Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons • Hacker News Board

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#11

Post by sz4kerto » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:24 PM UTC

x43b wrote: post #4

sz4kerto wrote: post #3

:) 400 sqf with two kids might be a drama for people in the US but it is completely normal in other places of the world, even including the EU. It's not comfortable, but 600-700 sqf is completely usual for families in where I live (an apartment like that costs around 15-20 times the average yearly salary). EDIT: typo, I meant sqf and not sqm.

"400 sqm with two kids might be a drama for people in the US" 400 square feet (~37 m^2) No need to turn this into another stereotyping Europe vs US issue. I agree 37 m^2 is plenty of room for some people, not for others, regardless of where you are from.

I meant square feet, sorry. I wanted to hightlight that the 'normal' or 'acceptable' size of private space varies hugely between regions. You can call that stereotyping, but we can also just call them cultural differences.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#12

Post by Artistry121 » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:25 PM UTC

In another city a place this cheap would be less than $400 / month. Meaning someone could choose this lifestyle simply in a different city working for minimum wage and meet the requirements for housing costs of less than 1/3 income.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#13

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:29 PM UTC

raverbashing wrote: post #6

The question is why do we have the most talented people in a certain industry having to live in confined spaces while paying through the roof for it. Not even Hollywood is like that. People may stay in trailers for some time but that's it As personally having to live in a tiny place (not in SF though) it is not something I want to do for an extended period of time, even though the advantages like 'city living' are go…

[deleted]

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#14

Post by tinbad » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:29 PM UTC

Growing up in communist Russia, 400sq. feet apartment would be the luxury option for 2 or 3 families with multiple children each. No joke, my parents lived with their siblings and parents (and sometimes grandparents) in the same apartment even after everyone had children of their own. Somehow we still managed to occasionally have 20 more people over for birthday celebrations and cook all the accompanying excessive amounts of food :)

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#15

Post by hellofunk » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:30 PM UTC

This isn't so bad. The Netherlands is the most dense population of any country outside Taiwan and families dwelling in small spaces continues to this day. There is a 12-member family spanning 3 generations all living in the same small house next door to me. Our tiny 60 square meter home is considered normal for our area. By American standards, SF seems like tight living, perhaps. But by world standards, space is not the priority that you find elsewhere in the States.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#16

Post by goodJobWalrus » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:30 PM UTC

I had a colleague in nyc, who moved with his homemaker wife and 2 children, from Utah where they owned their own home, to nyc to live in a studio. I thought it was a very brave choice.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#17

Post by serge2k » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:33 PM UTC

goodJobWalrus wrote: post #9

x43b wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"400 sqm with two kids might be a drama for people in the US" 400 square feet (~37 m^2) No need to turn this into another stereotyping Europe vs US issue. I agree 37 m^2 is plenty of room for some people, not for others, regardless of where you are from.

> No need to turn this into another stereotyping Europe vs US issue But it is kind of true that Americans are extremely melodramatic about this stuff. 800 sqft house is often referred as a "tiny house" in American media. In the UK (for example) this is an average house size.

The US is over 10 times larger than the UK. Guess what, tons of land leads to different expectations. I don't understand why Europeans seem to like acting condescending about this stuff?

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#18

Post by serge2k » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:34 PM UTC

Interesting this about San Francisco, you don't have to live there.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#19

Post by serge2k » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:35 PM UTC

hellofunk wrote: post #15

This isn't so bad. The Netherlands is the most dense population of any country outside Taiwan and families dwelling in small spaces continues to this day. There is a 12-member family spanning 3 generations all living in the same small house next door to me. Our tiny 60 square meter home is considered normal for our area. By American standards, SF seems like tight living, perhaps. But by world standards, space is not…

> Our tiny 60 square meter home

is over 50% larger than the one in the article?

It's the difference between a studio and a nice one bedroom, or maybe even cramped 2 bedroom.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#20

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 07, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

goodJobWalrus wrote: post #9

x43b wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"400 sqm with two kids might be a drama for people in the US" 400 square feet (~37 m^2) No need to turn this into another stereotyping Europe vs US issue. I agree 37 m^2 is plenty of room for some people, not for others, regardless of where you are from.

> No need to turn this into another stereotyping Europe vs US issue But it is kind of true that Americans are extremely melodramatic about this stuff. 800 sqft house is often referred as a "tiny house" in American media. In the UK (for example) this is an average house size.

[deleted]