– no kitchen, I have to eat out every day, which makes me fat
- no sofa or decent desk – I have to lie on my bed all the time, bad for my back
– no space for guests – can only hang out in restaurants and bars, which makes relationships a bit more distant
All this has an effect on society and culture over here, and it's pretty bad.
I for one love having my own washroom and bedroom where I can rest, relax and find silence.
Do you think a family of 4 would find comfort in an apartment?
I'm fairly sure if money were no object and transportation was near instant, myself and most people I know would choose the ranch and 20 acres.
With a ranch and lots of land, you can grow your own food, raise your own animals and not be tied down to requiring (as much) other people. You don't have to deal with traffic (foot or road), generally anyway, and your neighbors are probably pretty friendly - probably because they don't have to deal with masses of people on a daily basis and aren't stressed out / overly stimulated.
You get the night air, the country views and peace and quiet. That goes a long ways for some people. That is something you don't get in a urban setting.
Country views, not so much, but I live in a city on Massachusetts's South Shore and I get fantastic night air and the place is quiet as a grave after about 9PM.
Three bedrooms, living area, kitchen, full bathroom with possibly a half bath if it's a larger place.
Why couldn't a family of 4 be comfortable?
Most families of 4 are living in a 1br if they're lucky. Plenty of families of 10 doing 2brs etc.
Bay Area is seriously a bad choice if you're not in IT or making at least 6 figures combined yearly.
I know folks that make 6 figures yearly and still cannot convince themselves to pay $4000-$5000/month for a 2 bedroom.
I'm fairly sure if money were no object and transportation was near instant,
Why can't we build something like that ?
Heh, I've even programmed algorithms for routing these things. There are lots of problems of course, the cars need to be extremely reliable, or you need an extremely flexible mechanical design so you can pick broken ones up from rails. But a comfortable, large, elevator takes up much less space than a car, but of course needs much more infrastructure ... Oh well, dreams ...
Actually I'd rather have 20 acres, or 100, but within the constraints we set, this is what we could (barely) afford. I like my own space and I consider it one of the things I "need." In fact, it's way up there in terms of priority. Your "needs" may be different. I've lived in large, medium, and small cities and I simply prefer to live in a low-density area.
Now, about the house itself, it's too big: I'd prefer something about 1/3 the size. Unfortunately, it's impossible to find a small house on a large acreage unless you want to commute over an hour to work and no bank will lend the money to build one.
No. You, maybe, but not me, and certainly not everyone.
And that's not even fully addressing the unstated assumption that everything you 'need' would even fit in an apartment, let alone a micro apartment.
Getting rid of things isn't always a good thing to do. Having the ability to be fully packed and ready to move in an hour is a tactic, not a life philosophy.
Not the same thing, which is my point.
It really seems to be age related. When you're younger, you tend to have nothing, so embracing minimalism seems like a good way to go. As we get older and achieve some level of success, a better quality of life tends to follow, and with it more material possessions.
Later, perhaps when we become aware of the number, and perhaps the burden (maintenance, storage space, etc) of all those things, minimalism again starts to look good.
Right now I'm waiting for the kids to grow up and leave so I can talk the wife into us living on a boat :-)
Why do you need to eat three square meals a day?
Why do you need a $1000+ PC?
Why do you need $50+ jeans?
Why do you need....