Cities with the highest single-room housing % in 2022

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by jd3189

I will live in one of these studios in the future. I don't own much and don't need a ton of space. I'm also single so I don't have to worry about a girlfriend needing her own space as well. A studio in a big city is the perfect way for a bachelor to live.

100%. And I'm sure as a soon to be attending physician, once you pay off your loans and stuff, you'll easily be able to afford a bigger place with more bedrooms, but if you're single and stuff it's actually better IMO to live in a smaller place with less stuff to hoard and maintain. I think we as a society would be better off learning to live with less and be less wasteful overall, not just with materials, but space.

Of course if someone wants to live on 10 acres by themselves out in the rural outside lands that's cool too, but just because someone lives in a studio, doesn't mean that they don’t actually like them or can only afford them.

[edale]

I lived in a studio for one year and really did not like it. For me, having a separate bedroom to retreat to at night is important. I hated having friends over and having my bed and everything on full display. I didn't like cooking and then having my sheets and comforter and clothes smell like whatever I cooked. It was just too small and cramped, but it was all I could afford.

That said, I don't need a ton of space to feel content. I've lived in a ~750 sq ft one bedroom apartment for the past 8 years, and I find it great. Even when Covid forced me to stay inside way more than I was used to, I always felt like I had enough space. I'd go out to the living room during the day and not enter my bedroom til night, and that felt important for me to stay sane and not feel like I was looking at the same walls 24/7. I wouldn't go back to a studio unless I absolutely had to. I do agree that a studio by myself is preferable to a larger unit with roommates, though. Once I lived by myself, I was determined to never go back to roommates!

[iheartthed]

Not sure how it is in other cities, but studios in NYC tend to have the highest price per square foot of any unit type, while I believe 2-bedrooms have the lowest price per square foot. The jump in cost from sharing a 2- or 3- bedroom with roommates vs renting a studio alone is very steep, and it is usually steeper than a single person going from a studio to a 1-bedroom.

[dave8721]

I lived in a 610 sq foot 1-bedroom apartment for years when I was single and it was more than I never needed. That was 20 years ago and I just checked and the same room now rents for 300% more The early 2000s were a good time to be young and upcoming.

[mhays]

A 450-sf studio might be expensive vs. half of a 900-sf two-bedroom...but you can also get a 300 sf studio. Or a 150 sf bed/bath in a congregate building (SRO).

Washington State just legalized congregate housing / SROs statewide (anywhere that allows multifamily iirc). Seattle used to allow them a decade ago and they were hugely popular, all the way down to 90-sf bedrooms with bath and kitchen down the hall. These aren't for everybody, but they're the only way you can build market-rate housing that's affordable for single service workers without subsidy. The new version will require bathrooms but the kitchens can be shared.