海角大神

When Shawna Nelson leaves her office in Seattle鈥檚 suburbs, she does what 28-year-olds often do: dines with friends, goes out dancing, or sees a show. Sometimes she hits her swanky gym.

But at the end of the night Ms. Nelson always returns to Dora, the dusty Ford Explorer she calls home. In the back, where a row of seats should be, lies a foam mattress covered with fuzzy animal-print blankets. Nelson keeps a headlamp handy for when she wants to read before bed. Then, once she鈥檚 sure she won鈥檛 get ticketed or towed, she turns in for the night.

鈥淚 still strive to have some sort of routine,鈥� says Nelson, who started living in her car about a year ago. 鈥淲ould I rather spend $1,200 on an apartment that I鈥檓 probably not going to be at very much, or would I rather spend $1,200 a month on traveling?鈥�

For her, it was an easy choice.

She鈥檚 not alone. As housing costs soar, US communities have faced ballooning homelessness, declining homeownership, and tensions over gentrification. But the rising expense of homes, when combined with the demographic, cultural, and technological trends of the past decade, has also prompted a more positive phenomenon: smaller, leaner living. This conscious shift, mainly among portions of the middle and upper classes, springs from a desire to live more fully with less.

For some it means choosing tiny homes and 鈥渕icro-apartments鈥� 鈥� typically less than 350 square feet 鈥� for the chance to live affordably in vibrant neighborhoods. For others, like Nelson, it means hitting the road in a truck or van, communing with nature and like-minded people along the way. Proponents range in ages and backgrounds, but they all share a renewed thirst for alternatives to traditional lifestyles like single-family homes, long cherished as a symbol of the American dream.

鈥淚 think fundamentally it comes down to a shift in perception about the pursuit of happiness 鈥� how it doesn鈥檛 require a consumerist lifestyle or collection of stuff,鈥� says Jay Janette, a Seattle architect whose firm has designed a number of micro-housing developments in the city. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not really living in their spaces, they鈥檙e living in their city.鈥�

Prioritizing experiences over stuff

John Infranca, a law professor at Boston鈥檚 Suffolk University who specializes in urban law and policy, says the phenomenon is driven largely by Millennials, who have been the faces of both the affordable housing crisis and the shift to minimalism.

Research shows that the 18-to-35 cohort continues to rent at higher rates than previous generations: 74 percent lived in a rental property in 2016, compared to 62 percent of Gen Xers in 2000, according to the Pew Research Center. And while the Millennial desire to not buy homes tends to be overstated 鈥� studies suggest many want to own, but often can鈥檛 afford to 鈥� they do prioritize experiences over stuff.

They aren鈥檛 the only ones. Spending on experiences like food, travel, and recreation is up for all consumers, making up more than 20 percent of Americans鈥� consumption expenses in 2015. (In contrast, the share for spending on household goods and cars was in the single digits.) Baby-boomer parents, downsizing as they enter retirement, find that their grown children are uninterested in inheriting their hoards of Hummels and Thomas Kinkade paintings. The same 鈥渓ive with less鈥� logic has begun to extend beyond stuff to the spaces these older adults occupy.

鈥淭here is some cultural demand for simpler living,鈥� says Professor Infranca. 鈥淎nd by virtue of technology, we are able to live with a lot less.鈥�

It鈥檚 a distinct moment for a culture that has long placed a premium on individual ownership and a 鈥榢eeping up with the Joneses鈥� mentality, Mr. Janette and others say.

鈥淚 think the recession changed the playing field for a lot of people,鈥� notes Sofia Borges, an architect, trend consultant, and lecturer at the University of Southern California. 鈥淛ob security, homeownership 鈥� a lot of that went out the window and never really returned. When a change like that happens, you have to change your ideas a little bit too.鈥�

Growing culture of minimalism

That was certainly the case for Kim Henderson, who was a marketing manager making more than $80,000 a year before the recession. 鈥淚 never again found a job like I had [before 2008],鈥� says Ms. Henderson, now in her 50s. 鈥淲hen they were available, they went to younger people.鈥�

Today Henderson makes about $37,000 a year as an executive assistant to a bar owner and lives in the Bristol Hotel, a mixed-use apartment building in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Her studio, which she shares with her small dog Olive, is 175 square feet 鈥� the equivalent of about four king-size beds. The walls are covered in framed artwork that Henderson collected from thrift shops and friends. An apartment-sized fridge and a fold-out couch are her largest possessions.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the same exact lifestyle [I used to live], just with less things鈥� 鈥� and more money in her pocket, she says.

Henderson pays $685 a month including electricity 鈥� a bargain for Los Angeles, where studios average $1,500. She can save money and still have enough disposable income to eat out and travel, she says. But at least as important is the sense of liberation. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an energy you get from purging,鈥� Henderson says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need six towels. You don鈥檛 need a ton of dishes. You pick the things out that you really want to keep in the 鈥榰seful鈥� category.鈥�

The sentiment is in keeping with a growing culture of minimalism. Marie Kondo鈥檚 鈥淭he Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,鈥� which urges people to keep only those things that 鈥渟park joy,鈥� has sold 1.5 million copies in the US alone. Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, also known as The Minimalists, have also helped take the notion mainstream with a podcast, website, bestselling books, and documentaries.

