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So, I lived in a micro apartment last year in Vancouver. Newly renovated like the one in this video, albeit with less features (no dishwasher or multi-purpose f

by iLoch 10y ago

So, I lived in a micro apartment last year in Vancouver. Newly renovated like the one in this video, albeit with less features (no dishwasher or multi-purpose furniture.) The apartment shown in this video is a luxurious 300sqft. My "apartment" was smaller than this. While the space is acceptable, technically, to live in - I can't recommend it if you have the choice of a larger place. These sorts of places typically feature high ceilings, which is nice, but that's about all they have going for them. For me, coming home felt more like arriving at a hotel. With everything so tightly packed, there was a constant need to pack things away and shuffle items around. It's hard to feel at home when you can barely even (and possibly even not at all!) fit your own furniture in your place. Murphy beds seem like a fun idea, but unless you're entertaining guests you'll end up just leaving it down during the day (if you're like me, that is..) You then come home to what is essentially a bedroom. I won't dispute this is a better living situation than many people currently have, but given the price tag of these apartments (I paid over $1000/mo here, $2500-3000 in Murray Hill for 300sqft???) I would advise finding somewhere else to live. Somewhere that has a doorway to walk through that separates your living spaces.

zyxley 10y ago
> Murphy beds seem like a fun idea, but unless you're entertaining guests you'll end up just leaving it down during the day (if you're like me, that is..) You then come home to what is essentially a bedroom. That's exactly my thought. I'd rather just have a normal bed, save a couple of square feet of floor space, and maybe be able to cram in some more storage under or over it.
nine_k 10y ago
I think the whole point is being very close to whatever is attractive in Manhattan, at a price of both serious rent and small area. A very similar situation there is in Tokyo: young professionals rent microscopic apartments close to work and the downtown founts of intense social life, and only use them as sleeping pads. Otherwise, Brooklyn and Queens offer much more cost-effective, well-connected, entirely urban neighborhoods, maybe not as dense but still perfectly walkable, bikable, and equipped with subway. The cost is, of course, 20-40 more minutes to/from Manhattan.
- konceptz 10y ago
  I don't agree that the point is living very close to the heart of the city since there are larger places in Manhattan for less money. I moved into the ues from bk 2 years ago and pay $1800 for a one bedroom (700sq feet). Commute, door to door, from midtown is 25 minutes (86/lex -> 42nd) and with the 2nd avenue subway (hopefully) opening in December should reduce that by 5-10 minutes.
- patio11 10y ago
  A very similar situation there is in Tokyo: young professionals rent microscopic apartments close to work and the downtown founts of intense social life, and only use them as sleeping pads. In Tokyo, this apartment fits reasonably cleanly in the 1DK category ([1] room, dedicated [d]ining/[k]itchen space). It's bog standard. Prices, even in the most desirable neighborhoods, would be a lot closer to $1k than to $3k, and generally coming from the downside.
  - minikomi 10y ago
    From what I can see in the video, it seems to fall more into the 1K category - a single room with a kitchen - making this even more pricy! 1DK tends to have two separate rooms, one of which can be quite small. Agreed on the price - a quick search for 1K or 1DK apartments in the most expensive ward in Japan shows that only even the most spacious apartments ever go over that range: 1K : http://madori.chintai.net/1k/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/ http://madori.chintai.net/1k/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/ 1DK: http://madori.chintai.net/1dk/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/ http://madori.chintai.net/1dk/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/
    - level3 10y ago
      Indeed, I previously lived in a 2LDK in a very nice tower mansion in that ward (in Shibaura, near Mita Station), and that was around 700sqft for under $2500. I was sharing with a friend (so my rent was only half that) but it was amazingly comfortable. My current place is a 1DK, slightly smaller than the apartment in the article, but even that feels big for one person. In any case, after living in Tokyo, I find it hard to describe a 300sqft apartment as "tiny."
colmvp 10y ago
Honestly I'd rather just do what I did when I first lived in SF and NYC: get a bigger space with a couple people. For me, having a spacious social area and respectably sized bedroom trumps having complete and utter privacy.
lqdc13 10y ago
We have much smaller apartments in SF for the same price: http://www.equityapartments.com/san-francisco-bay/soma/77-bluxome-apartments http://www.equityapartments.com/san-francisco-bay/soma/77-bl... I agree. Both are not really worth the price.
- FreedomToCreate 10y ago
  As someone who is interviewing around the bay area for hardware engineering positions that pay between 90-110K starting (I'm from Detroit), this terrifies me if I do choose to move here. Half of my after tax salary would go to rent. I don't know if the premium is really worth the SV environment. GM and Ford pay 65K-75K starting and you can get a 1200 sq apartment in Ann Arbor, Dearborn or around Detroit for half the price of that walk in closet they call an apartment. And to anyone who says "buts its Detroit", come for a visit. The Detroit Metro area is not as bad as you think.
  - ams6110 10y ago
    No. 50% for housing is a non starter.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
    3 years ago I moved away from the state capital (Adelaide, South Australia) to a 100,000-ish people city in another state (Launceston, Tasmania). Haven't looked back. I'm paying $1100 a month for a three bedroom house. I live 10 minute drive from the city centre. Work is 1.5k away (about a mile). Looking to buy a place similar to the one we're renting for around the $220,000 mark, which is three years income for me. Any place I wanted to live in Adelaide was way out of my price range. Screw the big cities.
    - cylinder 10y ago
      What do you do for work that afforded you the ability to be employed in two depressed job markets like Adelaide and Launceston?
bane 10y ago
>Murphy beds It's only a matter of time before the bed/living area gets crammed into the kitchen like I've seen in some of the weirder parts of London.
themartorana 10y ago
Yeah re: price tag, someone check my math, but NY rents are about $55/sq ft/year [0] and the apartment profiled is $106/sq ft/yr!! [0] http://www.elliman.com/pdf/eed565a3adc1c94a4ccc9243ad0b932f618cee66 http://www.elliman.com/pdf/eed565a3adc1c94a4ccc9243ad0b932f6...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

