Why This Tiny Apartment is Taking Over American Cities

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

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.