There are other forces at play, too. Digital access to resources makes living lean more feasible, says Infranca at Suffolk. Henderson, for instance, doesn鈥檛 own a car, relying instead on ride-sharing services or her own two feet to get around. And because she lives downtown she鈥檚 closer to the amenities and establishments she loves.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a value proposition,鈥� says David Neiman, whose Seattle design firm focuses on small-efficiency dwelling units, which start at 150 square feet. 鈥淚 could live for the same price in a central location in housing that鈥檚 clean, has internet, and I can walk to work and exciting things. Or I can live farther away, have more space, and it鈥檚 in a secondary neighborhood and I have to drive.鈥�

$20,000 tiny house聽

Instead of renting a micro-unit in an urban center, filmmakers Alexis Stephens and 海角大神 Parsons decided two years ago to build their own 130-square foot house and load it onto the bed of a U-Haul. They then set off across the country in a bid to live more simply and sustainably, travel, and invest in their own place 鈥� all while documenting the experience.

The Tiny House Expedition has since become a thriving enterprise. Ms. Stephens and Mr. Parsons have interviewed tiny house advocates and dwellers across 30,000 miles and 29 states. At a sustainability festival outside Seattle in July, they sold T-shirts and copies of the book 鈥淭urning Tiny,鈥� a collection of essays they contributed to. They gave tours of their home. And they answered questions about building and living in a tiny house, touting its potential as an affordable, sustainable, and high-quality alternative lifestyle.

鈥淧eople are empowering themselves to build housing options that work for them that are not available in the market,鈥� Stephens says.

Tiny homes can range from about 100 to 300 square feet and cost between $25,000 to $100,000, give or take. Stephens and Parsons built theirs using reclaimed material for about $20,000, and it comes with a loft for a queen-sized bed, a compost toilet, walls that double as storage, and shelves that turn into tables. For those with more lavish tastes, vendors like Seattle Tiny Homes offer customizable houses 鈥� complete with a shower and a washer and dryer 鈥� for about $85,000.

鈥淵ou aren鈥檛 downgrading from a traditional home,鈥� says founder Sharon Read. 鈥淚t can have everything you want and nothing you don鈥檛 want.鈥�

Those who would rather not lug around a whole house while they travel, however, have turned to another alternative: #vanlife. The term was coined in 2011 by Foster Huntington, a former Ralph Lauren designer who gave up his life in New York City to surf the California coast, living and traveling in a 1987 Volkswagen Syncro. His photos, which he posted on Instagram and later compiled in a $65 book titled, 鈥淗ome Is Where You Park It,鈥� launched what The New Yorker dubbed a 鈥淏ohemian social-media movement.鈥�

The hashtag has since been used more than a million times on Instagram. 鈥淰anlifers鈥� drive everything from cargo vans to SUVs, though the Volkswagen Vanagon remains the classic choice.

鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely found a renewed zeitgeist,鈥� says Jad Josey, general manager at GoWesty, a Southern California-based vendor of Volkswagen van parts. 鈥淭he fact that you can be really compact and mobile and almost 100 percent self-sufficient in a Vanagon is really attractive to people.鈥�

People like freelance photographer Aidan Klimenko, who has been living off and on in vans and SUVs for three years, traversing the US and South America.

鈥淭he idea of working so hard to pay rent 鈥� which ultimately, that鈥檚 just money down the drain 鈥� is such a hard concept for me,鈥� says Mr. Klimenko. Vanlife, he adds, 鈥渋s access to the outdoors and it鈥檚 movement. I鈥檓 addicted to traveling. I鈥檓 addicted to being in new places and meeting new people and waking up outside.鈥�

Small living isn't that big a trend

Still, the movement to live smaller may not be as extensive as social media makes it seem, some housing analysts say. Zoning regulations 鈥� especially in dense urban areas 鈥� often restrict the number and size of buildable units, slowing growth among micro-apartments and tiny homes. Constructing or living in a tiny home or micro-unit can still pose a legal risk in some cities.

And by and large, Americans continue to value size. The average new home built in the US in 2015 was聽a record 2,687 square feet 鈥� 1,000 square feet larger than in 1973, according to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

Living mobile isn鈥檛 all grand adventures and scenic views, either. Van dwellers say they鈥檝e had to contend with engine trouble, the cold and the heat, and unpleasant public restrooms. And Henderson in Los Angeles says she once lived in an affordable micro-housing development that had a pervasive drug-dealing problem.

Still, those who have embraced leaner living say what they might lose in creature comforts, they gain in perspective and experience. In crisscrossing the country, Stephens and Parsons opened themselves up to the kindness of strangers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice reminder that as Americans we have so much more in common than we realize,鈥� Stephens says. They also spend more time connecting with others, instead of closeting themselves at home.

鈥淲hether you鈥檙e choosing a van, a school bus, a tiny house, or a micro-apartment, you get a lot of the same benefits,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e need more housing options, period, in America. We鈥檝e boxed ourselves in a very monolithic housing culture. We鈥檙e showing it鈥檚 OK to venture outside of that.鈥