4 ms·

Call me crazy, but I've always thought if I were a single guy with no family, I could live in something like this. I follow a couple of pages on Facebook about

Call me crazy, but I've always thought if I were a single guy with no family, I could live in something like this. I follow a couple of pages on Facebook about minimal living and think that it wouldn't be all that bad to have a one room place that has all the facilities needed. It sucks that so many are left with no choice in the matter though.

daeken 14y ago
I thought the exact same. Then I lived in NYC for a year and a half in something like 180sqft. Never, ever again. Even things like having two other people in the place was uncomfortable. There was space for a full bed and a small desk and nothing more. There was no usable kitchen. It seems like something that can be dealt with, but doing it really, really sucks.
- cantbecool 14y ago
  I mean isn't that twice the size of a dorm room? It could not have been that bad.
  - matthewrudy 14y ago
    I don't know what US dorms are like, but I'd guess they have some shared space to stretch out in. Maybe a kitchen or lounge. But what we're talking about is the room, and nothing else. That's not a great way to live.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - cglace 14y ago
      My dorm room was a bunk with a futon under it with a very small desk to the side. It wasn't ideal but fine considering I spent most of my time somewhere else.
  - zanny 14y ago
    The largest dorm I had in college (in suite style where I had my own room) was 130 sq ft. If I had my own place, I'd at least want a bathroom and kitchen (I'd go crazy and ask for a laundromat set), but I could work with ~100 sq ft of other living space easily for just a bed / work desk / clothes basket or 3.
  - ledge 14y ago
    The size of the rooms in the dorm I lived in my freshman year were as follows: " Single: 14’4” x 7’ ; Double: 14’8” x 14’4” ; Triple: 15'3" x 15'5"'' " So the single room comes in at about ~100 sq. feet, and the double ~210 sq. feet. Some of our facilities, like kitchens, bathrooms and showers, were communal however (I can't tell if this is the case in these apartments, but I can't see any bathrooms). Another big difference is that for nearly all college students, the dorm is not really their only home; everyone I know had a significant amount of stuff stored in their parent's house. I believe we were also provided a communal winter storage area for things like bikes, boxes of summer clothes, etc.
  - acrooks 14y ago
    My dorm room is 200 sq ft. I have a reasonable amount of floor space but fitting a kitchen in here would be a stretch.
  - superuser2 14y ago
    Dorm rooms come with spacious common areas and libraries for socializing and working. That's rarely all the indoor space you have access to (without paying for a coffee, driving, etc.)
nostromo 14y ago
There's a whole community around the idea of tiny houses. For example, check out this 89 sq foot home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbRvsWuWNUM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbRvsWuWNUM Obviously it's different to choose this lifestyle vs being forced into it due to poverty.
- ctdonath 14y ago
  http://tinyhouseblog.com/ http://tinyhouseblog.com/
- michaelochurch 14y ago
  He's got quality but not quantity, by conscious choice. That said, there are a couple problems with a tiny living arrangement (as I can explain, having lived in New York for 7 years). First, very small spaces are harder to keep clean. While a 1000 SF house is easier to clean than 2000 SF, 1000 is probably easier than 500 SF (with a family of 4). Second, most people are social creatures and like the idea of being able to host larger parties (15-20 people, comfortably) in their house. If you prefer the outdoors over an active social life (like him, and to a lesser extent, like me) then this is a worthy sacrifice, but most people would dislike what a 100 SF house does to their social life. (New York is a strange exception; almost no one hosts in NYC.)

daeken 14y ago

I thought the exact same. Then I lived in NYC for a year and a half in something like 180sqft. Never, ever again. Even things like having two other people in the place was uncomfortable. There was space for a full bed and a small desk and nothing more. There was no usable kitchen. It seems like something that can be dealt with, but doing it really, really sucks.

cantbecool 14y ago
I mean isn't that twice the size of a dorm room? It could not have been that bad.
- matthewrudy 14y ago
  I don't know what US dorms are like, but I'd guess they have some shared space to stretch out in. Maybe a kitchen or lounge. But what we're talking about is the room, and nothing else. That's not a great way to live.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - cglace 14y ago
    My dorm room was a bunk with a futon under it with a very small desk to the side. It wasn't ideal but fine considering I spent most of my time somewhere else.
- zanny 14y ago
  The largest dorm I had in college (in suite style where I had my own room) was 130 sq ft. If I had my own place, I'd at least want a bathroom and kitchen (I'd go crazy and ask for a laundromat set), but I could work with ~100 sq ft of other living space easily for just a bed / work desk / clothes basket or 3.
- ledge 14y ago
  The size of the rooms in the dorm I lived in my freshman year were as follows: " Single: 14’4” x 7’ ; Double: 14’8” x 14’4” ; Triple: 15'3" x 15'5"'' " So the single room comes in at about ~100 sq. feet, and the double ~210 sq. feet. Some of our facilities, like kitchens, bathrooms and showers, were communal however (I can't tell if this is the case in these apartments, but I can't see any bathrooms). Another big difference is that for nearly all college students, the dorm is not really their only home; everyone I know had a significant amount of stuff stored in their parent's house. I believe we were also provided a communal winter storage area for things like bikes, boxes of summer clothes, etc.
- acrooks 14y ago
  My dorm room is 200 sq ft. I have a reasonable amount of floor space but fitting a kitchen in here would be a stretch.
- superuser2 14y ago
  Dorm rooms come with spacious common areas and libraries for socializing and working. That's rarely all the indoor space you have access to (without paying for a coffee, driving, etc.)

nostromo 14y ago

There's a whole community around the idea of tiny houses. For example, check out this 89 sq foot home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbRvsWuWNUM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbRvsWuWNUM Obviously it's different to choose this lifestyle vs being forced into it due to poverty.

ctdonath 14y ago
http://tinyhouseblog.com/ http://tinyhouseblog.com/
michaelochurch 14y ago
He's got quality but not quantity, by conscious choice. That said, there are a couple problems with a tiny living arrangement (as I can explain, having lived in New York for 7 years). First, very small spaces are harder to keep clean. While a 1000 SF house is easier to clean than 2000 SF, 1000 is probably easier than 500 SF (with a family of 4). Second, most people are social creatures and like the idea of being able to host larger parties (15-20 people, comfortably) in their house. If you prefer the outdoors over an active social life (like him, and to a lesser extent, like me) then this is a worthy sacrifice, but most people would dislike what a 100 SF house does to their social life. (New York is a strange exception; almost no one hosts in NYC.)