Small Living Space Returns as Housing Prices Rise in US

Small Living Space Returns as Housing¹ Prices Rise in US

　　Barbara Peraza-Garcia is from Venezuela. She lives in a single-room apartment in Seattle, Washington with her family.

　　The family includes her partner and their two small children.

　　They do not have much space, only 17 square meters. But they are happy for now.

　　"It's warm. We can cook (for) ourselves. We have a private bathroom. It's quiet," she said. "We can be here as a family now."

　　Peraza-Garcia and her family left Venezuela to escape crime and so she could receive medication for a kidney² problem.

　　They can only pay for a small living space, but it is less costly³ than most small living spaces in American cities. It is $900 per month, but that is about $500 less than traditional small apartments known as studios, which are slightly larger.

　　Most single-room apartments in the United States disappeared after the end of World War II when many people left cities for new suburbs⁵. The Furman Center is part of New York University. It supports research into real property and city policy. It produced research that showed New York City lost 70,000 single room housing units between the first part of the 1900s and 2014.

　　At the same time, real estate⁶ companies built new city housing, but the developers did not center their work on small living spaces. In recent years, single people needed to find roommates and share two- or three-bedroom apartments in cities if they did not have much money.

　　Now, however, many American cities are worried about increasing living costs and homelessness. The small living spaces, known as single room occupancy units, once called SROs, are becoming common again. They are being called "micro-apartments."

　　New York, Seattle and Portland, Oregon are putting money into smaller living spaces. New York's governor⁷, Kathy Hochul, announced a $50 million plan to repair and renovate⁸ 500 SROs across the state.

　　In Portland, a group called Central City Concern supervises⁹ about 1,000 SROs and makes them available at a very low cost to people who might otherwise be homeless. They are $550 per month.

　　Cheyenne Welbourne moved into one of the units last year after years of living on the street. The room is only big enough for a small bed, a television, a chair and a toilet and sink. But it means Welbourne, as he said, can have "a nice home, a decent¹⁰ home."

　　When he moved into the apartment, all he had was one bag and he was glad he did not have to spend another winter outside. "I just want a home, you know?" he said.

　　The small units are good for single people, but some experts worry that not enough is being done for families. Marisa Zapata is a land-use professor at Portland State University. Zapata said she worries that governments and planners will see the SROs as a "solution, and not do right by our community members by building the housing that people want."

　　But Vicki Been, a law professor and a director at the Furman Center, said she hopes the work being done in places like Portland and Seattle will help other cities understand there is still a need for simple housing.

　　"The alternatives are...people being in shelters, people being on the street, people being doubled, tripled¹¹, quadrupled up," said Been.

　　Even if the Peraza-Garcia family would like more space, Barbara said she is happy. Her kids get to live near their relatives, and they can be close to food stores and green spaces to play in. She said the family will work to save some money and try to get better jobs during the next year. If that works¹², they can move to a bigger place.

　　"We're happy because we're here in a quiet place where we can be together as a family," she said.

　　Words in This Story

　　suburb⁴ –n. an area outside a city's limits but that has a lot of development and housing

　　occupancy –n. the condition of having people living in a house, apartment or similar living space

　　renovate –v. to renew¹³ and repair a house, apartment or office space

　　alternative –n. a choice other than the one being considered

　　quadruple –v. to increase by four times

1 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

2 kidney   

n.肾，腰子，类型

参考例句：

• Several of the patients had received kidney transplant.病人中有几位已接受了肾移植手术。
• The operation to transplant a kidney is now fairly routine.肾脏移植手术如今已相当常见。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 suburb   

n.郊区，郊外，近郊

参考例句：

• Toward the suburb the houses begin to thin out.靠近市郊的地方房屋渐渐稀少。
• Disneyland is in Los Angeles suburb.迪斯尼游乐场在洛杉矶的近郊。

5 suburbs   

n.郊区，城郊( suburb的名词复数 )；四乡；隧；四郊

参考例句：

• The poor suburbs traditionally formed the bedrock of the party's support. 贫穷的郊区在传统上构成了支持该党的牢固基础。
• The new college will be located in the suburbs. 这所新建的学院将设在郊区。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 estate   

n.所有地，地产，庄园；住宅区；财产，资产

参考例句：

• My estate lies within a mile.我的地产离那有一英里。
• The great real estate brokers do far more than this.而优秀的房地产经纪人做得可比这多得多。

7 governor   

n.统治者，地方长官(如省长，州长，总督等)

参考例句：

• The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters.这位州长是搪塞新闻记者的能手。
• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。

8 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。

9 supervises   

v.监督，管理( supervise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The group leader supervises a dozen workers. 组长管十二个工人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He makes the wines and supervises the vineyards. 他酿酒并管理葡萄园。 来自辞典例句

10 decent   

adj.象样的，不错的，体面的，正派的，恰当的

参考例句：

• We want to raise our children to be decent men and women.我们盼望把孩子们培养成优秀人才。
• There isn't even a decent table in this room.这屋里连张像样的桌子也没有。

11 tripled   

v.（使）增至三倍( triple的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy tripled his strength. 敌军把兵力增加到原来的三倍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He tripled his income. 他使他的收入增加两倍[增至三倍]。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

13 renew   

vt.使更新，复始，使恢复，补充；vi.更新，重新开始

参考例句：

• The most important thing is to renew your health.最重要的是恢复你的健康。
• We must renew our supplies of coal.我们必须补充煤的储备。