why shouldnt microhousing be allowed

[OBLAMA2009]

why shouldnt they allow people to live in cublicle housing like this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-families-share-meals-space-size-cuboard.html

that looks noisy and not very private but not unsanitary. where i live the average rent is probably $2500 a month, this type of housing would allow people who make less than a hundred grand to actually live in cities, and yet they outlaw housing smaller than a certain number of square feet. it would also be convenient for people who have to travel around and dont want to spend ridiculous amounts on hotels

 

[dawp]

nvm

 

[velillen]

I havent seen housing like that but have seen the "pod" apartments or whatever in a few places. Apodments or something is the hipster name. But basically the size of a connex box. Cheaper rent for smaller space. I dont have a problem with them.

THe cubical style from the story....i have no problem either if they provide showers, bathrooms, ect in a sanitary manner. Hell theres quite a few older vacant buildings and warehouses that could be converted rather than just sitting empty.

 

[waggy]

I havent seen housing like that but have seen the "pod" apartments or whatever in a few places. Apodments or something is the hipster name. But basically the size of a connex box. Cheaper rent for smaller space. I dont have a problem with them.

THe cubical style from the story....i have no problem either if they provide showers, bathrooms, ect in a sanitary manner. Hell theres quite a few older vacant buildings and warehouses that could be converted rather than just sitting empty.

I don't have a problem with that either. the people living there didn't mind so why should we?

bt they shut it down.

 

[Kaido]

I think it would be cool if I was single - laptop, flat-screen TV, multi-function printer for scanning in mail etc. Keep everything digital (music, movies, paper/mail, books, photos). I read an article a few years ago about a couple that lived in a 240-square-foot apartment successfully:

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

If you don't need a lot of physical stuff or like to be out of the house often, it seems like a pretty awesome idea. The "tiny house" movement is gaining traction as well:

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

 

[unokitty]

Cops evict man after raid on Manhattan Bridge hobo hovel

The coffin-sized crash pad was fully insulated with Styrofoam. It was rigged with a yellow tarp and a Bungee cord for a “ceiling.”

“He’s got five inches thick of Styrofoam in there. It was quite a set-up. He had a portable butane stove hooked up to a butane tank … safe for indoors. That’s a good way to keep warm,” one cop said.

Inside, officers also found two full cans of Bud Light, scissors and keys...

His bridge abode was lodged in a crevice above the bike path and subway tracks, below cars on the span’s upper deck about 150 feet east of the bridge’s Manhattan entrance side.

To get to his home, Joe would unlock his front door, which was secured with a bike lock, slide back a piece of plywood and crawl inside.

Micro housing seems an interesting, and timely, concept. At the same time, I'm not sure that I'd like living along a roadway. Though, I have to admire the creativity that the fellow in the above article has shown...

Uno

 

[mnewsham]

Honestly, give me a 250Sqft. apartment with a good convertible storage/bed/kitchen type area and i'm good. Problem is the only places to get a place like that seem to be new york, hong kong, tokyo, and similarly massively expensive areas. So that even your 250sqft apartment can be $750-1000+ rent.

I would like to a developer actually start making 200-400 sqft apartments from scratch built from the ground up to be that size.

 

[SaurusX]

It seems like there could be a health issue here. It's never good to pack a lot of people into a tiny space for extended periods.

 

[mmntech]

Probably because living environments like that seem to quickly turn into slums.

 

[slackerinabox]

As a former nyc real estate agent I'm guessing the problem is fire code related. Also, NYC tends to be very pro-landlord. A move like this brings down the value of a neighborhood - would building A be able to charge $3,000 a month for a 800 sq. feet apartment while building B is jam packed with hundreds upon hundreds of perhaps illegal immigrants, paying 10 bucks a night to live in subpar conditions?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a firm believer of people doing what they have to do to survive and am the child of immigrants, I'm not pro-yuppies on this one

 

[Merad]

I think it would be cool if I was single - laptop, flat-screen TV, multi-function printer for scanning in mail etc. Keep everything digital (music, movies, paper/mail, books, photos). I read an article a few years ago about a couple that lived in a 240-square-foot apartment successfully:

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

That apartment is a mansion compared to what was in the OP's article. It also has some tiny amount of privacy.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

Looks like a fire trap.

 

[nageov3t]

Looks like a fire trap.

that would be my concern. I should see people having hotplates, overloading circuits, etc.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

As a former nyc real estate agent I'm guessing the problem is fire code related. Also, NYC tends to be very pro-landlord. A move like this brings down the value of a neighborhood - would building A be able to charge $3,000 a month for a 800 sq. feet apartment while building B is jam packed with hundreds upon hundreds of perhaps illegal immigrants, paying 10 bucks a night to live in subpar conditions?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a firm believer of people doing what they have to do to survive and am the child of immigrants, I'm not pro-yuppies on this one

this sounds right.

if i were a new college graduate and i had no savings and i had the choice between paying $3000 a month in rent and not saving anything vs. paying $200 a month for microhousing and putting $2800 a month away id probably choose the latter

 

[OBLAMA2009]

I think it would be cool if I was single - laptop, flat-screen TV, multi-function printer for scanning in mail etc. Keep everything digital (music, movies, paper/mail, books, photos). I read an article a few years ago about a couple that lived in a 240-square-foot apartment successfully:

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

If you don't need a lot of physical stuff or like to be out of the house often, it seems like a pretty awesome idea. The "tiny house" movement is gaining traction as well:

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

that tumbleweed stuff would make a great second crashpad. sometimes i have to be in another city for a few days at a time and that sort of thing would be great, im might have a little trouble with a communal bathroom though, although i survived that in college

 

[Eug]

this sounds right.

if i were a new college graduate and i had no savings and i had the choice between paying $3000 a month in rent and not saving anything vs. paying $200 a month for microhousing and putting $2800 a month away id probably choose the latter

I'd take something in between, like that linked 240 sq. ft. apt.

It actually seems pretty well laid out, and open.

Actually, probably not. In the scenario laid out, I'd "splurge" and spend a little more to get a bigger place. Not $3000, but more than that 240 sq. ft. apt.

---

Ironically, I just splurged on my next vacation hotel room and got a good deal on a suite (probably because the hotel is undergoing renos, and because I got a group discount) that at 44 square meters is almost exactly twice the size of that apartment.

 

[KeithTalent]

Not to the extreme shown in the article, but I think they are trying smaller compartment style living in certain areas here. Seems inevitable that things will go this way since space is low and costs are so damn high.

KT

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ns-thousands-live-6ft-2ft-rabbit-hutches.html

 

[Phoenix86]

Modern day American dream?

 

[Gunslinger08]

Buildings are created with a certain range of # of inhabitants in mind. When this # is drastically surpassed, you have to worry about things like fire routes, electrical and sewage capacity, weight on the structure, etc. There are a lot of issues with general infrastructure that you probably wouldn't think about.

 

[Midwayman]

No worse than a dorm room or something like a cruise ship room. Not a big deal if you're out most of the time.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Developers love the idiots leasing microapartments. The trend drives up price per square foot for the entire neighborhood. You get half the apartment for 75% the cost. Then the building next door with regular sized apartments raises his rents based on the new price floor. Everybody else gets screwed.

 

[Blackjack200]

Buildings are created with a certain range of # of inhabitants in mind. When this # is drastically surpassed, you have to worry about things like fire routes, electrical and sewage capacity, weight on the structure, etc. There are a lot of issues with general infrastructure that you probably wouldn't think about.

Not just buildings, but municipalities as well. They have limited capacity for water/sewer/gas/electricity/traffic/education/police/fire and reducing the square feet of housing per inhabitant does nothing to increase the capacity of any of those.

 

[nageov3t]

Buildings are created with a certain range of # of inhabitants in mind. When this # is drastically surpassed, you have to worry about things like fire routes, electrical and sewage capacity, weight on the structure, etc. There are a lot of issues with general infrastructure that you probably wouldn't think about.

yup, that's a big thing.

huge difference between constructing a building based on super small apartments/dorm rooms versus taking an existing apartment designed for 2 people and cramming 10 into there.

the lady who lived in my apartment before me did that; I can't imagine how they lived. there was a cot in the walk-in closet and each bedroom had 3 beds crammed into it.

 

[Phoenix86]

There's so much fucking unused land in the US, hell there's unused CITIES.

But sure, let's build up (or rather in) instead.