Mini-fridge

I've spent a considerable amount of time the last few weeks looking at pictures of apartments for rent on-line. And maybe it's just my price range, but there is alarming trend of places being offered with what I would categorize as a dorm fridge. Some of these places have two 'double' bedrooms, meaning it's conceivable that four people would be living there, all sharing a fridge that can barely contain a brita filter, a lump of cheese and, if you're lucky, a six-pack of beer. Wait, sorry, they don't sell beer in six-packs. So let's say a four-pack of beer. And the freezer capacity on these things roughly resembles the shape of a single frozen pizza. I'm starting to find this quite appalling. But it's really a sign of a trend I have noticed not only in apartments, but in transportation planning as well.

In the US, we generally accept that bigger is better. Which, within reason, is most likely true. Why have a single bed when you can have a double bed, why have a double bed when you can have a California king? Why have an Expedition when you can have an Excursion? Why not toss some lift on that bad boy? And don't get me started on fast food chains, with the same burger on offer with one, two or three patties.

The UK, on the other hand, seems to be quite keen on keeping things as small as possible. By this I am in no way referring to education or personal values, just hamburgers, flats, and parking lots. Well, not really hamburgers I guess. But let's add in cars.

In my line of work, a big component of what we do (and by 'we' I mean I give to the CAD guys to do), is checking out the feasibility of different architect designed parking lots to see if it's possible for cars to actually get into and out of the spots. You'd be surprised how many of them work by what is seemingly the tiniest margin, and this involves cranking the steering wheel and using the minimum turning radius, and perhaps pulling forwards and backwards several times. We give these sort of things the green line for being built. Luckily, the English also think that two-door hatchbacks that can (as in that one commercial) be parked in the tailbeds of mid-sized American pick-ups are reasonably attractive cars.

A large percentage of apartments in London are converted from old townhouses. So this means that there is no often reasonable floor plan option, so developers sort of improvise. You get bedrooms with double beds in them where it's touching the wall on three sides, you get 'single' bedrooms where you can't even fit a double bed. Kitchens are constructed with under the counter fridges (but really that's just laziness, I would gladly give up two feet of counter space for a freezer). While I realize it's more profitable to sell places as one bedrooms instead of studios or three bedrooms instead of two, I just don't envision these sorts of things ever getting off the ground in the US. Except perhaps in Manhattan, where I think these sorts of things are probably quite common.

While this really probably all comes down to the whole space issue, which is in general cheaper and more abundant, I can't help but think that sometimes people around here sell themselves a little short. Like it's really not too much to ask for a bedroom where you can climb out of bed without having to inch to the foot of the thing. Nor is it unreasonable to be able to want to store food in a city where it's so expensive to eat out! Although, I must concede that many of the little cars are very cute. Please search for the Fiat 500 for a prime example.