New Yorker lives in 90 square ft apt. ($700/mo) - video goes viral

[Liberal_in_LA]

No wonder Ms. Cohen’s video tour of her pocket apartment has gone viral on YouTube. In it, the writer and professional organizer demonstrates how she sits on her toilet to avoid banging her knees, and brushes off the absence of a kitchen. “In New York,” she says with a shrug, “most people store their laundry in their stove anyway.”

Ms. Cohen is part of a growing (if still mainly fringe) movement to downsize in extreme ways. And while 90 square feet is small, it’s not the smallest abode out there: At 55 square feet, this guy has her beat.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/home-wee-home-new-yorker-lives-in-90-square-feet/article1972067/

[Hannah Bell]

1. 90 square feet + bathroom = not that small for a single.

ps: link goes to story about the woman.

[madaboutharry]

2. She seems like a very interesting person.

[okieinpain]

65. thinking the same thing. I was feeling tingles of love actually. n/t.

[Ed Suspicious]

3. I love it.

Wish I could convince my wife and kids about the joys of tiny living. Instead we just accumulate shit and hope to someday afford a bigger pad. Kind of depressing thinking about it.

[aikoaiko]

4. A fine option for the right person, but even then for only a while I would imagine.

I like that there are people out there living quirky lives.

[David__77]

5. There are times in my life I would loved that apartment.

It's a wonderful location. She's done a lot with the space. I like it and her too!

[elias49]

6. I think this is ridiculous.

Why not just get homeless. Now THAT'S noble!

[Rage for Order]

7. Good for her

Seriously. But no thank you.

[XemaSab]

8. I think I would get stabby with anything under 400

(And I grew up with an 8x7 bedroom, so I know small.)

[Historic NY]

9. I'd have to wear a helmet if I slept in the loft bed.

[LynneSin]

13. That's probably the only thing that would keep me from living somewhere that small

I like to situp and read in bed - she can't do it there where she lives. I think if the apartment was about 2-3 feet higher ceiling I'd do it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

45. me too. I thought of sitting up suddenly and bumping me head...hard!

[TlalocW]

10. I'm currently putting a lot of stuff in storage

For a planned move to Kansas City. I'm in Tulsa right now. I hope to short-sell my house, which I was told by all my smart, business-savvy friends that I should get as soon as possible so I jumped in too quickly with no idea how to care for it or even desire to care for a yard. I'm realizing how much crap I have and how much of it is useless. I think I could get rid of 70% of my stuff easy and still be happy. I couldn't live in a place that small though. I'm a big guy, and I could see myself having a panic attack trying to get in and out of that shower and sleeping with the ceiling just a few feet above me.

TlalocW

[Bryn]

11. Interesting, but not sure if

I'd like to sleep with ceiling too close to my face every night.

[deacon]

23. Lol! That would drive me nuts! n/t

[Matariki]

12. "pocket apartment" - more like "coffin apartment"

NYC isn't worth that :eyes:

[psychopomp]

29. Many apartments in Japan can be found like this

I lived in a place almost as small as the one in the video for a few years, it's all about compartmentalization.

[smirkymonkey]

32. I live here and you are right - I couldn't stand living in such a

small space. If you are willing to have a roommate (especially someone who has a rent stabilized place that they have been in forever, and who isn't insane or intrusive), you can live in a nice neighborhood in a large apartment that is well maintained. You just have to be willing to look a little longer.

I basically live in my room, but it's huge with it's own bathroom and 3 large closets - It's like living in a large studio and I live in a nice part of the Upper West Side in a doorman building. Yes I pay a little bit more than she does, but not much. I could never afford a nice place by myself and I work too hard not to come home to what I consider to be my sanctuary. Once you are living the daily grind here, all the "cool" things to do kind of lose their luster - you're just too burnt out to do anything other than occassionally and most of us just go from work to home because we're so exhuasted.

If I had to live in a place like that, I would be out of here in a second.

[Trajan]

14. The Tiny House movement is growing ...

It makes sense for many people ..... 90 Sq ' is too small for me, but 400 ? ... That might be spacious ....

https://www.facebook.com/TinyHouseBlog

[stevenleser]

16. That's what I have, also in NYC. And it is a 1 bedroom! n/t

[Trajan]

18. Dude ? ... I would give my right arm to live in NYC

I was born on North Jersey, and my mom's family is from Flatbush ... I love that wonderful town ...

[Quist]

19. Do all the apts in NYC--Manhattan--have roaches?

Rats? Anything else?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

28. Mine was roach and rat free.

[smirkymonkey]

33. Same here - I've never seen either one.

[Trajan]

58. Where did you get the impression that all apts in NYC are infested with pests ?

From a Texan ?

[tuckessee]

15. Does she spend a lot of time at home?

Or does she mooch space elsewhere because her apartment is a glorified closet?

