How Much Room Do You Need?

Posted by: Tim Halbur

27 August 2009 - 2:00pm

Dan Maginn proposes some exercises for visualizing how much room you actually need to live, starting with this equation: too big = not good. Small = good. Too small = suck.

Dan and his wife assigned square footage to the various needs for space their daily lives employ -- cooking, storage, sleeping, etc. -- and arrived at 1,050 sq. ft.

"I polled a few of my architect friends to hear what they had to say about affordable house sizes. Their numbers ranged from 900 to 1,400, with the average coming in at about 1,200. Obviously, there are no absolutes with regard to house size, but it’s interesting to get a better mental grip on one’s own square-footprint and compare it to others."

Full Story: Square Feat: Foot Steps

Source: GOOD Magazine, August 27, 2009

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Why so angry?

Submitted by travis.cleveland on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 12:50.

So, wgaboy, you seem angry. Why is that?

All this article does is encourage a second look at how much space we REALLY need to live.

I'm curious as to why would you oppose such a thing. It's not like an article in support of smaller living seeks to eliminate the choice to "live large." The article is just showing alternatives.

how much room

Submitted by wgaboy on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 10:42.

Keep your footprint in New York City or what ever space you occupy now.
You and your kind just want us to live in your kind of city.
You ought to do a real economic and fiscal impact analysis of converting selected US cities--not just big cities--according to your standards, especially including income needed, property and sales taxes, and other costs to the resident, and what s/he would receive.