Movies are movies. If you believed Finnish movies and TV series, all Finnish people live in the very heart of Helsinki in an old stylish Jugend-style apartment house, where in real life only the very richest bankers etc. live. Or if it is an artsy-fartsy Finnish movie, then the artist lives in an old wooden house with a big yard and apple trees, but still very close to Helsinki center. No one lives in a plain looking apartment house built in the 60s or 70s in the suburbs next to a filthy looking old mall, like most people do. Well, unless the movie is about living in poverty in the suburbs, like "Nousukausi".

I presume it also depends quite much where you live, also in US. I recall reading some article of people who live in very small apartments in NYC, having so little room that they use e.g. the oven as a wardrobe. I guess that is why they eat outside so much, no room for cooking. Then again, in suburbs and countryside, it is probably wildly different, much more space.

I recall some old controversy about the classic TV series "Friends", how come such people with low occupations can afford to live in such spacious and expensive looking apartments in Manhattan?

I don't want to know what are the other two things he does with his toothbrush, Or condoms.

Does it have internet access?

Yeah you could live with no possessions but people tend to have some nevertheless. If I was to move just my books into that cubitat, I couldn't even fit myself in let alone live inside.

Then you'd have too many books, quite simply.

I know when my parents moved to a smaller house in another state, they got rid of 3/4th of their possessions.

Keep what's functional, or has too big a sentimental value to get rid of. Course if you take a few tools with you, you can always make what you need at a more permanent spot, and leave those items behind f you have to leave again.

Guess that's one advantage of a laptop, is the space for dozens and dozens of books doesn't increase the weight of your belongings, so long as you have a power-outlet.

I guess more importantly you'd ask yourself what are the 10 things you would keep as personal possessions? We're not talking about survival so good knifes/cord/metal containers/food, 5/10C's, etc don't count. More importantly based on space and weight, assume you can carry it with you if you had to just up and leave suddenly, so a piano is clearly not an option.

Same here. I live in a 2,000 square foot home on 6 acres of land out in the country. The upkeep on the land and the home is insane. Constant work, constant maintenance. If I ever get a chance to do the country life a second time, it's gonna be on lots of land, but a MUCH smaller home. I've seen people put in tiny log cabins, Earthship homes, and even modified shipping containers built into homes. Any of those seem like good ideas to me.

It's all about choice and comfort, I guess. But unless a person lives with a really large family, I don't see the need for a really big house. Large houses are often way more trouble than they're worth.

This was explained in the series itself - Monica sub-let it cheaply (and illegally) from her grandmother.

I can't speak to areas outside of the US, but living aboard boats is common in some coastal areas. In fact, some marinas are liveaboard only and are like a friendlier version of neighborhoods.

The amount of space on the average liveaboard sailboat isn't much larger than the space you are talking about. Sure, there are the bigger boats with massive interiors and all the comforts, but the majority of them aren't that large. We know folks that have lived in spaces not much larger than what you are talking about for over 30 years, with kids.

We're in the process of moving aboard, which consists of getting rid of all our crap. I find myself disgusted at how much stuff we've accumulated over the years, unknowingly. We have a storage unit that is larger than our living space and are slowly getting rid of stuff, almost 90% of it is just garbage we hold on to for emotional reasons or rarely ever use.

When you trim down the bare "comfort" essentials:

- Fridge
- Stovetop
- Sleeping area
- Bathroom
- food storage

You really don't need that much space. It's kindof freeing getting rid of it all.

The thing I miss the most? My big desktop.

How convenient! I wish we all had such rich and generous grandmothers in real life! Mine died already when I was a small kid (I didn't kill her though).

Cities like Berlin and Munich start to build little container cities for students, so this version is a luxus version. There is also a trend called tiny houses - live as spartan you can.


Both links unfortunately in german only:
Container-city for students near Berlin: http://www.eba51.de/
Tiny houses in berlin: http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/tiny-houses-gegen-mietsteigerungen-wohnen-auf-kleinem-fuss-in-berlin/11205018.html

I always thought communists failed at marketing/propaganda and every day there's seems to be something confirming it.

At least everyone can see what you're doing at all times through the glass.

Our pigeon-hole flats are pretty much the same, if not only slightly bigger. And they cost about 100K minimum, on avg around 200K-300K.

Kind of reminds me the beds that remind of coffins, chinese people sleep in during breaks from excessive work hours. Don't remember name and feel too lazy to search. Very sad. Confined places give me the creeps and i am not even claustrophobic...

As an instrument maker and knowing a leading harp maker, I can only cringe at this statement.#
If you just bolt the strings into a solid wall, you'd have very little resonance.
Building such things is a bit more complicated.