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Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

nytimes.com

11–20 of 125 posts

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#12
post #8

> to turn into dorm rooms for the middle class. let's be real here, the middle class in the bay area/SF makes $250k+ per household. there's nothing wrong with living in dorms, but there is something disturbing about calling this the 'middle class' in SF.

Agreed. Middle class shouldn't be defined by what sounds like a lot of money. It should be defined by what sort of spending power you have in the area where you actually live.

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#13
post #2

Ah,the American dream. Go through four years of college and 100k of student loans so you can live in a $2400 dorm room while barely making ends meet. I'm moving to the Bay area in a few months and these sorts of stories make me question whether it's the right move.

Save as much as possible, and get out. Getting paid a lot means you will save a lot regardless.

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#14
post #4
post #2

Ah,the American dream. Go through four years of college and 100k of student loans so you can live in a $2400 dorm room while barely making ends meet. I'm moving to the Bay area in a few months and these sorts of stories make me question whether it's the right move.

You go to SF to launch your career then GTFO ASAP to a less 'enlightened' part of the US where you don't have to worry about hyper sensitivity and your dollar actually counts for something.

How does SF compare to LA? I've only been to LA within the last few years and it was a shithole. The whole city smelled like pot 24/7. There were more homeless/destitute people there than some 3rd world countries I've visited. I don't think I'll be visiting California again any time soon, no matter what Schwarzenegger says in the commercials.

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#15
post #7

“I feel like I’m in a relationship with everyone I live with,” Ms. Ndrepepaj said. “If their day is bad, your day is bad.” Hardly a selling point. As an introvert it's just within my capabilities living with my wife and playful cat; living in such an environment would be a nightmare for me. The article fails to address the 'bad roommate' situation, which always happens sooner or later with these shared-living environ…

For the first 6 years or so after I moved to California I rented a room in a house where the owner lived (once in La Habra and once in Irvine). There were usually 4 to 5 total people living there. We were all professionals and there was pretty close to no drama.

We were friendly but not best friends. Everyone had their own circle of friends, interests, etc. At least once we had a guy we called the ghost because we almost never saw him. But no one minded that he was introverted and kept to himself.

Once I had a girlfriend privacy became more important to me but I enjoyed having some friendly interactions with others on my terms.

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#16
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You go to SF to launch your career then GTFO ASAP to a less 'enlightened' part of the US where you don't have to worry about hyper sensitivity and your dollar actually counts for something.

How does SF compare to LA? I've only been to LA within the last few years and it was a shithole. The whole city smelled like pot 24/7. There were more homeless/destitute people there than some 3rd world countries I've visited. I don't think I'll be visiting California again any time soon, no matter what Schwarzenegger says in the commercials.

I can't speak for LA, but from the people I've spoken with Seattle and -maybe- Austin have the strongest ratio of tech work vs. cost of living.

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#17
post #2

Ah,the American dream. Go through four years of college and 100k of student loans so you can live in a $2400 dorm room while barely making ends meet. I'm moving to the Bay area in a few months and these sorts of stories make me question whether it's the right move.

Accumulating 100k in student loans isn't the right move, let alone the American Dream.

The "American Dream" isn't follow an exploitive option just because it's possible.

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#18

This article says it's "an unusual experiment", but how is this different from an SRO? http://www.ccsroc.net/s-r-o-hotels-in-san-francisco/ Description from this article of the "experiment": "Shared bathrooms at the end of the hall and having no individual kitchen or living room". Description from the SRO web site link above: "A typical S.R.O. is a single eight (8) x ten (10) foot room with shared toilets and showers…

I suppose SRO's are somewhat stigmatized as being for the extremely indigent, although I think this wasn't always the case:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-sro...

Nothing wrong with them in principle (assuming they're well kept / safe). If you're single, it might be a better option than renting a random place with roommates.

Re: Dorm living for professionals comes to SF

#19
post #8

> to turn into dorm rooms for the middle class. let's be real here, the middle class in the bay area/SF makes $250k+ per household. there's nothing wrong with living in dorms, but there is something disturbing about calling this the 'middle class' in SF.

Median household income in SF is $78k.
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