News Link Here.

In the real world, I believe that Seattle has some, and maybe, *maybe* California, but they never caught on. They're just too dang cramped for most Americans.

The coffin hotels have been in Shadowrun since first ed. Sprawl Sites has them, for instance. Depending on how the economy goes, I'd wager that you might have a similar surge at times ... the wake of Fuchi's death, for instance, probably saw scads of middle management and lower in such a situation, and Crash 2.0 couldn't have been much nicer for many.

AKA we're fat and we get stuck?

Aren't these big in Japan too? (har har)

I recall reading some article about how these were popping up around company locations so workers could at least grab some rack time without showing too much disloyalty by actually going home for 5 hours or something.

Pay for the Troll-sized ones then.

Have a few friends who are actually talking about the business prospect of things along those lines. Really just cargo trailer complexes to begin with.

Well they could start by getting Rotel Tours trailers and parking them where needed.
Essentially a coffin hotel on wheels towed by a normal bus.
Or as one unit.

They've been a staple of Cyberpunk since the beginning ("Cheap Hotel", anyone?), but I never thought I'd be thinking that they're a good idea in North America...

Then again, cheap housing like that would be a boon in Winter for a lot of people...

One of my favorite episodes of America's Next Top Model (Yeah I'm a girl...) made the girls sleep in one of those their first night in Tokyo. It was pretty hilarious. I'm claustrophobic and shudder at the thought of them.

I never did understand why they didn't catch on more in the larger urban centers of America. I could see them in subway stations, especially cities like Boston where the frigging T stops running at midnight. Drunk night on the town? Pop a few bucks in and get some sleep before catching the T at 5am. I probably would have drunkenly slept in one, claustrophobia aside, if they were there. Many nights we had to bum home early and less intoxicated than one would like because of the subway.

They work in Japan because of the already cramped nature of living there (rush hour subways, complete with white gloved attendants to push people in so the doors can close?!), and the low crime rate (loose a wallet in Tokyo and your more likely to have it returned, content intact, than lost forever).

In Europe or NA they would be covered with feces and graffiti in no time flat.

Oh btw, a similar setup makes an appearance in the latest Deus Ex game. Only it is more like the train beds of old with the curtain going along the side.

America's version:

The 100 square foot home.

Personally, I'd go a little larger, but you know. Nothing fancy. 500 square feet?

Husband and I lived in 400 sq ft for the first 5 years of our relationship. With no windows! Never again. If I were alone I could easily do 100sqft though. Don't need much space.

ETA: I'd probably need 200sqft. 10x10 closet would be a necessity for me. Not giving up my shoe collection.

ETA 2 because I'm full of weird thoughts: Everyone's seen this right?

Well, I'd want windows, obviously. I don't want an apartment, I want a standalone building (it's just small).

Enough space for a decent kitchen, a desk for a computer, and a twin size bed. And a bathroom with a shower.

Also, it's crazy what you can fit into a small amount of space when you start thinking about it. Had an architecture project one time to design the interior for a condo. IIRC, the exterior walls were 20x20 and you had two floors to work with. Had to have 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a kitchen, living room, and stairs. Teacher had said it'd be impossible to squeeze in two full baths, so only one and the powder room were required.

I managed to squeeze in two full baths (plus the powder room under the stairs) and a walk-in closet for the master bedroom. Both upstairs bedrooms had their own full bath, the one bedroom ever so slightly smaller than the master (which had its walk-in closet above the foyer) due to the hallway. I'd even considered where one could place beds and dresser and still have room to walk. They weren't spacious by any standards, but you could still get a queen size bed into the master and a twin into the second bedroom (which is quite livable!).

I'll see if I can dig up the layout. I remember what it looked like, but not the exact dimensions.

I need to see this! I worked in real estate on the North Shore of Boston for 5 years and saw some pretty exorbitant property go up for sale. I always had fun with the tiny condos and such though.

This one is $1k a month (rent), for a little over 400sqft. I know the building though and it was renovated and featured in Architectural Digest IIRC.

That one always fascinated me as far as size and layout. Compared to these its practically a mansion!

Now I'm on Hotpads looking for the smallest homes in Boston I can find. Oooh look! A mistress den!

Found a winner!

Place only a few miles from my office (it's one of those "who would like in a place like that? You know. Permanently."* home-style-apartments-not-quite-a-gated-community) that's ~1000 square feet for that much per month.

*As much as I hate to admit it, I am/was looking to move into one, as a friend of mine wants to desperately get away from the area he's living in now, and find a new job, and we're thinking of splitting the rent on a place, so I was poking around for apartments near where I work. It wasn't until later, when another friend of mine made the above comment that I went "Whoah. I was almost one of those people." Not that my standards changed, just that my perspective had.

