7 ms·

Maybe broadcast tools (like craigslist) and reputation tools (like social networks) make it a lot easier for people to spontaneously organize shared living situ

Maybe broadcast tools (like craigslist) and reputation tools (like social networks) make it a lot easier for people to spontaneously organize shared living situations. This makes it so easy to join or form 4-5 person cells to share a house that it takes out the demand for a larger and more formal commune. Maybe.

xyzzy123 13y ago
I'm finding these posts kind of surreal, I had no idea shared living was NOT the default in many places. I posted down a bit re: flatting, but in NZ it's a very common living arrangement for people in their 20s. The standard progression is: parents -> flatting -> house The way it goes is, first ask all your friends if they knew of a room going, failing that, see if you can find some friends to organise a lease with ("founding" a flat). As a last resort, you crack open the newspaper to the "flatmates wanted" section and troop around houses. This has been replaced by various web sites but they're not really social - they just replaced the newspaper. I think this is where you might have room to innovate - even in established markets like the NZ, the UK and Australia. Being able to cyberstalk your prospective flatmates a little would be really handy and could save a lot of unneccesary travel. Usually there's a mini interview where the flatmates figure out if they can live with you, and you see if you could live with them. This can lead to some hilarious situations which serve to underline how utterly different people can be. One sticking point is that the most successful flats never have to advertise rooms. There will always be a friend of a friend who is willing to move in.
- brigade 13y ago
  HN is kind of a silo that isn't at all representative of the population at large. In particular, programmers currently make more than enough money to comfortably live alone pretty much anywhere in the US. Even fresh out of college, most of the time. That combined with the tendency for programmers to be asocial makes living alone the default around here. Among my non-programmer friends and family, the standard after college is (and has been since my parents' time) to live with a close friend or two until someone gets married.

xyzzy123 13y ago

I'm finding these posts kind of surreal, I had no idea shared living was NOT the default in many places. I posted down a bit re: flatting, but in NZ it's a very common living arrangement for people in their 20s. The standard progression is: parents -> flatting -> house The way it goes is, first ask all your friends if they knew of a room going, failing that, see if you can find some friends to organise a lease with ("founding" a flat). As a last resort, you crack open the newspaper to the "flatmates wanted" section and troop around houses. This has been replaced by various web sites but they're not really social - they just replaced the newspaper. I think this is where you might have room to innovate - even in established markets like the NZ, the UK and Australia. Being able to cyberstalk your prospective flatmates a little would be really handy and could save a lot of unneccesary travel. Usually there's a mini interview where the flatmates figure out if they can live with you, and you see if you could live with them. This can lead to some hilarious situations which serve to underline how utterly different people can be. One sticking point is that the most successful flats never have to advertise rooms. There will always be a friend of a friend who is willing to move in.

brigade 13y ago
HN is kind of a silo that isn't at all representative of the population at large. In particular, programmers currently make more than enough money to comfortably live alone pretty much anywhere in the US. Even fresh out of college, most of the time. That combined with the tendency for programmers to be asocial makes living alone the default around here. Among my non-programmer friends and family, the standard after college is (and has been since my parents' time) to live with a close friend or two until someone gets married.