Silicon Valley thinks it invented roommates. They call it 'co-living' • Hacker News Board

Re: Silicon Valley thinks it invented roommates. They call it 'co-living'

#111

Post by monort » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 6:05 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #97

monort wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This depends on a country, I've seen some where it's municipal bus, that is overcrowded, and mini-bus is a more "premium" service. But anyway, do you think you should force them to pay twice the price by removing the overcrowding? It's just a revealed preference, like with airplanes, people prefer price to comfort. Modern startup in this area can experiment with a different price for standing/sitting. If this jitneys…

No one is forbidding "jitneys". What is being discussed is maintaining certain safety standards that, as an individual, one might not consider significant enough to care about, but on a societal level, make everyone's lives better. For example, someone can undercut you on price by taking risky shortcuts. Therefore your product or service won't sell, but as a society, it's better for everyone that certain standards ar…

Are you talking hypotheticals? Because in reality private jitneys are mostly forbidden in US, not regulated.

Re: Silicon Valley thinks it invented roommates. They call it 'co-living'

#112

Post by JBlue42 » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 7:25 PM UTC

humanrebar wrote: post #4

> By “convenient” they mean anonymous people on minimum wage clean up after you. Hey, let's not stigmatize the upper middle class actually hiring people to do worthwhile work. That's how jobs, small businesses, and economic growth happen. > As was quickly pointed out by numerous people this is basically a “bus”. Just, you know, without the poor people. Likewise, this is a good idea. People sharing rides in smaller bu…

We have slightly smaller, limited route buses in the DASH system here in LA. About 50c up front or 33c (or less) bought in advance.

Re: Silicon Valley thinks it invented roommates. They call it 'co-living'

#113

Post by SamReidHughes » Sat, Nov 18, 2017, 5:40 AM UTC

barrkel wrote: post #103

thriftwy wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having ridden public transit in the USA, dollar vans that I have ridden elsewhere have a long way to go before their sanitary status deteriorate as much. I'm talking about scary sticky floors everywhere. Light rail in Sacramento is ghetto on the wheels, and don't pretend blaming it on poverty since dollar vans were in much much poorer areas than CA. If anything, driver of private vehicle cares more about their vehicl…

driver of private vehicle cares more about their vehicle, it being private That's how it starts. But then one bus driver figures that if he gets together a loan, he's able to buy a bunch of buses and hire a bunch of drivers and scale up his income. Next thing you know, he's trying to evade liability when one of his dodgy buses has an accident, or he's trying to avoid repaying the loan, or he's cheaping out on driver…

We already have highways full of private vehicles with no rules about responsible upkeep. Bus operators have an incentive to keep their vehicles working and not get wrecked.

Re: Silicon Valley thinks it invented roommates. They call it 'co-living'

#114

Post by TheCoelacanth » Sat, Nov 18, 2017, 8:58 PM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #33

chrisseaton wrote: post #8

I think the author is being deliberately uncharitable. I think what these co-living spaces are proposing is more similar to an officers' mess, if people here have experienced that, than roommates, in that it's sort of like a private permanent hotel with private rooms, dining areas, kitchens, libraries, and staff waiting on you. As a young person it's a really fantastic way to live, very efficient, and it fosters comm…

I do think it has some merit; the comparison to student housing is made, but IIRC there's nothing like that once you've graduated - you're almost forced to get a house of your own, rental or bought. I can imagine for a lot of people it's not actually an improvement, especially if you can't afford a house right after you've finished school. I know where I live, in NL, there's a few scenarios. One, some people just rem…

It also used to be a very common living arrangement for single people. Boarding houses were very common until they were essentially outlawed through zoning regulations. It's a very logical way of living for people who don't have the option of sharing accommodations with family members.

Re: Silicon Valley thinks it invented roommates. They call it 'co-living'

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Post by brandelune » Sun, Nov 19, 2017, 1:04 PM UTC

humanrebar wrote: post #104

yorwba wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And there seem to be higher order effects to the success of entire communities when there are relatively fewer nuclear families in the neighborhood. Do you mean as opposed to singles or to extended families? In either case, I'd be interested in a source.

Well, there are an infinite number of lifestyles to be lived. I doubt there are good numbers on dormitory-style lifestyles, for instance. But current numbers show that married households fare well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States#P... https://www.ssa.gov/retirementpolicy/fact-sheets/marital-sta... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4240051/

Married households fare well because the tax system and plenty of other institutions favor married households. It doesn't have to the the case.

Marriage is mostly a "capital" redistribution system and with strong public services (ie shared services) there is much less need to focus on the nuclear family as a protection (sharing of ressources) network.

Ex. When a few years back pension laws changed in Japan and housewives got the right to get a pension separately from their husband, the rate of divorce boomed.

There is nothing in the nuclear family that makes in a natural fit to what humans are as social animals.