Small Living Space Returns as Housing Prices Rise in US
2024-03-29
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1Barbara Peraza-Garcia is from Venezuela.
2She lives in a single-room apartment in Seattle, Washington with her family.
3The family includes her partner and their two small children.
4They do not have much space, only 17 square meters. But they are happy for now.
5"It's warm. We can cook (for) ourselves. We have a private bathroom. It's quiet," she said. "We can be here as a family now."
6Peraza-Garcia and her family left Venezuela to escape crime and so she could receive medication for a kidney problem.
7They can only pay for a small living space, but it is less costly than most small living spaces in American cities.
8It is $900 per month, but that is about $500 less than traditional small apartments known as studios, which are slightly larger.
9Most single-room apartments in the United States disappeared after the end of World War II when many people left cities for new suburbs.
10The Furman Center is part of New York University.
11It supports research into real property and city policy.
12It produced research that showed New York City lost 70,000 single room housing units between the first part of the 1900s and 2014.
13At the same time, real estate companies built new city housing, but the developers did not center their work on small living spaces.
14In recent years, single people needed to find roommates and share two- or three-bedroom apartments in cities if they did not have much money.
15Now, however, many American cities are worried about increasing living costs and homelessness.
16The small living spaces, known as single room occupancy units, once called SROs, are becoming common again.
17They are being called "micro-apartments."
18New York, Seattle and Portland, Oregon are putting money into smaller living spaces.
19New York's governor, Kathy Hochul, announced a $50 million plan to repair and renovate 500 SROs across the state.
20In Portland, a group called Central City Concern supervises about 1,000 SROs and makes them available at a very low cost to people who might otherwise be homeless.
21They are $550 per month.
22Cheyenne Welbourne moved into one of the units last year after years of living on the street.
23The room is only big enough for a small bed, a television, a chair and a toilet and sink.
24But it means Welbourne, as he said, can have "a nice home, a decent home."
25When he moved into the apartment, all he had was one bag and he was glad he did not have to spend another winter outside.
26"I just want a home, you know?" he said.
27The small units are good for single people, but some experts worry that not enough is being done for families.
28Marisa Zapata is a land-use professor at Portland State University.
29Zapata said she worries that governments and planners will see the SROs as a "solution, and not do right by our community members by building the housing that people want."
30But Vicki Been, a law professor and a director at the Furman Center, said she hopes the work being done in places like Portland and Seattle will help other cities understand there is still a need for simple housing.
31"The alternatives are...people being in shelters, people being on the street, people being doubled, tripled, quadrupled up," said Been.
32Even if the Peraza-Garcia family would like more space, Barbara said she is happy.
33Her kids get to live near their relatives, and they can be close to food stores and green spaces to play in.
34She said the family will work to save some money and try to get better jobs during the next year.
35If that works, they can move to a bigger place.
36"We're happy because we're here in a quiet place where we can be together as a family," she said.
37I'm Dan Friedell.
1Barbara Peraza-Garcia is from Venezuela. She lives in a single-room apartment in Seattle, Washington with her family. 2The family includes her partner and their two small children. 3They do not have much space, only 17 square meters. But they are happy for now. 4"It's warm. We can cook (for) ourselves. We have a private bathroom. It's quiet," she said. "We can be here as a family now." 5Peraza-Garcia and her family left Venezuela to escape crime and so she could receive medication for a kidney problem. 6They can only pay for a small living space, but it is less costly than most small living spaces in American cities. It is $900 per month, but that is about $500 less than traditional small apartments known as studios, which are slightly larger. 7Most single-room apartments in the United States disappeared after the end of World War II when many people left cities for new suburbs. The Furman Center is part of New York University. It supports research into real property and city policy. It produced research that showed New York City lost 70,000 single room housing units between the first part of the 1900s and 2014. 8At the same time, real estate companies built new city housing, but the developers did not center their work on small living spaces. In recent years, single people needed to find roommates and share two- or three-bedroom apartments in cities if they did not have much money. 9Now, however, many American cities are worried about increasing living costs and homelessness. The small living spaces, known as single room occupancy units, once called SROs, are becoming common again. They are being called "micro-apartments." 10New York, Seattle and Portland, Oregon are putting money into smaller living spaces. New York's governor, Kathy Hochul, announced a $50 million plan to repair and renovate 500 SROs across the state. 11In Portland, a group called Central City Concern supervises about 1,000 SROs and makes them available at a very low cost to people who might otherwise be homeless. They are $550 per month. 12Cheyenne Welbourne moved into one of the units last year after years of living on the street. The room is only big enough for a small bed, a television, a chair and a toilet and sink. But it means Welbourne, as he said, can have "a nice home, a decent home." 13When he moved into the apartment, all he had was one bag and he was glad he did not have to spend another winter outside. "I just want a home, you know?" he said. 14The small units are good for single people, but some experts worry that not enough is being done for families. Marisa Zapata is a land-use professor at Portland State University. Zapata said she worries that governments and planners will see the SROs as a "solution, and not do right by our community members by building the housing that people want." 15But Vicki Been, a law professor and a director at the Furman Center, said she hopes the work being done in places like Portland and Seattle will help other cities understand there is still a need for simple housing. 16"The alternatives are...people being in shelters, people being on the street, people being doubled, tripled, quadrupled up," said Been. 17Even if the Peraza-Garcia family would like more space, Barbara said she is happy. Her kids get to live near their relatives, and they can be close to food stores and green spaces to play in. She said the family will work to save some money and try to get better jobs during the next year. If that works, they can move to a bigger place. 18"We're happy because we're here in a quiet place where we can be together as a family," she said. 19I'm Dan Friedell. 20Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 21____________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23suburb -n. an area outside a city's limits but that has a lot of development and housing 24occupancy -n. the condition of having people living in a house, apartment or similar living space 25renovate -v. to renew and repair a house, apartment or office space 26alternative -n. a choice other than the one being considered 27quadruple -v. to increase by four times 28We want to hear from you. Do you see people living in small apartments like this where you live? What are they like?