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Micro-Apartment Edition: What $2,000/Month Rents You in San Francisco

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Today we're focusing on five apartment that are very, very small

Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Today, we're thinking small, with a buffet spread of micro-units (here defined as 600 square feet or less). Is one person's attic another person's penthouse? Let's find out. Today's price: $2,000.

↑ First, a celebrity of sorts: The loft in the Book Concern building at the edge of the Tenderloin, 411 feet for $1,950/month. This 1906 building was completely overhauled in 2007 and converted into efficiency units, including this one on the top floor featuring brick walls, skylights, loft bedroom, and a refreshingly friendly attitude toward pets. At the southern tip of the Tenderloin, it's right around the corner from the Asian Art Museum and City Hall.

↑ If you prefer something a bit more tucked away, here's a cottage in Glen Park, featuring a garden landscape with ferns and a redwood gate, for $1,975/month. The interior is a bit Spartan, although the pedestal sink in the bathroom is a nice touch, and the view of the greenery is undeniably charming. The Roanoke Street address is a few blocks from BART and Glen Canyon Park.


↑ Head uphill from Glen Park and you reach Diamond Heights for our third offering, a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment at the top of the hill for $1,900/month. It's in the small but cute strata of listings. It also has the advantage of being the biggest of our five micros, with a proper bedroom to boot. It's one block away from Billy Goat Hill and its famous swing. Both cats and dogs are permitted.

↑ We're not sure what a "basement-style" apartment is if not an actual basement, but in this case it appears to mean small and windowless, although the ad does note that this 450-square-foot Mission unit for $1,900/month gets some sun from a light well. There's not much to the apartment itself, but the prime Lexington Street locale is right down the block from Dolores Park, BART, and Valencia Street. Both cat and dog friendly.

↑ Finally, for $1,950/month we've got a third-floor apartment with an "alcove bedroom" that — wait a minute, folks! Hey, that's clearly a closet. On a similar note, we should call this Hyde and Geary address the Tenderloin rather than Lower Nob Hill, per the listing. Linguistic cheats aside, it comes with bay windows, and cats are permitted.