[stevenleser]

17. We NYC'ers don't spend much time at home, ours or anyone else's

#1 - We work a lot of hours

#2 - There is so much going on around town that when we do have free time, there is a dazzling array of choices of things to do and a large number are free http://www.villagevoice.com/calendar/

[Manifestor_of_Light]

20. I have heard about the bathrooms.

Haven't seen any. I'm talking about bathrooms in closets, or a bathtub in the middle of the kitchen with a curtain all the way around it. Anybody know about those?

[KittyWampus]

39. Older NYC apartments still have tubs in the kitchen. Ones I've seen are downtown.

[Warren DeMontague]

21. Meh. You couldn't pay ME enough to live in Manhattan.

I'm glad some folks like it. Personally, the whole East Coast does nothing for me. No offense.

Still, the Dead always played kick ass shows when they were in NYC, I'll grant you that.

[deacon]

22. Rumor has it she's going to adopt a Great Dane. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

46. lol...why not a St. Bernard

[Donnachaidh]

24. she's living in a HALLWAY converted into a cubby, and paying several hundred dollars a month.

That *apartment* is the equivalent of a half a brownstone hallway. Judging from the size of that building, the owner must be making a fortune renting hallway apartments out to idiots.

This is asinine. Paying to rent a closet for the *area* is making the wealthy wealthier.

FWIW, I rented a full floor of a brownstone for less than what she's spending. And while it wasn't by Central Park, it was a *trendy* area of Brooklyn.

[Bluenorthwest]

52. What's that full floor in Brooklyn going for now?

Not $700 I can tell you that.

[cutlassmama]

25. $700/month is a good price for NY. Does it have A/C?

[deacon]

63. For AC you leave an ice cube tray on the table. :)

[HughBeaumont]

26. Claustrophobia: Part of the New Normal.

Today it's hallways. Tomorrow it will be closets. For the same price, of course.

Today it's debt-to-diploma. Tomorrow it will be that all careers will require a PhD to even get your foot in entry level.

Today it's $200 to fly one way somewhere 6 hours away. Tomorrow . . . well, ever heard of the saying "Home is where the heart is" (or your hallway, whichever)?

Today, you should be Hap-hap-HAPEEEE that McDonalds is hiring 50,000 workers (instead of, say, GE or Boeing hiring 50,000 workers)! Happeeeee!! Tomorrow, you'll be happppeeeee about 7.00/hr being the new "living wage".

Stop being so selfish! Don't you understand the rich need new yachts? How are they going to create these great jobs if we ask them to sacrifice?

And we say nothing and we do nothing and it gets worse and worse and we should never expect anything better.

Yes, this all IS part of a bigger picture that sees us accepting less and less in life.

You'll be in a box, whether it's a home or a job or (for you lucky duckies that can afford it) travel, from cradle to grave.

Boxes.

That's the future baby.

[callous taoboy]

27. Heh yeah.

[Le Taz Hot]

30. No kitchen?

Is it true "most people store their laundry in their stove anyway?" I'm assuming she goes out for her meals? That would cost a fortune. And no home-cooked meals? Yuck!

[Stevenmarc]

35. Put in context

of food prices in NYC it can be cheaper to eat out here and unlike a lot of the country, we have a plethora of inexpensive non-franchise options available to us where we can have the home cooking of pretty much every country on the planet.

[Le Taz Hot]

40. Why are food prices so high in New York?

There are farms in "upstate" New York, are there not? You'd have to really convince me that going out is less expensive. I'm a make-it-from-scratch kinda gal and I feed 2 people good, nutritious food for about $300.00 a month -- and that's WITH buying produce in bulk for canning.

I've not been to New York but I've found that cosmopolitan cuisine is readily available in most major cities, including my own.

Not trying to be argumentative here and maybe it's because I'm a left-coaster living 30 minutes from the Sierra Nevada but I just can't imagine that kind of lifestyle, i.e., dining out EVERY DAY, living in a shoe box, not having a back yard with a garden, never seeing mountains. Viva l'difference, I guess. :shrug: :hippie:

[Stevenmarc]

44. Why?

Lots of reasons, higher gas prices, higher cost of refrigeration ie. electric, huge cost for retail space per sq. ft., the cost of doing business here is not cheap.

I'm a rare NY'er that actually is a make it from scratch person and I can pull together a meal for seriously little money if I need to but time is also a very important commodity here, we're hyper aware of it so when I say it's cheaper to eat out here that is also factoring in the time it takes to prepare and not a lot of people are willing to invest spending that amount of time cooking in the average size NYC kitchen, which usually makes the space in a prison cell look generous.

