A few years ago I heard tell of a wealthy family from India who purchased real estate in a West Loop loft building. There were about five separate multi-generational family clusters all living together. They jointly purchased an entire floor of the building - five or six separate condominiums - and combined them into a single living space. The American-born Realtor who told me of the deal did so with a tone of "can you believe those crazy immigrants would do something like that?" Buried in this attitude, not far below the surface, is an inherent problem between modern US residential building practices and the cultural traditions of the people who live in them.
A lot of news ink has been spilled lately about new construction of apartment buildings in downtown Chicago after a lengthy slow period. In reaction to these stories I see comments about the tiny size of the apartments, the "Transit-oriented design", and how no average renter will be able to afford this new luxury housing. "Tiny boxes very high up" is how a friend of mine describes them. When you compare these new buildings with the vintage walk-ups that cover the city outskirts you can see the results of a clear shift in American attitudes towards outsiders and towards themselves. Continue reading The Growing Cultural Disconnect in Apartment Architecture
