There is a movement people. I laugh to myself as I
write this article, a former New Yorker finding herself
growing daily in knowledge of overpopulation, waste
of resources, fracking, droughts, homelessness, my
carbon footprint, recycling, world famine and even
the general doomsday philosophy. I am constantly
thinking, “what am I doing to better the world for
future generations”, including my son. I find myself
very “L.A.” these days having spent 25+ years alongside the many movements happening outside my
doorstep.
That said, I don’t know about you but I am ADDICTED
to the myriad of real estate programs regarding the
Tiny House Movement. Watching the build outs and
the end results and the creativity of those involved
in the many ways to “live smaller”. Personally, I live
in a 659 Sqft. loft in the center of the historic core
and honestly I believe I have too much room for my
needs. While a “micro loft” (250 sqft.) sounds like a
huge down size I realize that I barely use one quarter
of my space on a daily basis.
Simply put, the tiny living movement is a social movement where people are downsizing the space they
live in. Most Americans homes average around 2500
sq. feet. The typical tiny home is around 300 Sqft..
These homes are ingenious in their use of space and
can come in all shapes and sizes and usually the creativity of use is mind boggling.
People are joining this movement for many reasons
including environmental concerns as well as the
thought of giving back and being free of the financial
burdens we assume while “keeping up with the Joneses”. If the average American spends 50% of their
income towards their monthly housing expense this
means that there is less money to enjoy outside interests and a lifetime of house payments for most. I say
let’s cut that cost by 1/4 and make the city your home.
A well designed space does not need to be large.
Most often this excuse can be summed up to our
consumerist society. How many rooms in your home
are really in full use and how many are used only when
entertaining others. Take notice and I guarantee you
will be surprised by the degrees of excess in our lives,
especially for empty - nesters (like me!) Trends in the
American society have skewed the common perception of “what is enough”.
While downsizing my seem impractical, imagine moving to DTLA where the urban environment can actually be considering “upsizing” in things to do outside
of your front door. There is such a myriad of things