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Norse prison living in the heart of Seattle
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The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky famously wrote in The House of the Dead that the “degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” I wonder what an ex-con freshly released from Norway’s Halden Prison might say about the “degree of civilization” in America upon entering my apartment.
He would no doubt find something familiar about this unadorned little rectangle with a bed, window-lit desk, shower, toilet and cheap IKEA fixtures. It’s slightly larger than his 110 square-foot prison cell—but not by much. Lying on the floor, I can almost reach from one wall to the other.
Of course, he might complain about the lack of a music studio, gym, rock-climbing wall or even a common area.
Seattle is leading a national trend toward smaller apartments. In 2018, it edged out New York as the city with the most compact rental units largely due to the breakneck expansion of no-frills microstudios, like the one where I currently reside.
City Hall’s response to the ongoing affordable housing crisis created a microstudio gold rush. Local officials are raising height…