by iLoch 10y ago

zyxley 10y ago

> Murphy beds seem like a fun idea, but unless you're entertaining guests you'll end up just leaving it down during the day (if you're like me, that is..) You then come home to what is essentially a bedroom. That's exactly my thought. I'd rather just have a normal bed, save a couple of square feet of floor space, and maybe be able to cram in some more storage under or over it.

nine_k 10y ago

I think the whole point is being very close to whatever is attractive in Manhattan, at a price of both serious rent and small area. A very similar situation there is in Tokyo: young professionals rent microscopic apartments close to work and the downtown founts of intense social life, and only use them as sleeping pads. Otherwise, Brooklyn and Queens offer much more cost-effective, well-connected, entirely urban neighborhoods, maybe not as dense but still perfectly walkable, bikable, and equipped with subway. The cost is, of course, 20-40 more minutes to/from Manhattan.

konceptz 10y ago
I don't agree that the point is living very close to the heart of the city since there are larger places in Manhattan for less money. I moved into the ues from bk 2 years ago and pay $1800 for a one bedroom (700sq feet). Commute, door to door, from midtown is 25 minutes (86/lex -> 42nd) and with the 2nd avenue subway (hopefully) opening in December should reduce that by 5-10 minutes.
patio11 10y ago
A very similar situation there is in Tokyo: young professionals rent microscopic apartments close to work and the downtown founts of intense social life, and only use them as sleeping pads. In Tokyo, this apartment fits reasonably cleanly in the 1DK category ([1] room, dedicated [d]ining/[k]itchen space). It's bog standard. Prices, even in the most desirable neighborhoods, would be a lot closer to $1k than to $3k, and generally coming from the downside.
- minikomi 10y ago
  From what I can see in the video, it seems to fall more into the 1K category - a single room with a kitchen - making this even more pricy! 1DK tends to have two separate rooms, one of which can be quite small. Agreed on the price - a quick search for 1K or 1DK apartments in the most expensive ward in Japan shows that only even the most spacious apartments ever go over that range: 1K : http://madori.chintai.net/1k/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/ http://madori.chintai.net/1k/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/ 1DK: http://madori.chintai.net/1dk/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/ http://madori.chintai.net/1dk/tokyo/area/13103/o=3/
  - level3 10y ago
    Indeed, I previously lived in a 2LDK in a very nice tower mansion in that ward (in Shibaura, near Mita Station), and that was around 700sqft for under $2500. I was sharing with a friend (so my rent was only half that) but it was amazingly comfortable. My current place is a 1DK, slightly smaller than the apartment in the article, but even that feels big for one person. In any case, after living in Tokyo, I find it hard to describe a 300sqft apartment as "tiny."

colmvp 10y ago

Honestly I'd rather just do what I did when I first lived in SF and NYC: get a bigger space with a couple people. For me, having a spacious social area and respectably sized bedroom trumps having complete and utter privacy.

lqdc13 10y ago

We have much smaller apartments in SF for the same price: http://www.equityapartments.com/san-francisco-bay/soma/77-bluxome-apartments http://www.equityapartments.com/san-francisco-bay/soma/77-bl... I agree. Both are not really worth the price.

FreedomToCreate 10y ago
As someone who is interviewing around the bay area for hardware engineering positions that pay between 90-110K starting (I'm from Detroit), this terrifies me if I do choose to move here. Half of my after tax salary would go to rent. I don't know if the premium is really worth the SV environment. GM and Ford pay 65K-75K starting and you can get a 1200 sq apartment in Ann Arbor, Dearborn or around Detroit for half the price of that walk in closet they call an apartment. And to anyone who says "buts its Detroit", come for a visit. The Detroit Metro area is not as bad as you think.
- ams6110 10y ago
  No. 50% for housing is a non starter.
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
  3 years ago I moved away from the state capital (Adelaide, South Australia) to a 100,000-ish people city in another state (Launceston, Tasmania). Haven't looked back. I'm paying $1100 a month for a three bedroom house. I live 10 minute drive from the city centre. Work is 1.5k away (about a mile). Looking to buy a place similar to the one we're renting for around the $220,000 mark, which is three years income for me. Any place I wanted to live in Adelaide was way out of my price range. Screw the big cities.
  - cylinder 10y ago
    What do you do for work that afforded you the ability to be employed in two depressed job markets like Adelaide and Launceston?

bane 10y ago

>Murphy beds It's only a matter of time before the bed/living area gets crammed into the kitchen like I've seen in some of the weirder parts of London.

themartorana 10y ago

Yeah re: price tag, someone check my math, but NY rents are about $55/sq ft/year [0] and the apartment profiled is $106/sq ft/yr!! [0] http://www.elliman.com/pdf/eed565a3adc1c94a4ccc9243ad0b932f618cee66 http://www.elliman.com/pdf/eed565a3adc1c94a4ccc9243ad0b932f6...

deleted 10y ago
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