Perhaps too many people buying homes they couldn’t afford wasn’t the problem behind the Wall Street collapse, but a symptom. The real problem may be that there are too many homes out on the market that people could never afford in the first place. In other words, the average U.S. American can’t afford $300,000 for a home, as is the going rate in many cities. So rather than lend out more money to buy homes people can’t afford, that banks can’t back, perhaps the real solution is addressing the lack of supply of homes that the average U.S. citizen can actually buy.

The creatives, aka the renaissance generation are already on it. They’re into ‘not so big’ homes, quality over quantity - the average space/occupant was 290 s.f. in the pre-auto era, 939 s.f. today. They’re into urban and walkable, not suburban/exurban and drive-thrus, and they have a much more international, cosmopolitan viewpoint of housing size - bigger is not better. They know ‘bigger’ requires more maintenance, is more costly to air condition, has a larger carbon footprint and most of all, is much more difficult to keep making payments on simply because bigger costs more.

So, the next time you hear the blame being passed around on who got us into this mess, maybe it’ll be more productive and inspiring to focus on those who are already investing in what may get us out of this mess, like truly attainably-priced green condos in the heart of the city. In fact, we’ve got a number of them being crowdsourced as we speak in Washington DC - the Bearden Arts Building, priced a third less than the lowest price one can buy a new home for in DC.

Image: The 380 s.f. one-bedroom ipad in the UK.

Following the announcement of a green home crowdsourcing program in July 2008, Taurus Enterprise Group, led by president Gail Montplaisir, has agreed to see if the building pictured above can be redeveloped and crowdsourced into green condos that creatives can truly afford. We’re not talking about ‘affordability’ in quotations, we’re talking about what first-time home buyers, those with average salaries or even recent graduates can literally afford to pay a month in order to buy their own place.

Over the next two months, if there are enough interested people that are committed to crowdsourcing a green building with attainably-priced units that in turn helps Taurus secure their financing, you will witness if not be a part of the first crowdsourced attainably-priced green condo development in the U.S., if not the world. The building, which also includes offices (ready to go) and a to-be-determined ground floor tenant, is located in the H Street district that is fast returning to its vibrancy as a colorful retail entertainment destination.

What makes this a truly crowdsourced project is that there’s a huge demand for attainably-priced urban condos, much less green ones, across the country, and this provides a means of letting people do something about it on their own rather than waiting years if not decades for developers to listen to them.

If you’re interested in participating or keeping track of this project, check it out here. If you want to be notified when other beta communities arise for such buildings in Washington DC, join the GreenHomesDC group.

The median home price in San Francisco is $749,000, so being able to buy anything new at a third of that price is noteworthy, especially if it’s in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city.

Enter Cubix Yerba Buena in SoMa (South of Market), an eight-story building of 98 condos starting at $279,000. The key to affordability is not in government subsidies, but in size - each of the condominiums range from 250 to 350 s.f. It’s the U.S. version of the UK’s iPad, or the housing version of the Smart car. It’s features include:

- 9 foot ceilings with floor to ceiling windows - high ceilings and large windows are standard features in lofts that provide a larger sense of space;
- Kitchen with mini sink, two-burner electric cooktop, half fridge and microwave-convection oven, all stainless steel, with synthetic brown stone countertop - quality over quantity;
- Sofa-bed, and a wardrobe with no closets.

The city government played a huge role in allowing the condos to be classified as SROs (single-room occupancy), in that they weren’t treated like standard residences. What’s the big deal? Limited parking requirements and relaxed restrictions on the total number of units - two fundamental elements of building attainably-priced housing. That’s a big deal indeed.

The destination’s tagline: “It’s your small piece of the big city.”

Read more in the SF Chronicle article, Home small home: 250 square feet in SoMa.

Buying an attainably-priced green home is a no brainer for most creatives given the option, however finding one is comparable to a needle in a haystack. So, in the District of Columbia the GreenHomes DC program is launching an opportunity for prospective home buyers (and renters) to crowdsource their own affordable green place to live.

In partnership with a sponsoring developer per specific project, GreenHomes DC is a joint venture between Green DC Realty and CoolTown Beta Communities.  Approximately $1000 will be contributed to environmental organizations that refer eventual green home buyers, including Green Drinks DC and Live Green.

The launch event took place on July 8, 2008 (last night) at Lofts 11, a 27-unit green residential building completed by Taurus Enterprise Group. It’s pioneering president, Gail Montplaisir, spoke to a crowd of a hundred on how she’d been supporting green development for decades without any industry support back, and was heartened by the green tipping point sweeping the country. She was enthused that there were so many people interested in green building, and was open to crowdsourcing their next green development.

Inter-national Small Cool Apartments 2008

Not to be outdone by the smallest coolest apartments in the U.S. brought to you by Apartment Therapy, here are the international winners:

First place (topmost image) - Nicolas' Mini Loft, Lille, France, 630 s.f. "I keep things that are useful or important to me, and get rid of the rest : no extra room to accumulate! You feel lighter when you don't own too much stuff!..."

