Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yeah, I think I could get used to 50 if it were just me as long as the place had some good windows with plenty of natural light. Having less things would be no problem for me as long as I really liked where I lived.
Most of parisian apartments have pretty big windows indeed, because the climate is notably greyer than american counterparts. The only downside is when you get the occasional heatwave, old apartments remain hot as hell because A/C is inexistent. It is already almost northern Europe afterall.
I'm not sure about Berlin, but as soon as you go north of the 50th parallel, many houses in Northern France / Belgium / UK don't even have shutters on windows, only curtains.
Seriously though, 50 sq. meters for one person if far from small... and you usually have a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room in all of that...
That's a very small space in which to fit a bedroom, bath, kitchen and living room. In most parts of the US, a 1-br. apt. is usually twice that size. Even most studios are close to twice that size. NYC and San Francisco being the exceptions.
Why wouldn't there be shutters on the windows the farther north you go? You need shutters to keep out the snow and the cold at night, and in the day while you're at work. It helps conserve energy and protect the windows from the elements.
That's a very small space in which to fit a bedroom, bath, kitchen and living room. In most parts of the US, a 1-br. apt. is usually twice that size. Even most studios are close to twice that size. NYC and San Francisco being the exceptions.
Most studios are twice that size? 100m2? I really doubt that.
That's a very small space in which to fit a bedroom, bath, kitchen and living room. In most parts of the US, a 1-br. apt. is usually twice that size. Even most studios are close to twice that size. NYC and San Francisco being the exceptions.
Why wouldn't there be shutters on the windows the farther north you go? You need shutters to keep out the snow and the cold at night, and in the day while you're at work. It helps conserve energy and protect the windows from the elements.
Well, I imagine people are much fatter in the US, I don't know, they probably need two european chairs to sit comfortably
no shutters is because there is less light in general... Also, Northern France, Belgium and UK receive little snow and don't have particularly cold winters. I don't know how houses are built in Scandinavia though, I believe they use more wood and are a lot more energy-efficient than in mild Western Europe...
Most studios are twice that size? 100m2? I really doubt that.
50 sq. m. is about 500 sq. feet. Studios are normally around 850-950 sq. feet. 900 sq. feet used to be considered small for a 1-br. apt., but in some areas, that's changing.
In Europe probably it's been common for quite a long time to combine the living room and dining area in to one room. This is something new in the US. A 1-br. apartment used to include a separate dining room, and some kitchens also had room for a dining table. Now, everything is being consolidated into one room with the kitchen in a corner. This is how a 1-br. apt. can be squeezed into 900 sq. feet or less. But this is a somewhat new concept (except for NYC).
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 03-07-2015 at 08:01 AM..
50 sq. m. is about 500 sq. feet. Studios are normally around 850-950 sq. feet. 900 sq. feet used to be considered small for a 1-br. apt., but in some areas, that's changing.
Those listing said 700-750 sq. feet. The photos showed huge places, though. And it's all new construction. The trend now may be to smaller studios. Most of the listings I've found for people in the SF Bay Area forum (outside of SF), have been for 900-1000 sq. ft. studios. Most of those were in older buildings, or a separate unit in someone's home, or a separate cottage, though. It's the same in Seattle; the older buildings have larger studios. In some neighborhoods, they've been building entire buildings full of micro-studios of 25 sq. meters or less. But that's a new development, a new concept that has made news headlines locally, and around the country. It's the same in San Francisco.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 03-07-2015 at 08:38 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
