THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of this year’s design trends, an expensive trip to the grocery store, some creative inspiration, apartments, and sticking together. Dig in!

Generally

Giving The People What They Want
The AIA Home Design Trends Survey results are in for the first quarter of 2017 and home size and accessibility are shifting.

Think Smaller
The demand for more square footage and larger lot sizes are both down by 2% compared to last year. The shift is being accredited to first time buyers looking for small entry level homes and an aging baby boomer generation looking to grow old in their house. These shifts pair nicely with the features that were demanded most. First was in-home accessibility, but it was down 5% compared to last year and down 11% compared to two years ago. Jumping up to second was a single-floor design, growing 9% from last year. The demand for blended indoor/outdoor living spaces jumped up to 62% this year.

Alexa Buy Some Food

“Buying Whole Foods”
Amazon announced that they are buying Whole Foods for a measly $13.4 Billion. Not only did this send Whole Foods stocks soaring it also changed Amazon’s business. If you remember back about 6 months ago, Amazon released a video of what the future of shopping could look like. A future without cash registers, grab what you want, and walk out. Before, this was just a cool idea, now, Amazon has 460 stores to make that a reality. Or it now has a lot of space to turn into more high-tech warehouses. Either way we can expect to see something innovative in the not so far off future from this internet company now turned massive brick and mortar owner.

Take Notes

Motivation Monday
Facebook announced its 2017 winners for best content on its platform. Look through the list to see how people are using Facebook to make real change in both their business and even the world. The work ranges from a museum increasing attendance, to bringing awareness to some tough problems, or even a brand killing a bunch of stuffed mice.

4.6 Million
The number of apartments that will need to be constructed in the U.S. by 2030 to support the growing demand for places to live. Two non-profits looked at the affordable housing crisis that is forcing people to rent/live in apartments for longer, as well as the rate at which people are moving to urban areas to come up with the 4.6 million estimate. They say at least 325,000 new apartments need to be created a year but only 244,000 are created annually at the moment.

CO-mmanding Attention
Coworking spaces are continuing to grow and become more common across the globe. From there it’s not much of a jump to co-living spaces. With people marrying later or just not getting married, more single people are jumping on to the co-living train. You get your own fully furnished room, shared communal spaces, planned events, and amenities built into the whole place. With more options like this popping up it may help ease some pressure on the lack of homes for sale.

Totally Unrelated

Drawn In
A new AI drawing software has been created to make your doodles look decently life like and just as decently scary. Have Fun.