4 ms·

For instance, consider a simplified model where every family has two kids that live with them until they’re 18. The ACA (Obamacare) extended coverage to age 26

For instance, consider a simplified model where every family has two kids that live with them until they’re 18. The ACA (Obamacare) extended coverage to age 26 for children because about half of young adults up to age 26 were living with their parents Since WW2, we've torn down about a million SROs.* We have also largely zoned out of existence the ability to build new Missing Middle housing. We have a dire shortage of a certain kind of housing: small, inexpensive housing near amenities. This is true nationwide. * https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy#:~:text=Single%20room%20occupancy%20%28more%20commonly%20abbreviated%20to%20SRO%29,a%20bed%2C%20chair%2C%20and%20sometimes%20a%20small%20desk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy#:~:tex....

isx726552 4y ago
Boarding houses need to make a comeback.
- ruined 4y ago
  They have, informally. There is a huge demographic of people in every major city who have never/rarely signed a lease, but simply sublet a room from an official lease-holder, often against the actual terms of the lease. These people generally tend to file taxes as individual households, despite all sharing what is statistically a single unit of housing. I wonder how this plays with the data in the article.
  - skrbjc 4y ago
    I was thinking the same thing. So many young people share houses in places like the Bay Area, but it doesn’t seem to be included in these numbers.
- pkdpic 4y ago
  Thats a really interesting thought. I would guess there're are a lot of untapped ideas from the early 20th / 19th century that deserve reevaluation / resurrection. Like drinking more. I'm experimenting with that one. I'll let everyone know how it turns out on substack when I'm done.
skybrian 4y ago
The "household size" in that article is trending down, which suggests that, if more young adults are living with their parents, it's counterbalanced by more people in other age groups living alone?
- DoreenMichele 4y ago
  People are delaying marriage and iirc more people are foregoing it entirely. People are having children later and having fewer children and living longer, so there are more empty-nesters. Empty-nesters may be a couple or single adult whose spouse has died. There has been a decline in households with four or more people and a rise in households with one to three people, but our housing stock tends to be geared towards nuclear families with a breadwinner father, homemaker mother and 2.5 children. Last I checked, average new homes post-2000 were more than twice the size of new homes in the 1950s and held one less person on average. So you are seeing couples with one child buy four bedroom homes and turn the extra bedrooms into an office and a playroom or hobby space. Meanwhile, the poorest of the poor are often unable to find housing at all. We have a lot of homeless people.
  - jimmygrapes 4y ago
    I am guessing you know as well as I do (based on your previous posts) that one of the prime drivers of homelessness is a combination of the credit bureau scam and the "3x rent" income requirement. More than building new facilities I believe these factors play a much larger role. Even today now that I'm far more stable and my credit is decent, I still run into these issues when I have to move. I might even be homeless in a few months, again, despite being fully capable of affording the rent for my area. I don't know how to fix this.
    - DoreenMichele 4y ago
      the "3x rent" income requirement. This would be much less of an issue if there were more affordable units. It's extremely hard to find units below $500 in the US. If you could readily find units for $400-$600, many people who currently can't afford housing would be fine.
scarface74 4y ago
How do you have inexpensive housing near desired amenities? The people that need affordable housing will always be outbid by people with more money.
- sagarm 4y ago
  Allow construction of undesirable housing, like SROs.

isx726552 4y ago

Boarding houses need to make a comeback.

ruined 4y ago
They have, informally. There is a huge demographic of people in every major city who have never/rarely signed a lease, but simply sublet a room from an official lease-holder, often against the actual terms of the lease. These people generally tend to file taxes as individual households, despite all sharing what is statistically a single unit of housing. I wonder how this plays with the data in the article.
- skrbjc 4y ago
  I was thinking the same thing. So many young people share houses in places like the Bay Area, but it doesn’t seem to be included in these numbers.
pkdpic 4y ago
Thats a really interesting thought. I would guess there're are a lot of untapped ideas from the early 20th / 19th century that deserve reevaluation / resurrection. Like drinking more. I'm experimenting with that one. I'll let everyone know how it turns out on substack when I'm done.

skybrian 4y ago

The "household size" in that article is trending down, which suggests that, if more young adults are living with their parents, it's counterbalanced by more people in other age groups living alone?

DoreenMichele 4y ago
People are delaying marriage and iirc more people are foregoing it entirely. People are having children later and having fewer children and living longer, so there are more empty-nesters. Empty-nesters may be a couple or single adult whose spouse has died. There has been a decline in households with four or more people and a rise in households with one to three people, but our housing stock tends to be geared towards nuclear families with a breadwinner father, homemaker mother and 2.5 children. Last I checked, average new homes post-2000 were more than twice the size of new homes in the 1950s and held one less person on average. So you are seeing couples with one child buy four bedroom homes and turn the extra bedrooms into an office and a playroom or hobby space. Meanwhile, the poorest of the poor are often unable to find housing at all. We have a lot of homeless people.
- jimmygrapes 4y ago
  I am guessing you know as well as I do (based on your previous posts) that one of the prime drivers of homelessness is a combination of the credit bureau scam and the "3x rent" income requirement. More than building new facilities I believe these factors play a much larger role. Even today now that I'm far more stable and my credit is decent, I still run into these issues when I have to move. I might even be homeless in a few months, again, despite being fully capable of affording the rent for my area. I don't know how to fix this.
  - DoreenMichele 4y ago
    the "3x rent" income requirement. This would be much less of an issue if there were more affordable units. It's extremely hard to find units below $500 in the US. If you could readily find units for $400-$600, many people who currently can't afford housing would be fine.

scarface74 4y ago

How do you have inexpensive housing near desired amenities? The people that need affordable housing will always be outbid by people with more money.

sagarm 4y ago
Allow construction of undesirable housing, like SROs.