Micro-Apartments: Boston’s Housing Solution Or Developers’ Cash Cow?

http://www.wbur.org/2014/02/17/micro-apartments-boston

by samkline • 12 years ago

6 5 12 years ago

people in Boston, or any major metropolitan city are (to be politically correct) mentally handicapped thinking that $1700 per month for 450 sq ft of space is ok.

I have my own consulting business out in the midwest. All my clients are remote, and in January I paid around 33% (utilities included) of that rent figure for my housing, for approx. 4x's the sq ft, and made almost 15x's the above figure last month.

curiousquestion2• 12 years ago

That's 15 x $1700, not the other.

astrodust• 12 years ago

It's expensive, but there's culture there you can't replace.

You can live in a shack in the woods for next to nothing, but do your peers live there? Are you comfortable remoting in? Can you meet with investors who work in or near Boston on a moment's notice?

The solution here is not to push people out of the cities but to make the cities more livable for those that want to live there.

You have a great consulting business, but living way outside of an urban area is a lifestyle is not for everyone.

205guy• 12 years ago

The micro-apartment in this story seemingly includes large common areas, including a reservable conference room. That's a great idea, I'm not sure I've seen much of that in SF.

But then, each unit has its own clothes washer/dryer. That seems really inefficient in terms of unused space and appliances (not to mention added water and drain infrastructure throughout the building). Putting a laundry room in the basement, or mabye one on every floor, with coin-op machines seems like a much better idea all around. Most older apartment buildings have this arrangement, so it's not something unusual.

mal-2• 12 years ago

The housing situation in Boston is at crisis level already with no signs of improving. This city has some of the best schools in the country and attracts some of the most ambitious and passionate young people in the world but can't figure out how to house them or transport them.

Busses and trains are invariably packed beyond capacity, no one can afford their own place, and landlords aren't held accountable for property quality. Blame decades of zoning laws and historical fetishism that prevented high rises from being built and kept us all in buildings with single pane windows and only three bedrooms. At least they have pretty old bricks outside....

Micro-Apartments: Boston’s Housing Solution Or Developers’ Cash Cow?

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