Every part of Barbara Peraza-Garcia and her family’s studio apartment in Seattle serves a dual or even triple purpose.
The 17-square-meter room is filled with air mattresses where she, her partner and their children, aged 2 and 4, sleep. This is also where they play or watch TV. When eating, this becomes their restaurant.
It’s a stressful life for families of asylum seekers from Venezuela. But at $900 a month — more than $550 cheaper than an average studio apartment in Seattle — the microapartment with its modest bathroom and shared kitchen was right within their budget, allowing them to quickly escape their previous arrangement of sleeping on the floor. . church.
“It’s warm. We can cook our own meals. We have private bathrooms. It’s quiet,” Peraza-Garcia said. Her family came to the United States to escape crime in Venezuela so she could get vital medication to fight the cysts in her kidneys. “We can be together as a family now.”
Boarding houses that rented single rooms to low-income earners, blue-collar workers, or day laborers became popular in the United States in the early 1900s. Known as single room occupancy units (SROs), they began to disappear in the postwar years with urban renewal efforts and a focus on suburban single-family homes.
Now, as cities with surging homelessness struggle to make housing more affordable, the concept is resurgent, popularly known as “micro-apartments,” for a wider range of residents.
“If you’re a single person and you want a low-cost place to live, this is the cheapest place you can get without having to look hard for a subsidized apartment,” said Dan Bertolet, senior director of housing and urbanism. Bertolet said. Sight Institute, a nonprofit research center.
The Pacific Northwest is a leader in this affordable housing renaissance. Oregon passed a bill last year opening the door to micro-apartments, and Washington state lawmakers did the same this year, starting to clear away years of red tape that had restricted the construction of micro-apartments, which are about three times the size of a regular studio apartment. One apartment.
After receiving near-unanimous support in the Legislature, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a Washington bill this week that would require most cities to allow micro-apartments in residential buildings with at least six units, according to the Commerce Department . It will take effect at the end of 2025.
The legislation comes in response to skyrocketing home prices and the impact on the Seattle area, which has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country, while also addressing a severe housing shortage.
According to a report released last week by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, very low-income renters (those below the federal poverty level or earning as little as 30 percent of the area median income) face a shortage of 7.3 million affordable housing units. Such households account for 11 million, or nearly a quarter, of the nation’s renters, the report said.
Rep. Mia Gregerson, the sponsor of the bill in Washington, said she expects the measure will result in thousands of units being built in her state, providing unsubsidized affordable housing for all, from Young people getting their first apartment, to seniors downsizing, to seniors who are running out of energy. or mental health treatment.
“The government cannot close this gap on its own, it must also build for-profit, market-rate housing,” said Gregson, a Democrat.
In the second half of the 20th century, the United States lost hundreds of thousands of SROs as poverty and substandard accommodations prompted restrictive zoning laws. Some cities have banned the structures altogether — a loss that some housing experts say exacerbates the homelessness crisis.
Faced with this crisis and a severe housing shortage, cities and states across the country are now changing their stance.
In December, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced a $50 million plan to repair and renovate 500 SROs across the state. New York City lost at least 70,000 such units from the early 20th century to 2014, according to a report from New York University’s Furman Center.
But there are concerns that this type of affordable housing is not suitable for a particularly vulnerable group – families.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2023 One-Night Count, the Seattle area has more than 3,800 homeless families with children, one of the most in the country.
Marisa Zapata, a professor of land use planning at Portland State University, said cities need to focus on building affordable housing, which also includes larger units such as studios and one-bedroom apartments.
“My biggest concern is that we’re going to look at them as solutions instead of doing the right thing for our community members by building housing that people want,” she said of micro-apartments.
Oregon lawmakers passed a bill last year requiring local governments to allow studio apartments in residential areas. The regulation takes effect on January 1.
Central City Concern is a Portland-based homeless services nonprofit that rents more than 1,000 SRO units (both subsidized and unsubsidized) to those considered to be extremely low-income. It helps people who have difficulty obtaining housing due to reasons such as eviction history and bad credit scores.
Sarah Holland, senior director of supportive housing and employment, said the apartments, which rent for an average of $550 a month, are a great option for people who are exiting homelessness or living on a fixed income, such as people with disabilities. , they are “important choices.” She said more than 80 percent of the tenants were previously homeless, and some had lived in their units for 30 years.
“As the cost of living in Portland continues to rise, this gives them an opportunity to stay in their home,” she said.
Cheyenne Welbourne moved into one of the nonprofit’s downtown Portland micro-apartments last March after years of living on the streets. The room had a toilet and sink separated by a curtain and was just big enough for a single bed, a chair and a TV. But to him, it’s a cherished home that he decorates with colorful lights, potted plants and dolls. He uses the kitchenette, which has an induction cooktop, to make his favorite tea.
“It’s just me and my backpack, that’s it,” he said. “I’m just happy to be here and not have to spend another winter there.”
“I just want a home, you know? A nice home, a decent home.”
Some experts hope the Pacific Northwest will inspire more states to adopt similar measures.
“The alternative is … people in shelters, people on the streets, double, triple, quadruple the number of people,” said law professor Vicki Been, faculty director of the Furman Center at New York University.
For Peraza-Garcia’s family in Seattle, living in the same building as her cousins and within walking distance of a grocery store, park and preschool has been worth the squeeze. They plan to spend the next year in a microapartment and then move to a bigger place if they can find well-paying jobs.
“We are happy because we are in a quiet place and we can be together as a family,” she said.
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