This weekend the New York Times runs a massive piece about the holy miracle of living in 275- to 300-square-foot apartments, anointed this summer by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a potential new housing model for the NYC's growing small-household population. Of course, people have been living in way smaller spaces—both in and out of the city—for a while now, but that doesn't stop the Times from embarking on a full-on anthropological study of how, exactly, such confined creatures survive. Here now, the 10 best quotes:
10. "She has a crowded, noisy life outside, exploring the city, and gathers with friends for hours in Washington Square Park, 'having an awesome time, looking at the people,' she said. They consider the park their communal living room."
9. "'We think of the apartment as a haven,' Mrs. Lonsdale said. 'We don't go out much: we work, work, work, and at night, all we want is each other.'"
8. "As she welcomes a visitor to her fourth-floor walk-up, Ms. Stolarski, a manager in the digital sales group at Condé Nast, recites the stock reaction to her pinkie toehold in Manhattan: 'Oh! Ohhh. It's ... cute! And you have a bathroom, too!'"
Photo: mashurov/Shutterstock
7. "'You're not searching all over the place for stuff. You don't need an intercom system to find each other.'"
6. "Moreover, he added: 'We don't do closets. Our customers say they don't need them,' preferring racks and open shelving. 'We don't do cars. We are big on bikes.'"
5. "'I thought I'd crave more space,' said Lauren Applebaum, 30, who [...] moved into a 200-square foot studio [with] a cubbyhole divider to screen off her bed; furniture that does double duty, like a dresser-TV stand. 'I think that extra space would be unnecessary.'"
4. "'They wanted a bathroom, a bed and a microkitchen,' Ms. Roy said. 'The living room could be outside, a party space they could share with others in the building. They would much rather have that face-to-face social networking.'"
3. "'What is essential is that the place can't feel like a prison. You have to have some natural external light and preferably a view that you could construe as pleasant, so you can project yourself onto a borrowed landscape that extends the psychological space.'"
2. "'The city as living room is key,' said Susanne Schindler, an architect with Team R8 [...]"
1. "'But living here as a couple, it's like a dance: you both have to know the steps. You have to orchestrate your moves.' Accommodation and compatibility are critical: 'On Saturdays, if we both get work calls, one of us has to take theirs into the bathroom.'"
· Shrink to Fit [NYT via Curbed NY]
· Behold: Microhomes That Make Tiny Living Easy on the Eyes [Curbed National]
· Watch What it's Like to Live in a 90-Square-Foot Studio [Curbed National]
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