7 ms·

> Oh, and there were 6 of us, in a 3 bedroom apartment. This is such a weird American phenomenon, the whole roommate thing. What on earth can make adults choos

• branchless 10y ago
  Why: because of the financialization of housing. Why accept it? Westerners don't understand how their economies work to pass surplus value to the non-productive.
  • Anderkent 10y ago
    > Why accept it? Westerners don't understand how their economies work to pass surplus value to the non-productive Why do you think it's a question of understanding, rather than a moral obligation to help others?
    • branchless 10y ago
      The system decides. Charity after siphoning off labour is a poor second. http://savingcommunities.org/docs/george.henry/helpunemployed.html http://savingcommunities.org/docs/george.henry/helpunemploye...
      • Anderkent 10y ago
        How does that connect to your previous statement? Yes, the system (and the people who build and make up the system) decide to distribute wealth to 'non-productive' people. That's a good thing, exactly because charity of the 'productive' people is not reliable.
        • branchless 10y ago
          We are talking at cross purposes. The system directs wealth to rentiers, they are non-productive. The rich are the non-productive. The system does not allocate resources correctly, it's totally flawed.
          • Anderkent 10y ago
            Then I think you need to talk in specifics, not general statements. When you compare our systems with the 'default' of having no system (i.e. anarcho-capitalism), it seems rentiers (i.e. owners of capital/land) are directed even more resources. So if you blame the system, you kinda have to be specific in what aspects you're blaming and how they could be improved. It's also not necessarily bad that some wealth is directed to rentiers, if otherwise the wealthy would have no incentive to use their wealth productively.
• gsch 10y ago
  On the other hand, I think there are really good reasons for co-living beyond saving a bit of money. There's a great community aspect to it as well. On the occasions where I've lived by myself, I've mostly ended up bored and sedentary, whereas in co-living arrangements, there's always people to chat or cook with, hang out, etc. Of course, I'm still in my late 20s, so take this with a massive grain of salt. But if my salary doubled tomorrow, I still wouldn't give up my flatshare. I don't see myself wanting to leave it for another several years.
  • bluedino 10y ago
    Plus, you aren't really there except for sleeping and maybe a meal. You're always at work, with friends, out to dinner, at the bar or coffee shop, hiking or biking outside...
  • jklepatch 10y ago
    +1 for the community aspect. I also could afford to live on my own but I prefer to have roomates. I live overseas,where as a foreigner a personal network is even more important that back home. Having roomates makes my social life easier. No need to spend so much energy meeting new people outside. There are often people hanging out in the living room. I rarely feel lonely and often meet new cool people,at home.
• NikolaeVarius 10y ago
  Why do you assume it is a western thing. Have you ever been to Asia? It's extremely common in China/Korea/Japan
  • hkmurakami 10y ago
    Japanese people almost never have roommates. They instead live in apartments that are very small. The flat sharing / house sharing movement is very young there and only applies to a very small number of young people.
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• Anderkent 10y ago
  > This is such a weird American phenomenon, the whole roommate thing I think you're just sheltered; in every country in Europe that I lived in or had friends live in (Poland, UK, Portugal), students and young professionals flatshare. Or live with their parents, but it comes out to the same thing. If you're not already independently rich, you can't afford a single bedroom flat on your own. The simple fact is that a two bedroom flat split two ways is always going to be cheaper than two single-bed flats. There's obvious efficiency in using the space effectively - no point in every single person having their own kitchen, bathroom, living room. Also, it makes sense that most flats built are 2-bedroom or bigger; that way they can be used both as flatshares for young people, and flats for families. You don't have to live with someone you don't like - you get to pick your flatmates.
  • wolly 10y ago
    It's (to some extent) a Nordic thing. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-207342_QID_3760CE23_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;SEX,L,Z,0;AGE,L,Z,1;INDICATORS,C,Z,2;&zSelection=DS-207342AGE,Y18-34;DS-207342SEX,T;DS-207342INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=AGE_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=SEX_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName5=GEO_1_0_0_1&sortR=DESC_6&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23 http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMA...
  • rmc 10y ago
    Yes, but when Americans (e.g. college students) talk about "roommates" they mean they share a bedroom! Literal roommates
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    • jarboot 10y ago
• eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  Two factors perpetuate this: 1) Americans have a self-hating working class. 2) American home-owners are politically organized, and constantly lobby to prevent the construction of both new single-family houses and apartment buildings in general.
  • arcanus 10y ago
    > American home-owners are politically organized, and constantly lobby to prevent the construction of both new single-family houses and apartment buildings in general That's over-generalizing. Many locations in the USA have sensible zoning. SF is the exception.
    • lovich 10y ago
      Boston's another hub and large parts of the metro area dont allow increasing housing density easily
    • eli_gottlieb 10y ago
      I live in Somerville, MA, and we had an article showing that only 22 buildings in our whole city are legal to build again under current zoning codes[1]. [1] -- http://www.vox.com/2016/6/16/11948630/somerville-zoning-illegal http://www.vox.com/2016/6/16/11948630/somerville-zoning-ille...
