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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Could apartments in New York City get any smaller? Mayor Michael Bloomberg hopes so.
On Monday he announced a competition for architects to submit designs for apartments measuring just 275 to 300 square feet (25.5 to 28 square meters) to address the shortage of homes suitable and affordable for the city's growing population of one- and two-person households.
"People from all over the world want to live in New York City, and we must develop a new, scalable housing model that is safe, affordable and innovative to meet their needs," the mayor said in a statement announcing the "adAPT NYC" competition.
Bloomberg said the city plans to waive zoning requirements at a city-owned lot in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan to allow the construction of a building filled with the "micro-units."
They will be about four times the size of a typical prison cell and about one-fortieth the size of the mayor's Upper East Side townhouse.
Officials say there are about 1.8 million one- and two-person households in New York City, but only about a million studio and one-bedroom apartments - a sign, they say, that the city's housing stock has not kept up with its changing demographics.
Young, single New Yorkers in particular can find it hard to find an affordable apartment as demand outstrips supply.
The mayor is calling for proposals over the next two months for a building containing about 80 micro-units, all of which must have kitchens and bathrooms.
Ideally, they should also have "substantial access to light and air to create a sense of openness," according to the competition announcement.
The apartments, once built, will be sold or rented on the open market. The city will not be subsidizing the project. If successful, the pilot project could help usher in a loosening of the city's zoning laws regarding minimum housing size.
Under New York City's zoning regulations, the average apartment size in a new building must be at least 400 square feet (37 square meters), although there are exceptions to the rule.
The mayor said the project is part of his plan to create or preserve 165,000 affordable homes in the city by 2014.
Although the new apartments will be cozy in realtor-speak, they are unlikely to break any size records. One couple paid $150,000 for a 175-square-foot (16-square-meter) studio in Manhattan in 2009, according to the New York Post.
(Editing By Barbara Goldberg and Xavier Briand)
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
LoneLictor on thread about an ork choking the Emperor:
LoneLictor wrote: I like to imagine the Emperor kills so many Orks that he ends up half buried beneath a pile of corpses, with only his head sticking out. A lone grot stumbles across him, and starts choking him.
Then Horus comes across the lone grot, somehow managing to kill the Emperor, and punts it into space.
2012/07/10 13:21:05
Subject: Re:Speaking of Hive Cities and Judge Dredd
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
2012/07/10 13:24:16
Subject: Re:Speaking of Hive Cities and Judge Dredd
I've been in a NYC apartment that had to have been one of the mentioned exempted units. I've lived in 800 sq. ft. apartments, and it's hard to see how it was half that size. You haven't lived until you've taken a shower in a stall that's about 24x24".
I once had a hotel room in NYC that was maybe 200 sq. ft? The bed was a futon on the floor, and I was *this* close to being able to reach the TV with my toe while lying in bed. But then it was a cheap room for NYC and who really spends their time in their room while there?
Profit doesn't need to be obscene every time does it?
How do you know its obscene? If it were obscene everyone would be doing it.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/07/10 13:33:27
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
Like the Robot Arms in Futurama, or Coffin Hotels in Shadowrun.
They're already doing the coffin motels in Japan.
ChrisWWII wrote:"Yea verily, though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for I am driving a house sized mass of FETH YOU!"
themocaw wrote:I view slaanesh as a giant ball of boobs and genitalia of both sexes.
Edmondblack: There's something about some str10, AP2 blast weaponry which says "i love you" in that very special way.
Medium of Death wrote:What is the point of this graph?
I can only assume its a diagram of average home sizes...believe ive seen it somewhere before.
Yes...and so the larger countries tend to have the larger home sizes. What an incredible revelation. It's almost as if the amount of open space available has something to do with how big people build their homes.
feeder wrote: Frazz's mind is like a wiener dog in a rabbit warren. Dark, twisting tunnels, and full of the certainty that just around the next bend will be the quarry he seeks.
Like the Robot Arms in Futurama, or Coffin Hotels in Shadowrun.
They're already doing the coffin motels in Japan.
Having lived in Hong Kong and Korea, there is great potential for apartments to be smaller yet still comfortable. The former place especially has come up with some really intuitive ideas about combining space for the use of things, and multi-tasking furniture etc.
Personally I wish someone would try something like this in the UK, before the entire country just turns into one massive housing estate.
That said, I've lived in a small B&B room for a couple weeks before finding a proper apartment, and it wasn't that bad. You can do a lot with clever placement of furniture and decoration, and better to have a small room than no room at all, right?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/07/16 04:52:37
3100+
