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San Francisco approves micro-apartments

Richmond Jake

Richmond Jake

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I could not live in one of these units. Where would I put the hot tub?

How about you? Could you live is such tight quarters?

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to give pint-size apartments a try, approving legislation that would allow for the construction of hundreds of 220-square-foot residential units.

Up to two people will be allowed to live in the micro-apartments, which legislation sponsor Supervisor Scott Wiener said would help those who want to live alone but can't afford most of the studio apartments on the market.

But for the legislation to pass, Wiener had to agree to cap the number of micro-apartments at 375. Under the legislation, the City Planning Department will analyze the effects of the new units once 325 of them are built.
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What's the planning department going to analyze?

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-supervisors-back-micro-apartments-4055493.php
 
I could live alone in one of these. It actually seems bigger than most dorm rooms. And you could put i Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, but it would be a one-person tub.

I guess the planning department will evaluate the relative numbers of suicides per dwelling unit and maybe the number of serial killers generated per unit.
 
I lived in a studio apartment in college that was roughly that size. Its layout wasn't nearly as functional as those micro-apartments though. Now I live in a one bedroom apartment that frankly has more room than I need. I definitely wouldn't mind going back to a studio apartment, especially if it had a washer/dryer connection.

But yeah, I have no idea what they'd evaluate. These units are probably going to be utilized by 20-somethings who just came out of college anyway. So it's not like these are going to be a radical departure from their prior living arrangements. The only thing I can think of is the occupancy limit. Something like this could maybe work with a young couple and a baby but that wouldn't be allowed under the current law.
 
I have, it's a pretty decent size. I went outside a lot to do things. People are insane about space sometimes; my mother was selling a refurbished 3 bedroom home, and a somewhat lower income single woman came to look at it; she left in disgust declaring that it was too small. We were completely boggled by this concept.
 
If given a choice between these micro-apartments and roommates in a larger apartment, which would you choose? I think it's great that San Francisco is allowing greater choices in housing.
 
I don't know what the hub bub is about this. It is just implementing state law that requires SRO type facilities. I guess mainly because I am crafting a similar ordinance in our City.
 
San Diego's had them since the 1990s. I think about 4,500 or so units have been developed so far. The state-mandated minimum size is 220 sq ft per unit and they go up to 250-300 sq ft or so. 222 Island Avenue is one exceptionally well-planned and award-winning example. The micro-apts also have a zero parking requirement, which helps too, in persuading developers to build them (but regular studios in San Diego also have a zero parking requirement, and maybe one beds too.. can't remember).

NYC is making news by simply entertaining a proposal for 300 sq ft apts. I guess nothing "officially" happens in America until either NY or San Fran do it.
 
These are not much smaller than a decent hotel room. I think an extended stay hotel has rooms that are maybe 400 square feet? These include a cooking area, sitting area, and bed.
 
Cardinal said:
These are not much smaller than a decent hotel room. I think an extended stay hotel has rooms that are maybe 400 square feet? These include a cooking area, sitting area, and bed.
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Yep, in fact we are thinking that some of the new suite-style hotel rooms may end up as micro-apartments in the future.
 
Richmond Jake;652288 What's the planning department going to analyze? [url said:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-supervisors-back-micro-apartments-4055493.php[/url]
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It sounded from the article like the big concern was the effect on housing costs: whether this is going to bring in gentrification or drive up the market costs. Seems like that would be hard to correlate, though. There are so many variables to housing costs. Maybe they want to see what kinds of folks actually end up living in these little boxes.
 
I lived in London and Paris for nearly 3 years and, needless to say, the flats I lived in were absolutely tiny. 30m^2. Granted, that's about 320 ft^2, but my point is that in a city like Paris, London or San Francisco the size of one's apartment hardly matters. Living in such a vibrant city means you're always out and about using the city as your living room. The flat is meant for sleeping, eating breakfast, and showering.

As a mid-20something, I'd have no problem using a micro apartment as a means to "get my foot in the door" in a city like SF. I'm all for it.
 
movingon said:
Living in such a vibrant city means you're always out and about using the city as your living room. The flat is meant for sleeping, eating breakfast, and showering.
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You beat me to it. I would love to have options like these. Vancouver and some surrounding municipalities are starting to build similar buildings. Some are for sale, some for rent. Unfortunately they are still out of many young people's price ranges, even at 220sq ft. At any rate, for singles, and especially young ones, you use the city as your livingroom and kitchen, and use your little room of an apartment for sleeping. Beats living with unreliable, often short-term weirdo's that you find online (this is what I have to do). These rooms are cleverly designed here too, with furniture that folds up/in when needed. People are making a fuss here about them though too.

http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/re-nest/1.3.12.microlofts.jpg
 
I saw in Plannin' Mag that Des Moines has passed an ordinance to allow these. Really? Des Moines? I have to ask why. Rents in Des Moines are already very cheap, and having been to downtown Des Moines, I wonder why anyone would want to live there.
 
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