In the 1990s and 2000s, we lived with a large family in an 1100 square foot townhouse in San Francisco. It was interesting to see how people, given different histories and cultural assumptions, responded to our living situation.
Most Americans would come over and say, “How do you do it? How do you live in such a tiny place with so many people?”
Most Italians would come over and say, “What a big place!”
That’s interesting, no? Most people’s biggest expense—housing—will be influenced by various cultural expectations that could place their “needs” and desires all over the housing map. (To be fair, there were Americans who came over to our humble abode and commented on the agreeableness of our modest carbon footprint: Less house meant less to heat, less to cool, less to light.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about this one, as housing is clearly the place where you can do the most radical hacking of your financial output—if you’re willing to live somewhere more modest.
Below find a video of a woman who has clearly considered the housing piece and has landed somewhere very special: