Well said. The other option, if you opt for space over privacy, is do what my daughter did when she moved to New York making $26k annually. She co-habitated with people. She had some really "interesting" living situations--like the apartment we called "The Pirate's Cove" where the bedrooms had 4 ft ceilings because they were arrayed like lofts above the living room and they were total fire traps. But they were all environmentalists, so at least they used greywater to water their rooftop plants.
Then there was the apartment she shared with 4 other people in Bed Stuy, until they had a break-in and everyone's computers were stolen. Then there was the place in Williamsburg where her boyfriend was able to "upgrade" from sleeping in a closet (a literal closet--I'm not exaggerating) when she moved in with him to their own precious 250 sq feet. That place came with chickens in the back.. and the rats to go with them. I was so proud of her because, while she gave me a few grey hairs, she never asked me for money all the time she lived there.
But at least they were affordable. Yeah, living in NY is an adventure in itself.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
Well, it is obvious we are talking about a separate species of Homo sapiens which is not only willing to endure housing hardship but actively seeks stressful living conditions out in order to be in the "Big City". Perhaps someday all we will have to rent is an individual sleeping pod. Everything else will be shared. No need for an actual room?
In the case of my friends, William, they did not have a choice if they wanted to pursue theatre careers. It turned out very well for both of them. It's not like you can move to Florida or Oklahoma and launch a career on Broadway.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
There are more and more requests here in the Twin Cities for zoning boards to consider these "micro apartments". People living by themselves (especially younger people), at work for half of their waking hours and elsewhere (with friends, social activities, the health club, etc.) for many of the other hours, do not need big kitchens or entertainment spaces, just someplace to sleep and watch TV/read/whatever. They're using those "third places": coffee shops, libraries/bookstores, etc., They understand very well the economics of filling a building with 800-1000 square feet of bog-standard galley kitchens, unused dining spaces, and living rooms no one is home to live in. A smaller apartment costs less per unit and it improves the chances of a vacancy where you want to live.
When I lived in my efficiency apartment I had more than enough room. I had a kitchen with usable appliances, a perfectly functional bathroom, and enough nooks and crannies for my stuff (plus a storage unit in the basement). It was a little tiresome to make the futon each morning so I had a sofa when I got home and to move this to get to that in the big closet. But it worked. It was in a great neighborhood at a price 1/2 to 2/3 of some charmless suburban apartment in a cars-only neighborhood, it took 15 minutes to clean, and I wasn't home all that much anyway. Yeah, parking on the street in the snow got old. But, had I looked longer, I might have found something similar with off-street or garage parking. And in a place as dense as NYC, I wouldn't have wanted a car anyway. Our niece lived in downtown Minneapolis before she got married, just a couple of minutes away from work. Murphy bed, tiny kitchen, hotel-sized bathroom. It was fine. She'd probably still be there if she hadn't gotten married.
There's a market for that kind of place. Now to get the projects approved by Luddite zoning boards....
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington
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