Is Michael Bloomberg downsizing his quest to leave a giant legacy in his wake? We doubt it, but some of his recent policy initiatives point to a trend in thinking small as a way top solve big problems. First, it was the assault on Big Gulps — and now he’s going after the size of apartments.
The attack on sugary drinks over 16 ounces has not gone over well. White the anti-sugar lobby loves it, the much larger sugar-lover lobby, which includes Coke, Pepsi, and fans of thirsty-two ouncers everywhere, has denounced the proposal. The number of the incensed is so vast that they organized a ‘million Big Gulp‘ march to rally the troops. Despite the backlash, Bloomberg has stood fast in his assertion that the proposed ban takes nothing away from the sugar lovers.
In another strike at largeness, Bloomberg recently floated the idea of “micro-apartments” as a panacea to both the growing cost of housing and the rising population of single and two-person households in New York.
Bloomberg invited developers to submit plans for new apartment buildings that would consist entirely of 300-square-foot units. While these mini apartments will redefine snug, they will be kitted out in all the usual accoutrements of apartment living: The New York Times provides a helpful primer on how a prospective micro unit dweller might design their small space.
If the design competition is successful, look for New York to change its zoning policies to allow for mini pads throughout the city.
Is less really more?
For more on the big shrink in the big city, check out these Trove channels:
- Architecture
- Urban Planning
- The Nanny State
- Obesity
