UncleSam got me thinking about my apartment. I'm sitting at my table, which is in the living room, coffee in hand. Cat in her bed next to me. My bay windows reveal trees and beautiful snow coming down thickly and quietly.
My friends have been hassling me for years for living in this neighborhood. They live in spectacular, glassy, new-construction 3BR/2BA high rises downtown, that they paid 3/4 of a million dollars for. I live in a "garden unit" (meaning the floor is three feet lower than the sidewalk--oh, and as you know, my unit abuts that sidewalk), built in 1924. One reasonably sized bedroom, a second tiny bedroom that hardly earns the name, kinda noisy esp. with clanking radiators. Tiny, outdated bathroom. Kitchen--well, I've already mentioned the kitchen in another post, and I'm sure you'll hear more about it as the year goes on. In total, the unit is probably 900 sq. ft. I remember it felt like a palace when I moved in from a studio I had been renting a few blocks away.
And you know what? IT STILL DOES! Hardwood floors, fireplace with gorgeous mantle, vintage details... Why do I need more than what I have? Besides, I pay almost nothing to live here--and a home is NOT an investment, as hopefully the rest of the nation has just learned. It's a depreciating asset; something you consume, like a car. (At best--very best--housing over the long term keeps up with inflation.) I pay, literally, about 1/20th, or even less, of what I would pay for a 1BR/1BA in one of those skyscrapers downtown. I finally broke down and got an alarm system put in (it went in two days ago--will have to add the monthly fee to my budget below!), including a "panic button" that will call the police if I press it while walking from my car to my unit. My only real reason for wanting to move was safety. Now that I'm safe, will I ever leave? Should I?
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Why the hell could I post a comment before and now I have to select a profile? I do not want to sign up for any goddamn thing. I am also NOT going to retype in the last comment (and it was a very fucking good comment) for the third time so if you want to hear it you'll have to come here for X-Mas. (it is after 10 here and I get grumpy when I'm tired) - UncleSam
ReplyDeletehaha! You must have made a separate profile for UncleSam? Darn it--I wanted to hear your comment! You should also make some posts. I check this thing multiple times a day, hoping, hoping.... I have no life. This is the bright spot of my day.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it made me select a profile just now, too. Just pick googleaccount. ;)
ReplyDeleteWell, I might not get to hear your comment then; prices for flights are pretty high right now (the very cheapest being $450). Sometimes, at the very last minute, airlines will drop prices to fill seats. I'll keep checking, and if it gets below $300 I'll come. (There's lots of overhead involved in going--paying for cat sitter and transport to airport, for instance--that makes a $300 flight about as expensive as I'd want to buy.)
ReplyDeleteAll right, one last time. In 1950 the average square footage of th average single family house was 983 sq ft; in 2005 it was 2,434 sq ft. We are over consuming in space as well as food, cars and STUFF. (I'd written it much better before)
ReplyDeleteUncle Sam
WOW! And you know, that totally comports with my impressions. As you know, I've been following the Chicago real estate market for over a year now. On blogs, people say things like, "2/2s are completely ridiculous. YOu buy one, and as soon as you have to a kid to have to move to a 3 BR." And I'm thinking, WHA?? And I recall that for the first several (five?) years in Texas, our parents lived in a 3 br, was it 2 or even 1 bath?, with six kids. And it was tight, but not a big deal. It was what you expected in the early years of marriage and childrearing. Honestly, my 2/1 with 900 sq. ft. is more than I need. It truly is luxurious. The second "bedroom" has a murphy bed for guests, but other than that, it's primary use is the cat's litterbox.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get that stat, by the way? I would LOVE to quote it on a real estate blog when the issue comes up!
ReplyDeleteAaargh, I just saw that the comment I posted isn't there. Anyway, I got the quote from a real estate website from North Carolina but I had plenty of URL's to choose from. Just google "the average square footage of houses in 1950". One of the sites was an NPR story but I was tired and knew I'd have to read the whole story if I opened it. The site I used was http://prudential.starnewsonline.com/default.asp?item=666853
ReplyDeletecool--thanks!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy my tiny house, too. It forces me to purge stuff. Every year my church has a Spring Fling where I donate stuff to the rummage sale. Also, I made a 2-sided quilt with tons of old t-shirts and cleared our drawer space.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing - mom managed to cart around 6 of us in a station wagon. Now, people need a HUGE SUV to cart around one little kid. It's crazy!
ReplyDelete