Some very small houses:
http://dornob.com/tokyo-parking-space-turn...ee-story-house/
http://dornob.com/10-foot-narrow-tiny-home...-a-tokyo-alley/
http://dornob.com/alleyway-abode-4-foot-na...writers-studio/

The last one is a concept only as far as i can tell, but the top one is interesting as it is actually being used.

Think I've seen these before.

I know. I was reminded of the first one while reading this thread and felt like digging it back up. Bumped into the other two because i confused the first with the third. And if i have seen the second, it has been a while as i can't recall doing so.

I know I could have used one on my trip to GenCon. Six-hour layover in Downtown Detroit. While wearing a cowboy costume (Duster, hat, shirt... No holster.). And about 100 lbs. of gaming gear. Luckily, there were lockers that still worked.

But I was exhausted from the Customs Inspection (Apparently I was a "Person Of Interest" or something), had read all my books already, and, apparently, scaring the locals. I knew I was Ghetto, but not THAT Ghetto.

Heh. Given the esoteric topics that show up on this forum, i suspect just about everyone here is under observation by whatever national police branch that deals with that sort of thing.

Well, I have joked about being on watch lists, but yeah, I think you're right.

*Waves to the nice CSIS people*

I've already talked to them, actually. I was a background check for a friend of mine getting a security clearance when was at the Royal Military College to become an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. They also tried to recruit me.

Yeah, the prices in the area were grossly inflated. The town that condo is in is on the ocean (Literally, I could look out my office window and see the beach) and is super safe, we never locked our doors.
That last one is amazing. Seriously.



Eh, Detroit isn't that bad! A coffin motel would sure be nicer than an airport bench... Hate those things!




And some of us have a last name that is also conveniently the same as a well known mafioso. So I was already there. *waves at the nice police man*

Bus station. I couldn't afford a flight.

Okay, that's more frightening. Those tend to be in pretty skeevy neighborhoods.

Still trying to figure out why I was scaring the locals. Even the security guard was edging away from me as if I was some muscle.

If I was coming North, I could understand it, some guy from Texas who probably has three or four pistols on him just to feel comfortable, but I just came from Ontario.

My wife ordered my copy of Absinthe and Flamethrowers with my credit card online..... yeah.. I'm on alll sorts of watch lists.

Heck, we may be on the watch lists because we talk about this game.

Think about it... we're talking about a game where you pretend to be professional crooks who sometimes shoots people in the face for fun and profit.

You know if I had some money Id be tempted to open a coffin hotel in london its almost viable here considering.



As for lists dont think I'm on one yet but can never tell, your phone makes that strange clicking noise when ever you use it right?

A retirement home?

(Really not quite sure what you're stabbing at here.)

Nono, those have a very different construction, akin to a hotel.

The places I'm talking about have what look like giant houses, but with external staircases. Each apartment has its own private entrance.

yeah I hear you guys on the watch list thing. Is it just me or do other members think suddenly "Hmmm if I ever did try to get into crime I would...." whenever someone says their neighborhood is super safe and no locked doors etc?

I've thought "Hmmm if I ever did try to get into crime I would...." even without people saying that.

You know.

Just for the experience.

Nothing new there. You don't think miner's log cabins were very large do you?

Better built than the houses today, at the very least.

Well everyone remembers the thread on here about a month or two back about some Domino's managers trying to burn down a Papa John's. Somebody posted it and then we deconstructed and built a better plan from scratch in about what two three hours. Yea we're all on lists.

Oh yeah! That was fun!

Linky? (must have missed that one)

Not to mention how many ex-mil we have this board.

You know, I'm amazed more of us haven't had our homes invaded with No-Knock Warrents...

Hehe.

Those can be dangerous to do in some states... I guess yours is not one of them though.

Considering the fact that I'm in a Province, not in a State, and that Canada doesn't appear to have no-knock warrants, yeah, it's pretty safe to bust into my house unannounced.

Go ahead, try it.

Canada would be your State unless Providences are considered Sovereign.

States are not subsidiaries, they are whole units that might (as in the case of USA) come together to form a federation, confederation, alliance or any other form of nation to nation agreement.

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=36174

Go figure, I thought Canada was my Country.

Pfft. Canada is America's hat.

We're bigger and on top, America is our B****.

So, I guess you could say that Canada's really big?

Canada? Isn't that America Lite? I went there once I think. To drink when I was 18.

Toronto is New York Lite. The rest of the country does it's own thing, really.

Back to Coffins, there's been a number of times that I would have found those useful even in my hometown. Stupid transit system we had there, horrible. Get stuck in one of the small townships that's surrounds the area, and you're looking at 14-hours for the next bus.