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  • Writer's pictureConnie Lacy

Downsizing the future


Connie Lacy, author, speculative fiction, magical realism

Okay, it looks pretty cool. But how would you really like to live in a house or apartment with less than 400 square feet of space? I’m talking tiny houses, micro apartments. There are TV shows about this movement. There are Pinterest pages with all kinds of nifty ideas on keeping your stuff nested and organized. But could you do it? Live in one of those itsy-bitsy homes day in and day out? Well, your great-grandchildren may have no choice.

In “The Shade Ring Trilogy,” one of the characters lives in a micro apartment. But maybe I should’ve included a lot more tiny housing since real estate prices and utility costs are likely to go through the roof in a hundred years. In book three of “The Shade Ring Trilogy” I also include what’s referred to as “coffin apartments.” These extremely small housing units already exist in Asia. They’re cubicles stacked on top of each other, just large enough for a single mattress. Not even enough room to stand up in. Ugh. Here’s an article in The Daily Mail.

But I can easily envision a time when living in a three or four bedroom, two bath home with a carport or garage is only for the wealthy - not the middle class. If costs keep going up, we may see more and more tiny housing.

Besides the TV shows like “Tiny House Nation” and “Tiny House, Big Living,” there are plenty of articles explaining the growing popularity of micro housing. Here’s one: “Why houses are getting smaller” and this one: “10 crazy concepts for homes of the future” from Business Insider.

One thing’s for sure – if I had to live in micro housing, I’d have to spend a LOT of time outside or in public places.

If you’re wondering – the cute picture above is of my two youngest sons when they were little, in a “tiny” playhouse I bought for them at a yard sale.

If you're interested in reading "The Shade Ring Trilogy" - hop over to my Amazon author page: www.Amazon.com/author/connie.lacy

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