Second place - Aad's Compact Dwelling (Suitable for Laziness), Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 624 s.f. "This particular apartment I truly love because there's large windows and light coming from three directions into the room, all windows surrounded by large trees giving you the ultimate tree house feel..."

Third place - Marcus and Mel's Charming Flat, Helsingborg, Sweden, 715 s.f. "The flat is converted attic space so all the windows are inside these cozy little alcoves. They add lots of charm and architectural interest, not to mention we get lots of sunlight..."

Small Cool Apartments 2008

It's that time of year again to check out the winners of Apartment Therapy's Small Cool 2008 contest to discover the smallest (under 850 s.f.), coolest apartments in the U.S.

First place (topmost image) - Tony and Hilary's 3 in 1 Studio, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY, 460 s.f. "Living here as a couple with a cat, we have enough space to store everything we need without sacrificing comfort."

Second place - Jordan's Ordo Ab Chao, Los Angeles, CA, 412 s.f. apartment rental. Note the office nook in the kitchen.

Third place - Luca's Surplus of Storage & Light, Chelsea, NYC, 400 s.f. "I love my home because it's comfortable, full of storage area and light. Also, there are no traditional walls: the built-ins (left of image) separate the living area from the sleeping area."

Fourth place - Stephanie's Life of Pie, Chicago, 441 s.f. "Without being precious, everything here is special to me. But the best part? The heart of downtown (my "rec room") is just a 29 story elevator ride away!"

You can also take a look at the winners from Small Cool 2007 and 2006.

The continued rise of the home office

We hear a lot of buzz about the popularity of people working at home, but how prevalent is it? Here's a snapshot via answering a few questions:

How many U.S. Americans are working at home? 28 million at least part time in 2006.
Is that number growing? That's a 10% increase from the previous year and a 40% increase from 2002.
Do U.S. Americans have home offices? 7 out of 10 have offices or designated work stations, a 112% increases since 2000.
How important are home offices in new homes? Fourth, after security.

For sources to these findings, check out the NY Times article, The Office, Housebroken. Apartment dwellers should peruse the profile of Alessandra Gouldner's 2.5 x 4 foot workspace.

Sarah Susanka, author of the wildly popular Not So Big House series of interior design books, observes that many people often prefer working in nooks and spontaneous spaces (see all three photos) rather than in assigned rooms. The NY Times article also looks at the opposite spectrum, albeit those with a a much larger budget and need for status, thus fueling home office sections in retail stores.

'Workforce housing' and why local businesses want it

Imagine if half of all your employees suddenly couldn't afford to live conveniently near your workplace? Many of them would leave rather than spend two hours of their daily lives in traffic or transit. Of course you'd replace them, but you wouldn't be attracting the same level of talent, then naturally, your customers would gradually realize the same.

Thus local businesses today are advocating for more 'workforce housing' - housing that is attainable to working families earning between 60%-120% of the median income for the area, and typically unsubsidized, as defined by real estate industry representative Urban Land Institute.

The following survey results of local businesses (this one in New Orleans) reflects a growing national concern, a result of a peaking perception that more square footage is better.

- 71% said the lack of workforce housing negatively impacted their business;
- 65% considered the need serious;
- 42% felt developer incentives would increase the supply;
- 33% proposed public-private partnerships as the answer.

Myriad solutions are provided for such a pervasive issue, but the most logical lies with the fact that the average area of living space per occupant in the U.S. was 290 s.f. in 1950 and is 939 s.f. today. So maybe the answer isn't how do we build affordable 1200 s.f. homes, but how do we make 'not so big' cool again.

Image source: The equivalent of workforce housing in Munchen, Germany, by rondelro

The ultimate small apartment design guide

If you live in an apartment and you care about good design, it'd be a shame if you've never been to Apartment Therapy's 3-million-unique-visitors-a-month site, featuring great apartment design examples via several illustrated blog entries a day.

Being a regular at the site, one can fathom the criticism following the site's founder and HGTV design expert Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan for not having pictures in his first Apartment Therapy book. He didn't make the same mistake in his second book published March 5, 2008, Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Real Design Solutions, richly infused with 400 photos over 40 case studies.

Each of the home profiles provides floor plans and "how I did it" explanations from the renters/owners themselves, along with beautifully shot photos.

Check out previous Apartment Therapy entries here, especially their stunning Fall Colors and inspiring Smallest Coolest Apartments contests.

Micro-housing affordable to buyers, profitable to developers

There is not a desirable city that exists that doesn't have a lack of attainably-priced housing, and it's been covered pretty extensively. Smaller homes have been one of the most logical answers, and developers are starting to agree to the point investors have termed the smallest end of these offerings...

Microhousing is defined as very small one-two bedroom units, 300 to 500 square feet, with an emphasis on shared amenities like fitness facilities, party rooms with kitchens, libraries, laundry rooms, and car-sharing. While they are more expensive to build per square foot, they also sell at a higher dollar value per square foot, with the key benefit to first-time home buyers being a much lower price point to own rather than rent.

Pictured is downtown San Francisco's Book Concern Building, a five-story microhousing redevelopment of a 1906 historic landmark, with its 60 units starting at 275 square feet. When dealing with building codes that limit numbers of stories and not height, mezzanines often do not count as a story.