單身獨居者多 紐約微型公寓受捧大綱

The apartments in a new Manhattan building boast little balconies, tall ceilings, dishwashers and storage space. All in 360 square feet or less.
這是一棟位於曼哈頓的新建公寓樓，號稱陽臺小巧、垂直空間大，洗碗機、儲藏室一應俱全。不過其中面積最大的公寓也只有360平方英尺（約合33平方米）。

It's micro-living in the nation's biggest city, and New Yorkers could be seeing more of it. Planning officials are proposing to end a limit on how small apartments can be, opening the door for more "micro-apartments" that advocates see as affordable adaptations to a growing population of single people.
紐約這座全美最大的城市已悄然掀起“微居”風，並有愈演愈烈的趨勢。市政官員打算爲小戶型“開綠燈”，鼓勵開發商興建“微型公寓”，爲越來越多的單身人士提供社會活動家所謂的平價住房。

At Carmel Place, the Manhattan building that marks the city's first experiment in decades with building super-small dwellings, the pitch is that little can be just enough.
地處曼哈頓的卡梅爾公寓算是紐約近幾十年來的首座“超小型住宅”，打的就是“麻雀雖小、五臟俱全”的招牌。

"An efficiently designed micro-unit," says developer Tobias Oriwol, "is just a nice apartment."
開發商託拜厄斯·奧裏沃稱：“只要室內設計充分利用空間，住客一樣會感到舒適溫馨。”

Due to open early next year, Carmel Place features 55 apartments ranging from 265 to 360 square feet. By comparison, a typical one-car garage can be about 200 square feet.
卡梅爾公寓將於明年開始招租，共55間公寓，面積在265至360平方英尺之間（約合24至33平方米）。試想，一個普通的車庫就可達200平方英尺（約合19平方米）。

As an experimental project, Carmel Place got city land and a waiver from New York's 400-square-foot minimum on new apartments, set in 1987. A proposed elimination of that minimum would allow smaller studios in buildings with a mix of apartment sizes, but entire micro-unit buildings would continue to need waivers.
紐約市在1987年就明文規定：“新建公寓的面積不得小於400平方英尺（約合37平方米）”，而作爲一個試運營項目，卡梅爾公寓不僅得到了政府的“破例”，還獲批了城市用地。已有人提議全面放開戶型面積限制，這樣房產商在開發正常面積的公寓樓時便可納入小型單間，不過興建超小戶型住宅樓仍需政府特批。

"For us, it was really important to demonstrate how small space could be an enhancement to quality of life," said Christopher Bledsoe of Stage 3 Properties, which designed the interiors and amenities at Carmel Place.
負責卡梅爾公寓室內設計與設施維護的是三階物業公司，其主管克里斯托弗·布萊索表示：“我們工作的重心，就是在有限的空間內，提升住戶的生活品質。”

Forty percent of the units have rents set by affordable-housing programs topping out at around $1,500 a month, but market-rate ones rent for $2,650 to $3,150, roughly on par with many studios in the nearby Murray Hill neighborhood. About 20 people have applied and hundreds requested information for eight market-rate units so far, while over 60,000 have entered a lottery for the affordable ones.
卡梅爾公寓中有四成公寓爲平價房，月租不超過1500美元（約合9728人民幣），餘下的則以市場價出租，月租在2650美元（約合17186人民幣）至3150美元（約合20428人民幣）之間，與周邊默裏山街區（譯者注：曼哈頓高檔小區）的單身公寓租金不相上下。截至目前，其中的8套市價單間，已收到了數百人的詢價，20人已遞交申請。而加入平價單間搖號申請的則有6萬多人。

Mayor Bill de Blasio's housing plan says Carmel Place and other projects show "developers can build compact units that are livable, safe, healthy" options for small households.
紐約市長比爾·白思豪在住房規劃中稱，從卡梅爾公寓等住宅項目可以看出，開發商能爲小型家庭“提供舒適、安全、宜居的緊湊型住房”。

Vocabulary
dishwasher：洗碗機
waiver：豁免
dwelling：住處；寓所