4 ms·

My wife and have two of our children in the early 30s living with us. We're still in the house they were raised in. It's really pretty nice. It's not like we ha

by oblib 6y ago

My wife and have two of our children in the early 30s living with us. We're still in the house they were raised in. It's really pretty nice. It's not like we have to "parent" them, and we all know each other about a well as possible. We're still in the house they grew up in so it's really so familiar that it's not something my wife and I even think as being out of normal. It really doesn't make any sense for them to be paying rent and we've got a pretty sweet setup for hunkering down during this pandemic. We're surrounded by hard core "preppers" here. But really, it was pretty easy to see this kind of thing coming. It's not like we're in a full blown disaster of epic movie proportions but I think it's fair to say that it's been a lot easier on rural areas and families like where we live than most cities. We still can't know for sure but things might get tighter before they loosen up and that is when "family" becomes important. It nice to have a "family home" that we can all count on.

jseliger 6y ago
Until recently normal people in their 30s owned a housing unit and had a family of their own. That this seems difficult today says really bad things about our society and the public policy influencing society. I'd put housing policy at the top of the "bad public policy" list https://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-future-in-seattle-do-millennials-have-a-future-in-any-superstar-cities/ https://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-fut... but there are other reasonable candidates as well.
- oblib 6y ago
  I agree. From the 80s on the focus on housing has been on "McMansions" and we've ignored how that's really pretty wasteful and silly. We can do a lot better than that. We've seen a surge in "tiny homes" being designed but still not built at a rate that's made a dent. And what we really need are smaller family homes that are efficient and comfortable. There are a lot of "Pre-fab" homes here where we live. Those are pretty cost effective but they still don't have the appeal of craftsmen built home. There are some really cool old homes built out of rock here (Ozark Giraffe House). Most are pretty small by today's standards but they're great starter homes for young couples.
  - bradlys 6y ago
    I don't think size of homes is the issue. Land is really expensive in the areas that young people need to be in to get jobs.

by oblib 6y ago

jseliger 6y ago

Until recently normal people in their 30s owned a housing unit and had a family of their own. That this seems difficult today says really bad things about our society and the public policy influencing society. I'd put housing policy at the top of the "bad public policy" list https://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-future-in-seattle-do-millennials-have-a-future-in-any-superstar-cities/ https://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-fut... but there are other reasonable candidates as well.

oblib 6y ago
I agree. From the 80s on the focus on housing has been on "McMansions" and we've ignored how that's really pretty wasteful and silly. We can do a lot better than that. We've seen a surge in "tiny homes" being designed but still not built at a rate that's made a dent. And what we really need are smaller family homes that are efficient and comfortable. There are a lot of "Pre-fab" homes here where we live. Those are pretty cost effective but they still don't have the appeal of craftsmen built home. There are some really cool old homes built out of rock here (Ozark Giraffe House). Most are pretty small by today's standards but they're great starter homes for young couples.
- bradlys 6y ago
  I don't think size of homes is the issue. Land is really expensive in the areas that young people need to be in to get jobs.