Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Is one person's studio another person's townhouse? Let's find out! Today's price: $2,000.
↑ Next, we hop from the edge of the Tenderloin straight into the middle of it, with a 479-square-foot studio for $1,995/month. True, one of the most prominent amenities of Mosser Towers is how close it is to various transit lines that will take you away from your own block, but the hardwood floors are handsome, the unit is sunny, there are granite countertops, and the little balcony is actually kind of charming. Sorry, no pets (whoof).
↑ If you've got a hankering for a high-end address, there's this studio on the top floor of the Gaylord Suites hotel. The place is two and a half blocks from Union Square, rent-controlled (!), and the $1,900/month rent even covers the cable bill. The creamy white Spanish revival building dates to 1929, and the unit has "espresso-finished" floors and sunset views. But the real appeal, other than that sweet rent control, is a location in the same orbit as Maiden Lane and the city's big-spending tourist corridors.
↑ Are these studios making you claustrophobic? You haven't seen anything yet. Here's a "micro-apartment" in the Excelsior for $2,000/month that clocks in at a mere 260 square feet. The only way it could be smaller is if it wasn't there at all. Has it got anything going for it? Well, bamboo floors are nice, and the floor plan is actually quite ingenious, managing to squeeze several rooms into the barely-there square footage without appearing cramped. No pets here either.
↑ Finally, while this junior one-bedroom in the Richmond for $1,995/month is no bigger than most of the others, but it's a genuine one-bedroom apartment with marble floors in the bathroom, quartz countertops in the kitchen, a fireplace, ocean views (on a clear day, that is), and a garden that looks for all the world like little hobbits must be tending it even as we type this.