3 ms·

Sure, 1bdrm apartment is more than enough when you live alone and don't have any hobbies aside of hosting parties.

by stackedinserter 5y ago

ryeights 5y ago
Can you elaborate on this? What sorts of hobbies necessitate having a giant house to engage in them?
- stackedinserter 5y ago
  Sure! In our family: - bicycles: in my case it's five bicycles plus trailer for the youngest - motorcycle - woodworking: tools, worktables, storage etc - tinkering/DIY: separate table + shelf - mountain ski gear for three people (soon four) - hockey gear - piano Plus car (and her stuff), storage for seasonal clothes and such, separate rooms for kids, ideally a room for guests, IT den, deck and backyard (and garden stuff) just because I love it, so it adds up to ~1500sqft pretty quickly. I wish I had bigger house, so I wouldn't have to share my garage between {1..3}
  - ryeights 5y ago
    Fair! However, keep in mind that you're nearly 2 standard deviations above the average household size in the US [1], and probably above 2σ in physical activity as well... ;) [1]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/242189/disitribution-of-households-in-the-us-by-household-size/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/242189/disitribution-of-...
- bkberry352 5y ago
  Not necessarily a giant house, but many hobbies require having a detached house for noise isolation (music, woodworking, cars, etc.) or a garage to work with materials you don't want in your living area (glues, paints, 3D printer resin, etc.).
- hasbot 5y ago
  Exercise. I have a bike trainer and a rower. Plus I need stretching space. Add barbells and other equipment and one needs at least 144sq ft. That's bigger than most bedrooms.
lmm 5y ago
I have plenty of hobbies thank you very much, I just don't find taking up a bunch of space for stuff I do occasionally to be a good tradeoff compared to living somewhere dense and walkable. Honestly, most of the things you listed sound like exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about - how much time did you actually spend last month doing woodworking, skiing, hockey, and piano? How often were your guest rooms occupied? How many of the seasonal clothes you store actually see the light of day again? There are definitely downsides to having to cycle to a nearby music practice room or workshop space (I happen to live next to the community farm), or putting guests in the hotel round the corner rather than hosting them myself. But there are also upsides to doing these things as part of an actual community rather than in isolation (half the fun of making music is the social side, and at least some of the fun of cycling too). And plenty of other hobbies (team sports, theatre, ...) outright require living somewhere with enough other people around to make them doable. Obviously the ideal would be to have a huge amount of personal living space and also a huge range of neighbours and facilities within walking/cycling distance. But given the inherent contradiction in that, I'm very glad to choose density (and while those who want the suburban lifestyle are welcome to pursue it in their own spaces, they shouldn't feel entitled to impose car traffic on the city; you can pay for your road use, pay for your parking, give way to pedestrians, follow speed limits, and carry strict liability for any injuries).

Sure, 1bdrm apartment is more than enough when you live alone and don't have any hobbies aside of hosting parties.

ryeights 5y ago

Can you elaborate on this? What sorts of hobbies necessitate having a giant house to engage in them?

stackedinserter 5y ago
Sure! In our family: - bicycles: in my case it's five bicycles plus trailer for the youngest - motorcycle - woodworking: tools, worktables, storage etc - tinkering/DIY: separate table + shelf - mountain ski gear for three people (soon four) - hockey gear - piano Plus car (and her stuff), storage for seasonal clothes and such, separate rooms for kids, ideally a room for guests, IT den, deck and backyard (and garden stuff) just because I love it, so it adds up to ~1500sqft pretty quickly. I wish I had bigger house, so I wouldn't have to share my garage between {1..3}
- ryeights 5y ago
  Fair! However, keep in mind that you're nearly 2 standard deviations above the average household size in the US [1], and probably above 2σ in physical activity as well... ;) [1]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/242189/disitribution-of-households-in-the-us-by-household-size/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/242189/disitribution-of-...
bkberry352 5y ago
Not necessarily a giant house, but many hobbies require having a detached house for noise isolation (music, woodworking, cars, etc.) or a garage to work with materials you don't want in your living area (glues, paints, 3D printer resin, etc.).
hasbot 5y ago
Exercise. I have a bike trainer and a rower. Plus I need stretching space. Add barbells and other equipment and one needs at least 144sq ft. That's bigger than most bedrooms.

lmm 5y ago

I have plenty of hobbies thank you very much, I just don't find taking up a bunch of space for stuff I do occasionally to be a good tradeoff compared to living somewhere dense and walkable. Honestly, most of the things you listed sound like exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about - how much time did you actually spend last month doing woodworking, skiing, hockey, and piano? How often were your guest rooms occupied? How many of the seasonal clothes you store actually see the light of day again? There are definitely downsides to having to cycle to a nearby music practice room or workshop space (I happen to live next to the community farm), or putting guests in the hotel round the corner rather than hosting them myself. But there are also upsides to doing these things as part of an actual community rather than in isolation (half the fun of making music is the social side, and at least some of the fun of cycling too). And plenty of other hobbies (team sports, theatre, ...) outright require living somewhere with enough other people around to make them doable. Obviously the ideal would be to have a huge amount of personal living space and also a huge range of neighbours and facilities within walking/cycling distance. But given the inherent contradiction in that, I'm very glad to choose density (and while those who want the suburban lifestyle are welcome to pursue it in their own spaces, they shouldn't feel entitled to impose car traffic on the city; you can pay for your road use, pay for your parking, give way to pedestrians, follow speed limits, and carry strict liability for any injuries).