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Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

theatlanticcities.com

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Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#171

Post by Adaptive »

yskchu wrote: post #66
Adaptive wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes this. The HK govt is appalling in its disregard of the poverty line. (>6yrs in HK, and I'm no SG fanboy, but it is SO far beyond HK in this, there is just no comparison)

Can you quantify this? HK has one of the best welfare systems in the world.

An agency colleague and I did volunteer design and marketing work for a Hong Kong food bank (St. James). At the time it was one of the few food banks in HK (I don't know if this has changed or not, but I'd be surprised if it has). Part of our initial work was research and I was pretty shocked that the HK govt didn't even set a national poverty line. Given a rough line of half median income, over a million HK residents were easily below at the time.

If you're talking strictly social security, even the government acknowledges it has a problem.

Here's a recent SCMP article where the welfare dept itself states that at least 40% of HK residents in poverty aren't covered by welfare.

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1062025/700000-sl...

(mirror: http://goo.gl/GxyTw )

The good news is that the HK govt did, finally, just implement a standard poverty line (half median income). This is the first step and a long time in coming.

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#172

Post by vecinu »

will_work4tears wrote: post #116
cmarschner wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've grown up in a spacious house and am living now on about 800 sq ft with my wife and a baby. That's more than those people in Hong Kong but, given where I am coming from, it is constraint. My wife is coming from a former communist country. There, 60 sq m were regarded enough for a family, and she feels perfectly comfortable in our space. She wouldn't want more. And in fact it does have some merits: I can clean the…

I don't live on a ranch, and don't really have any desire to, but let's play devil's advocate. With a ranch and lots of land, you can grow your own food, raise your own animals and not be tied down to requiring (as much) other people. You don't have to deal with traffic (foot or road), generally anyway, and your neighbors are probably pretty friendly - probably because they don't have to deal with masses of people on…

You've just described why I want to live in a low population area. Thank you.

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#173

Post by Someone »

arrrg wrote: post #159
jib wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

400 euro/month around 5-10 years ago.

That’s cheap? Wow. If it’s close to Versailles it’s well outside Paris. I’m now moving into a 17sqft mini apartment (just for four months), one metro station from the center of Hamburg (20 min to my very central workplace, including a ten minute bus ride to the next metro station plus walking and waiting times). I will pay 270 euro/month for it, including heat and electricity. You can get more spacious apartments in…

Are you sure you have your units right? You can just put a bed on 17sqft, but you could not also have a door swinging inwards or even place to stand next to that bed (https://www.google.nl/search?q=17+sq+ft+in+sq+meters)

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#174

Post by OGinparadise »

lilsunnybee wrote: post #168
OGinparadise wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why do you need a ranch size home and 20 acres?" Why do you need to eat three square meals a day? Why do you need a $1000+ PC? Why do you need $50+ jeans? Why do you need....

being able to afford to eat 3 meals a day is much different than owning a $1000 PC, or $50 jeans. what is your point exactly?

My point as that "Needs" and "wants" and "desires" are totally different. While no one may need a 20 acre backyard, many will love it.

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#175

Post by srean »

IgorPartola wrote: post #151
wilfra wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree it is the governments job to give people a place to live. From the sounds of it, Hong Kong already does a lot of this. At some point, people need to take care of themselves.

A hungry homeless person is everyone's problem and a huge risk. No matter how you slice it, you end up paying the price: the value of your house goes down, the crime rate goes up, etc. It is a myth that you can escape poverty. Sure, you can move to an expensive gated community with a white gloved guard shooing away the "undesirables", but why do you think it's so expensive? Moreover, a hungry homeless person is a sec…

Wish I could upvote this enough.

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#176

Post by pyoung »

Someone wrote: post #173
arrrg wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s cheap? Wow. If it’s close to Versailles it’s well outside Paris. I’m now moving into a 17sqft mini apartment (just for four months), one metro station from the center of Hamburg (20 min to my very central workplace, including a ten minute bus ride to the next metro station plus walking and waiting times). I will pay 270 euro/month for it, including heat and electricity. You can get more spacious apartments in…

Are you sure you have your units right? You can just put a bed on 17sqft, but you could not also have a door swinging inwards or even place to stand next to that bed ( https://www.google.nl/search?q=17+sq+ft+in+sq+meters )

I think he is missing a zero. 17 sqft is a mini-closet, not a mini-apartment. 170 sqft would still be pretty small, but doable.

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#177

Post by ctdonath »

nostromo wrote: post #30
JeremyMorgan wrote: post #19

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.

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 Obviously it's different to choose this lifestyle vs being forced into it due to poverty.

http://tinyhouseblog.com/

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#178

Post by arrrg »

Someone wrote: post #173
arrrg wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s cheap? Wow. If it’s close to Versailles it’s well outside Paris. I’m now moving into a 17sqft mini apartment (just for four months), one metro station from the center of Hamburg (20 min to my very central workplace, including a ten minute bus ride to the next metro station plus walking and waiting times). I will pay 270 euro/month for it, including heat and electricity. You can get more spacious apartments in…

Are you sure you have your units right? You can just put a bed on 17sqft, but you could not also have a door swinging inwards or even place to stand next to that bed ( https://www.google.nl/search?q=17+sq+ft+in+sq+meters )

Sorry, units wrong. 17 square meters, obviously. That’s about 180 sqft.

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#179

Post by vecinu »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #93
thisone wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course a family of 4 can be comfortable in an apartment. Three bedrooms, living area, kitchen, full bathroom with possibly a half bath if it's a larger place. Why couldn't a family of 4 be comfortable?

Bay Area resident here. Most families of 4 are living in a 1br if they're lucky. Plenty of families of 10 doing 2brs etc. Bay Area is seriously a bad choice if you're not in IT or making at least 6 figures combined yearly.

This is absolutely the truth.

I know folks that make 6 figures yearly and still cannot convince themselves to pay $4000-$5000/month for a 2 bedroom.

Re: Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above

#180

Post by arrrg »

pyoung wrote: post #176
Someone wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you have your units right? You can just put a bed on 17sqft, but you could not also have a door swinging inwards or even place to stand next to that bed ( https://www.google.nl/search?q=17+sq+ft+in+sq+meters )

I think he is missing a zero. 17 sqft is a mini-closet, not a mini-apartment. 170 sqft would still be pretty small, but doable.

I got the units wrong. Really stupid error.

It’s a mini apartment with huge quotation marks around it. One 9 square meter living room (with cupboard, sofa, table), one 8 square meter bedroom, including a shower. Toilet and tiny kitchen niche in the tiny, 1 meter wide hall not included (for whatever reason) in the 17 square meters.

I still think the 270 Euro/month are pretty expensive for what it is, but luckily I only have to live there for four months (and in the summer, so I’m not going to be in there all the time and will rather try to enjoy the city).

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