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My peer set is opting to have babies in apartments even though we all grew up in single family homes because the homes we grew up in are out of sync with our wa

My peer set is opting to have babies in apartments even though we all grew up in single family homes because the homes we grew up in are out of sync with our wages and/or too far of a commute. We're running out of time to have kids, so it's now in apartments or never. My parents home was a 45 min commute to the city when they bought it in '93, now it's 90+ min. Their home is worth $1.2M, which both of us being tech workers we could afford but if one of us lost our jobs the other can't float us for very long. A home, with that commute, is not worth the precariousness. All that money, all that time away from your kid (plus complicated logistics getting to / from day care that closes before our work day ends) it's not worth it. So, babies in apartments. We actually love it. Everything is walkable, there are parks, playgrounds, pools, elevators for strollers, we walk to the market, the pediatrician, the library, daycare etc. BUT there are NO 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS. They do not exist, whether for small families, young people starting out and splitting rent, couples with remote jobs who want separate offices. 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS DO NOT EXIST so, there will be fewer children.

amluto 11mo ago
They do exist (in California even in expensive tech cities), but there are far too few of them.
1659447091 11mo ago
> BUT there are NO 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS. They do not exist [...] 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS DO NOT EXIST I am not sure if you somehow mean something different, but 3 bedroom apartments absolutely do exist. I know for a fact that they exist in California, Texas and Florida. I don't have direct experience with them in other states however.
- bdangubic 11mo ago
  I own a three bedroom apartment in DC, they are very rare. it is a rental and when it is listed usually I get 50+ applications within few days
- estimator7292 11mo ago
  My local part of Cincinnati just put up three or four buildings including 3BR
boredatoms 11mo ago
Also, where are the 4 bed apartments!!
- betaby 11mo ago
  There are not many them in Montreal, and they are disproportionately more expensive. Even 3 bedroom apartments are rare.
RiverCrochet 11mo ago
Where I live there are numerous apartment complexes, but the only thing that's in walkable distance are fast food places and cigarette stores.
alephnerd 11mo ago
> 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS DO NOT EXIST so, there will be fewer children Idk where you are, but I grew up in a 3 bedroom apartment as a kid in the Bay Area in the 1990s and 2000s - we couldn't afford a house until I entered HS (nor did my parents want to take the risk until they had a GC, which itself took 12 years). I also had friends who grew up in 4 person households with 2 bedrooms (also fairly common). There were a lot of apartment complexes filled with us 1.5 gen immigrants, as our parents came from India, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Israel, and Russia on H1Bs, L1s, and EB1s. Growing up in an apartment was a fairly common story for a large segment of us Californians of 1st and 1.5 gen immigrant descent.
Gibbon1 11mo ago
I discussed that with a friend who does real estate project management. She previously worked for organizations doing low income housing projects. I asked her why developers don't build 3-5 bedroom flats anymore. And got a bunch of answers. I said so this is basic failure of the free market to provide what society needs? And she said yes absolutely.
yesfitz 11mo ago
The lack of large apartments in the US is at least partially caused by building codes requiring two means of fire egress (meaning two separate stairwells in taller buildings) which limits the size and layout of individual apartments. Here’s a video on the subject: https://youtube.com/watch?v=iRdwXQb7CfM https://youtube.com/watch?v=iRdwXQb7CfM Long story short though, modern fire mitigation techniques (materials, sprinklers, fire doors) greatly reduce the risk posed by having just one staircase, which would open up a wide array of apartment layouts.

amluto 11mo ago

They do exist (in California even in expensive tech cities), but there are far too few of them.

1659447091 11mo ago

> BUT there are NO 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS. They do not exist [...] 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS DO NOT EXIST I am not sure if you somehow mean something different, but 3 bedroom apartments absolutely do exist. I know for a fact that they exist in California, Texas and Florida. I don't have direct experience with them in other states however.

bdangubic 11mo ago
I own a three bedroom apartment in DC, they are very rare. it is a rental and when it is listed usually I get 50+ applications within few days
estimator7292 11mo ago
My local part of Cincinnati just put up three or four buildings including 3BR

boredatoms 11mo ago

Also, where are the 4 bed apartments!!

betaby 11mo ago
There are not many them in Montreal, and they are disproportionately more expensive. Even 3 bedroom apartments are rare.

RiverCrochet 11mo ago

Where I live there are numerous apartment complexes, but the only thing that's in walkable distance are fast food places and cigarette stores.

alephnerd 11mo ago

> 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS DO NOT EXIST so, there will be fewer children Idk where you are, but I grew up in a 3 bedroom apartment as a kid in the Bay Area in the 1990s and 2000s - we couldn't afford a house until I entered HS (nor did my parents want to take the risk until they had a GC, which itself took 12 years). I also had friends who grew up in 4 person households with 2 bedrooms (also fairly common). There were a lot of apartment complexes filled with us 1.5 gen immigrants, as our parents came from India, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Israel, and Russia on H1Bs, L1s, and EB1s. Growing up in an apartment was a fairly common story for a large segment of us Californians of 1st and 1.5 gen immigrant descent.

Gibbon1 11mo ago

I discussed that with a friend who does real estate project management. She previously worked for organizations doing low income housing projects. I asked her why developers don't build 3-5 bedroom flats anymore. And got a bunch of answers. I said so this is basic failure of the free market to provide what society needs? And she said yes absolutely.

yesfitz 11mo ago

The lack of large apartments in the US is at least partially caused by building codes requiring two means of fire egress (meaning two separate stairwells in taller buildings) which limits the size and layout of individual apartments. Here’s a video on the subject: https://youtube.com/watch?v=iRdwXQb7CfM https://youtube.com/watch?v=iRdwXQb7CfM Long story short though, modern fire mitigation techniques (materials, sprinklers, fire doors) greatly reduce the risk posed by having just one staircase, which would open up a wide array of apartment layouts.