I'm sure every major city has their fair share of "cosmopolitan" dining and I've been to quite a few of them but nothing really comes close to the dining opportunities in NYC and while we don't have individual back yards we do have one huge back yard, Central Park, and our mountains are called skyscrapers and we do have the cultural edge compared to the rest of the country, speaking of that I'm off to the Whitney for the Edward Hopper.

[Liberal_in_LA]

47. on the video it shows a small fridge, a toaster oven and what looks like a plug in crock pot

I guess she washes dishes in the bathroom.

[Blue_Tires]

31. Good for her, but no one is having sex in THAT bed...

[FLPanhandle]

36. Where there's a will...

I remember succeeding in the backseat of a VW bug, I'm sure she'll figure something out. :)

[Xithras]

37. Oh, I "know people" who have done it in much smaller spaces than that.

You remember those old telephone booths with the sliding doors? Yeah. That bedroom is a veritable palace in comparison ;)

[FLPanhandle]

34. I've lived for a time on a small sailboat and will retire onto a sailboat

Amazing what you can fit in a small space with a little motivation.

[Liberal_in_LA]

48. but you sail boat will come with some outdoor space, the deck. I'd need a balcony to live in

90sq ft

[Luminous Animal]

64. And out her front door comes with outdoor space. She can sail out into the city.

[JackRiddler]

38. The scandal here is the $700/mo.

Come on out to Queens, woman, you can probably hit 180 sq. feet for that.

[KittyWampus]

41. Agreed. The near-obsession some have with living in Manhattan. Makes no sense to me.

Although who wants to live in Queens. BROOKLYN FOR THE WIN! :)

[Liberal_in_LA]

50. Me either. Been watching 'Selling New York" on the H GTV channel

They walk into 4 million dollar claustrophobic apartments and coo about the view of other ugly building roofs.

[charlie and algernon]

42. Geez, this is a reminder why I'll never live in NYC. My rent is $610 for a small house.

I rent a room in a smallish house I share in Maryland for only ~$610 (depending on utilities that month). With it, I have a large bedroom, walk in closet, living room, kitchen, attic, laundry room, very large back yard with porch, and my own parking right out front. I share with one other person and there's more than enough room for the both of us. I couldn't imagine spending more a month for an apartment only a third of the size of the house.

[Trajan]

59. NYC is not spacious inside the house ...

It is spacious in rich culture and community .... It is a vibrant, pulsing world that is not for everyone ....

But it is home to millions of good people .....

[ellie]

43. That apartment is so small

She has to go outside to change her mind!

I'll be here all week!

[Liberal_in_LA]

51. hee... pretty funny.

[krispos42]

60. I had a one-bedroom apartment in Minnesote for $650 a month.

Fairly big bedroom, fairly bit living room, dining area, little kitchen, bathroom with tub, two closets, balcony. Included heat, water, and hot water.

:shrug:


Hell, I was renting the basement of a house on 10 acres for $425 a months. Wasn't that great, but it was cheap and included all utilities including cable internet and basic cable TV.

[okieinpain]

66. "no one wants to live in Oklahoma", told to me by a bartender in

california when I complained about high rent prices in california.

[hedgehog]

49. Can I put in a plug here for co-op living? You get to choose who lives with you,

you only have to cook when it's your turn, you get the benefit of a large house plus other people to help the upkeep. The houses I've seen have several "public rooms", so you can be alone in your bedroom, down the hall in a sun room reading quietly with others or downstairs watching the football game with a crowd.

Plus - most co-ops have several members with assorted fur babies!


Here's one group to get you started:

http://www.nasco.coop/

[Vinee]

53. Fuck. That. eom.

[Brewman_Jax]

54. There are bigger jail cells

90 square feet translates to a square about 9.5 feet on each side. To pay $700/month for a cell is insane, IMO. :crazy:

[WatsonT]

56. If we put prisoners in a space that small

it would be deemed (rightly) a human rights violation.

[highplainsdem]

55. Just looking at the video makes me feel claustrophobic. I have lived in NYC, but the smallest

place I lived in there (of three apartments, one on the West Side and two on the East Side) was a Murray Hill studio apartment a few blocks south of Grand Central with a large L-shaped main room and a huge window overlooking a garden, and even that gave me claustrophobia after more than a few hours. Interesting as the city is, it doesn't make up for feeling cooped up in one room when you're home.

Btw, although I ate out a lot when I lived there (I do miss the restaurants), I never met anyone there who would "store their laundry in their stove," as she suggests is typical of "most people" there.

[WatsonT]

57. I guess if all you need is a place to crash and hold your stuff

then it works ok. Could work with no pets or kids and all your entertainment is out of the house.

Makes me claustrophobic though.

[kenny blankenship]

61. Difficult bed for sex, but at least there isn't a rough texture on the ceiling

that would be bit harsh on the backside.

[Rex]

62. Reminds me of this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel
Nothing new.