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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/15/elegant-slumming-housing-crisis
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Elegant slumming: how have you solved your personal housing crisis? | Elegant slumming: how have you solved your personal housing crisis? |
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New York City authorities issue thousands of penalties a year for illegal "conversions" – often as a result of violations reported by neighbors. It's not surprising given how intense the pressure on housing is in cities like New York and San Francisco, where the median rent in many districts is over $3,000 a month. Even if they have full-time jobs, many young people and recent immigrants have to cram into converted spaces that bend or break the rules: warehouses, bedrooms split down the middle, constructed perches in common areas, basements, cellars. | |
Some housing advocacy groups think that as long as landlords adhere to basic health and safety policies, then rules about conversions should be relaxed. Meanwhile, New York's Mayor Bloomberg has championed new "micro-units" – a new type of ultra-compact "efficiency apartment" – but even these are priced out of reach of low-income people. | Some housing advocacy groups think that as long as landlords adhere to basic health and safety policies, then rules about conversions should be relaxed. Meanwhile, New York's Mayor Bloomberg has championed new "micro-units" – a new type of ultra-compact "efficiency apartment" – but even these are priced out of reach of low-income people. |
It's hardly a problem of New York or San Francisco alone; London, Paris, Mumbai, Rio, Hong Kong … all face shortages of affordable housing and precipitous property prices. So what's your answer to the situation? Did you find your dream flat or do you feel like a latter-day urban slum-dweller? | It's hardly a problem of New York or San Francisco alone; London, Paris, Mumbai, Rio, Hong Kong … all face shortages of affordable housing and precipitous property prices. So what's your answer to the situation? Did you find your dream flat or do you feel like a latter-day urban slum-dweller? |
And what sort of compromises have you had to make about space, safety and who you're willing to live with? | And what sort of compromises have you had to make about space, safety and who you're willing to live with? |
How have you resolved your personal housing crisis? | How have you resolved your personal housing crisis? |
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