a couple who raised 2 kids in a place not much bigger than mine and those kids turned out great. They just made it work. I don't think I will ever wish to trade "the city" for a burb and a yard and kids can thrive here. Not just wealthy kids either. The more young people I meet here the more surprised I am, even hopeful.

Shockingly many of these kids who are all pretty much from lower income families have a good sense of values and seem far more innocent than me and my peers growing up in the suburbs. I think it is in part because tight proximity to their parents has been a good thing for them. Where and when I grew up the culture is very different toward young adults. We were pretty much expected to move out right after high school and even as younger kids we were left to our own a lot and grew up pretty fast.

I like that families here stick together into the kid's adulthood. Still THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!

[lapislzi]

23. Take a walk through Ikea some day

It is utterly amazing what they can cram into a tiny space and still make it look livable.

On its own, economy of space is not a bad concept. But paying $1,500 a month for the privilege...well, I don't know about that.

[vankuria]

30. Our mortgage is way cheaper

than what they pay for that little bit of space and we have over 2200 sq. ft. of living space. My husband and I both need our space, like to entertain and love being able to accomodate family when they visit. Could never understand how folks could shell out so much money just for the privilege of living in N.Y.C. To each his own I guess but I'll take Upstate N.Y. anytime.

[lapislzi]

36. Oh, me too!

I have a 1,700 sq. ft. house that I enjoy entertaining in. My mortgage is only $900 a month, but when I add commuting costs (I commute 40 miles each way to work), it works out more. But, I wouldn't give up my two lovely acres of rocky hillside and the joy of walking around the house naked because I have 1) no neighbors and 2) the Jehovah Witlesses have given up on me.

[stevenleser]

25. These kinds of apartments only make sense in the worlds top cosmopolitan cities. People who dont

live in one and have never lived in one will not understand.

Here in NYC, you are never in your apartment. You dont eat many meals there. Most people are either working or doing something out during their waking hours. The Village Voice has listings for tons of things to do everyday, many of them free--> http://www.villagevoice.com/

London, Tokyo, Moscow and Paris, among a few other cities, are similar. You dont really lose much by having a small apartment because if you are the kind of person that likes a cosmopolitan city and what it has to offer, you are never home.

[RandiFan1290]

29. Or something like this:

[undeterred]

31. I had a Manhattan hotel room that was about that size.

But it was around $300 a night. I couldn't live in an apartment that small, it would make me crazy.

[Clames]

34. No thanks...

...I'll keep my 870 sqft one bedroom apartment and my 2000 sqft 4 bedroom (really 2 bedrooms, an office, and a game room) house which combined don't cost me $1500/month for rent/mortgage.