New York Families Make One Bedroom Work

"Although the poor are most often associated with crowded living conditions, upper-middle-class professionals like Dr. Shaw and Ms. Avery are increasingly choosing to live in a small apartment in Manhattan because they cannot afford to upgrade to a two-bedroom and they do not want to move to the suburbs."

"Census data show an increase in the number of white-collar families living in one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan."

"From 2000 to 2006, there was a 31 percent increase in the number of white, non-Hispanic professionals with one or more children under the age of 6 living in one-bedroom apartments, up to 5,417 families from 4,124, according to data compiled by Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer at Queens College of the City University of New York."