    • thatwebdude 10y ago
      Agreed, in the Midwest they're building new 2,500 sqft. homes every 6 months around here. (Quite poorly BTW) Every 5 or 10 years an entirely new development emerges. Any hindrance occurs to municipalities without room to grow. And for city zoning, it doesn't appear they have an issue "building up" instead of out.
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• k-mcgrady 10y ago
  It's common in lots of places outside the US. You have a few choices: 1. Live with parents Not something most people want to do past a certain age. 2. Live with friends People seem to be moving abroad more these days leaving you with friends all over the world, but possibly none currently in the city you live in. 3. Live with significant other Fine until the relationship ends and someone needs to move. 4. Live with strangers You meet new people, if you don't like them it's easy to just move somewhere else and try again. The '6 of us in a 3 bed' thing is insane and unrelated to the living with strangers point. Where are you from that sharing a home with strangers is such a strange concept? Who have you lived with instead? If you were able to afford your own place you're either very lucky or live somewhere very inexpensive because even in smaller cities that's not an option for most people.
  • henrikschroder 10y ago
    > Where are you from that sharing a home with strangers is such a strange concept? Sweden. When I went to university, I had a student apartment. It was cheap and tiny, 18m^2. There was a slightly cheaper student housing option where you would share a living room and a kitchen with other people, but in those everyone has their own private bedroom and bathroom with their own front door. Some of my friends rented regular, small apartments in the city. Some shared apartments, but always with existing friends, people they'd known for a while and knew they'd get along with. As you exit university, you lose your student housing, but if you have a job you can usually afford a small apartment, a studio or a 1BR. The amount of people sharing an apartment with others at this age is even lower. Eventually, most people get into a relationship, and move into a larger home as needed, and this is where the attitudes between the US and Sweden are the most similar, if you have a family and kids, most people get a house of their own. One difference between the US and Sweden though is that there is strong political pressure for construction companies to build small apartments. In the US there's political pressure to build low-income housing and accessible housing, but for some reason no pressure for making sure everyone gets their own apartment?
    • k-mcgrady 10y ago
      Interesting thanks for the info. I'm in the UK and generally here if you go to University you will get a student accommodation for the first. Then you'll get your own apartment with friends for the remaining years and this would generally carry on until you're in a serious relationship and can share accommodation with your partner. Personally having also tried the living by myself thing for a year I much prefer sharing a house with a few other people (and I'm very introverted). Living by yourself quickly becomes very lonely and living with new people quite regularly is a great way to meet friends and learn about other cultures, particularly if you're living in a cosmopolitan city. Of course the main issue is still cost but for I know a lot of people that can afford a 1br apartment but would see that as a waste of money when sharing is much cheaper with few downsides (unless you get stuck with terrible room mates, but generally people are ok).
• 21 10y ago
  It's funny, that I kind of did things in the wrong order. When I was in my 20s, I lived alone in a nice place, as a developer I could afford it. Now in my 30s I live in a shared apartment in London, I can technically afford to live alone, but I'd rather save the money (it would be twice as expensive). It's not as bad as I had feared, and the community aspect can be interested, it can also be very bad if you end up with the wrong people (noise, ...) All in all, I don't regret it.
• eyko 10y ago
  I think your misunderstanding just comes from the use of the word "room". To make things simpler to understand: room does not always mean bedroom. There are many rooms in a house: living room, bath room, bed room. Roommate simply means someone you share some of those rooms with (usually bathroom, living room, kitchen...) but obviously not the bedroom. So, in the case of "6 of us in a 3 bedroom apartment", then yes, they shared rooms, but it's not always the case (I would've expected 3 people in a 3 bedroom apartment). Perhaps parent meant 3 couples (6 people)?
• the_watcher 10y ago
  > What on earth can make adults choose to share their home with a stranger? There's a really simple one: lack of funds to afford their own place. Also, plenty of roommates are not strangers. I've lived with my brother and one of my best friends from high school, and really only lived with a true stranger during my first year of college, the first year I lived in Austin, and the first 9 months I lived in the Bay Area.
• cgh 10y ago
  The most crowded co-living situations I ever saw were in Amsterdam, a place with a dramatic shortage of affordable rental housing. They were a mix of students and newly working people. > Who perpetuates this system? Low-cost rental housing generally isn't a good financial proposition.
• wordpressdev 10y ago
  Most expat workers in Arabian Gulf (GCC) countries live in shared accommodations to cut costs, sometimes 8 people sharing a single room. Life is tough.
• true_tuna 10y ago
  California has adopted a system where new development requires approval from the people already there. If you like where you live you might block and attempt to change it. The evidence shows that in such a system people will block any and all proposed development, but being a great place to live with a vibrant economy and lots of job growth many new people arrive every year. More people need a place to live, no new housing == Crazy housing prices and everyone gets a roommate.
• Qwertious 10y ago
  What's with the cultural notion that everyone needs their own kitchen and batchroom and "living room" common room? If you want cheap rent, you need to par down what you need personally, and share everything that you don't.