The 10 Cities That Allow For Super-Small Housing

• October 23rd 2014

by Lark Turner

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In the wake of an in-depth look at the micro-unit trend, Gizmodo compiled a list of U.S. cities where tiny housing is permitted. Below is a rundown of the cities, which includes DC, starting with the cities that allow the smallest apartments.

Seattle: 90 square feet

As we detailed last week, Seattle’s tiniest units take advantage of a hole in the housing code by building suites around shared kitchens. The code counts kitchens, not physical units, so developers can squeeze a unit into as little as 90 square feet and still provide a rentable living space.

Portland, Oregon: 150 square feet

Portland doesn’t technically have a minimum unit size requirement, but micros in the city get down to as small as 150 square feet.

Los Angeles: 220 square feet

The city’s tiniest units ring in at 200 square feet. Here is one of the projects offering units that small.

San Francisco: 220 square feet

The city most recently permitted 220-square-foot units in a micro-housing pilot program.

Washington, DC: 220 square feet

DC apartments can go down to 220 square feet, a relatively small size, especially when compared with cities like Boston and New York. If you are a regular UT reader, you know that micro-units have been proposed across the city, and many studios in the city would qualify as micro-units.

Providence, Rhode Island: 225 square feet

Rhode Island allows units as small as 225 square feet, and a recent development took advantage of that when a mall was converted into a a multifamily housing project.

Chicago: 275 square feet

The city code doesn’t state a minimum square footage, but as this article points out, that doesn’t mean building micro-units is easy. Unit size at one proposed micro-unit project would start at about 275 square feet, according to LifeEdited.

Boston: 350 square feet

Boston has a pilot micro-unit program allowing housing as small as 350 square feet. That’s 100 square feet smaller than the currently allowed (and recently lowered) minimum of 450 square feet.

Austin, Texas: 400 square feet

An ordinance that would allow for smaller units in Austin failed to get approval from the Planning Commission in September. An affordable housing complex is being constructed with units just south of 400 square feet.

New York: 400 square feet

New York has very restrictive requirements for micros, though former mayor Michael Bloomberg did approve a pilot project featuring micro-units during his tenure. Those units, when finished, will be about 250-370 square feet.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_one_of_the_most_accepting_cities_for_micro-units/9127.