From “Stewart Hicks”. ( Nebula )

Why are apartments shrinking across America — and why does every tiny unit look exactly the same?

In 2017, Chicago’s first purpose-built micro-apartment building opened, and people couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to live in 350 square feet. But since then, these tiny units have become the norm in cities across the country — renting for $1,000 to over $2,000 a month, roughly what a two-bedroom costs elsewhere.

In this video, I break down why micro-apartments all share the same oddly specific layout, why building them actually costs *more* than larger units, and why the real story behind their spread isn’t developer greed — it’s a collision of plumbing logic, accessibility codes, zoning laws, and a massive demographic shift toward single-person households.

Topics covered:
— Why micro-apartment floor plans are essentially dictated by building codes
— The surprising math of micro-unit development costs vs. revenue
— How the average American household shrank from 3+ people to about 2.5
— Why 40% of Chicago households are just one person
— What happened when Seattle tried to restrict micro-housing
— The real housing types that are missing from American neighborhoods

__Special Thanks__
Evan Montgomery: Producer
Daniela Osorio Sanudo: Graphics

__Sources & further reading__
Urban Land Institute. *The Macro View on Micro Units*. Washington, DC: ULI, 2014.

Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. *The State of Rental Housing in Cook County*. Chicago: DePaul University, 2023.

U.S. Census Bureau. "Households by Type and Size: Chicago City, Illinois." *American Community Survey*, 5-Year Estimates, 2022.

Parolek, Daniel. *Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis*. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2020.

Glaeser, Edward L., and Joseph Gyourko. "The Impact of Building Restrictions on Housing Affordability." *Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review* 9, no. 2 (2003): 21–39.

Sightline Institute. *Micro-Housing in Seattle: Policy Lessons from the Front Lines*. Seattle: Sightline Institute, 2016.

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. *The State of the Nation’s Housing 2024*. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2024.

National Low Income Housing Coalition. *The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes*. Washington, DC: NLIHC, 2024.

Pew Research Center. "Americans’ Views of Housing Affordability and Supply." Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2024.

Klinenberg, Eric. *Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone*. New York: Penguin Press, 2012.

City of Chicago. *Chicago Building Code, Title 14B: Chicago Zoning Ordinance*. Municipal Code of Chicago.

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__About the Channel__
Architecture with Stewart is a YouTube journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.

__About Me__
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.

__Contact__
FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: https://designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: https://arch.uic.edu/

__Attributions__
Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images, Storyblocks, and Shutterstock.
Music provided by Epidemic Sound and includes music from Chromatic by Tom Fox
https://www.youtube.com/@chromaticbytomfox"

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