cities (237)

World’s Smallest Hotel in Germany, $23 Per Night

“To give new meaning to the phrase “living out of a suitcase”, one hotel in Lunzenau, Germany, has made it possible to… well, stay in one.

For just €15 (S$23) a night, guests can enjoy staying in one of the world’s smallest hotels.

Each minuscule 2.7m by 1.5m room in the “Kofferhotel”, or Suitcase Hotel, can accommodate only two guests, and includes bunk beds, a toilet and a sink. There is an outdoor shower.”

https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/travel/check-in-to-live-out-of-a-suitcase

From Anonymous

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Links to Tiny Homes for Homeless Websites and Articles

Thanks to Anonymous for this comprehensive list:

Above: Quixote Village (Olympia, Washington) photo by Leah Nash for BuzzFeed 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/timmurphywriter/tiny-homes#.ysVkEKDKo

Dignity Village

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dignity_Village

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/10/dignity_village_residents_figh.html

Quixoteviille Village

https://quixotevillage.com/

https://www.simplesolarhomesteading.com/quixotecottage.htm

https://quixotevillage.com/blog/

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/garden/small-world-big-idea.html?_r=2

Opportunity Village

https://www.opportunityvillageeugene.org/p/plan.html

https://www.opportunityvillageeugene.org/p/emerald-village.html

and here is a small house building company

Backyard bungalows

https://www.backyardbungalows.net/

https://higherperspectives.com/emerald-village/

Read More …

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The Tiniest Home in Toronto

“With a footprint of just 29 square metres, (312 sq. ft.) the house is officially the smallest in the city.…the home was shoehorned into the space between two existing properties by Arthur Weeden, a contractor…The tiny parcel of land was originally marked out for laneway access but somehow the curb stones were never lowered to allow vehicular access, rendering the gap useless.

Weeden pounced, building a pint-sized home, barely an arm’s span wide, for him and his wife. They lived there together for 20 years, content in the tiny space, tending to their vegetable garden and bunking down for the night in the single rear bedroom behind the kitchen.…”

From Godfrey Stephens

https://www.blogto.com/city/2013/04/this_is_the_smallest_house_in_toronto/

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Seeking Small Home (or Apartment or Loft) Dwellers in Towns and Cities

We are doing layout of our next book, Small Homes, right now, and we’d like to get more people living in cities, large and small towns, and—yes—suburbs to contribute. Whereas the paradigm for owner builders in the ’60s and ’70s was a home in the country, it makes a lot of sense these days to fix up small, modest homes in populated areas. Relatively quick, often more economical than starting on a bare piece of land.

Please contact me if you or someone you know is living in a small dwelling of any kind in cities or towns, and which is unique, creative, inspiring, aesthetic, etc.: lloyd@shelterpub.com

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Notes From Trip Last Week To NYC

(While waiting at the SF airport for a flight to Oregon.)

3 really good places to eat:

-Cookshop, 156 10th Ave (at 26th St.)

-Rosie’s (Mexican), 29 E. 2nd

-Saigon Shack, 114 Macdougal

Great brewpub: Cooper’s 8th Ave. between 18th and 19th

On Monday night I was at W. 4th and W. 11th and it was surprisingly quiet.

“Cheers” in Irish is “”Slainte,” pronounced “schlancha.”

China had a huge presence at Book Expo America. Over 500 people, and their extensive stand seemed to take up 20% of all the space in the hall. They had ongoing, well-attended author appearances.

Good, inexpensive classical Chinese massage, China Tai Ji, 57 W. 8th St, betw. 5th & 6th Aves. Great way to loosen up after a flight.

Citymapper is a free phone app for NYC (and other select cities). You punch in where you want to go, and it gives you directions for walking or public transport, as well as Uber rates. For subways, iTrans NYC is good and costs a few dollars.

Eric Leemon, a TV producer living in the West Village says that NewYorkers are friendly and I agree. Spaces in restaurants and bars are so tight that you sit very close to others and it’s easy to get into conversations. Everyone is helpful if you need directions. Good vibes my whole week there.


The East River Ferry is a great way to get to Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and other neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Terminal at East 34th Street on the river. Sure beats the subway on a hot day.

One bartender to another at Cookshop: “I mean, he was off. I don’t know what he was on to be so off.”

When I get to Portland, first stop will be Stumptown Roastery, then Mt. Tabor to skate. Then I’ll head out to the coast.

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Cathedral of St. John the Divine—Ugh!

I went there on a hot afternoon to get tickets to a free concert that night and wandered around in the cathedral. I don’t like it. It’s just big, is all. Huge, tall, imposing. It doesn’t have the grace of say, the Wells Cathedral, or the King’s College chapel at Cambridge. It’s one of those Chistian monuments meant to impress its parishioners by sheer size. Worship us you dumb shits, for we are indeed mighty—and give us your money. (There are certainly other aspects to this mighty edifice, such as its tapestry collection, bronze doors, organ, concerts, and certainly its present day stone masons that seem commendable, but this is just my untutored human reaction to the feeling I get standing in the main vault.)

The high stained glass windows are really too high to see, and I much prefer geometric shapes (like these) to biblical scenes in stained glass.

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