Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons • Hacker News Board

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#111

Post by davidf18 » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 12:45 AM UTC

There are Orthodox Jewish families in Israel which have very few rooms for very large families. (Among the ultra-Orthodox in Israel the fertility rate is 10 children per family). Often these families have very little income which includes state support for their large families, and esp in large cities such as Jerusalem can little afford larger accommodations.

In SF, NYC (where I live) and other US localities, the issue is not family income but rather is the use of politics to limit zoning density and thus artificially creating housing scarcity.

Thus, renters pay more than they otherwise would with an efficient market and billionaire land-owners have much greater wealth than they would in an efficient market.

In NYC, we had a somewhat similar situation with Taxis. Medallions were artificially limited to 13,000 in this city of 8 million where many people do not own cars and use mass transit and taxis. As a result of this 13,000 limit, taxi medallions had a market value of $1.2 million.

Then thankfully, Uber came along, thus creating a larger supply of hail-able taxis and the taxis medallions now have a market value of $700,000 or so and some taxis are no longer in use.

In NYC, our current mayor has two properties that he rents out for a total of $120,000 per year. He is able to get this high rent because of city laws that limit zoning density. Thus, he has every incentive to want to artificially limit zoning densities.

Thus, while many liberals fret over income-inequality, they still support zoning regulations in cities such as SF and NYC that amount to a transfer of wealth from lower income individuals to wealthy individuals.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#112

Post by davidf18 » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 1:01 AM UTC

pkaye wrote: post #102

sotojuan wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who does not want to live there either, I can see why people move there. It's simply where the most opportunities are. The idea is to move there and live uncomfortably until you network your way to an awesome, high paying job. Alternatively, the tech companies there usually do more interesting stuff than in other area. Here in NYC most are related to advertising or media—stuff not easy to get exited about.…

You don't have to live in San Francisco to work there. There are plenty of people who live on the other side of the bay and commute by train. This gives you a much more affordable place to live than San Francisco.

Many professionals work long hours and thus want short commutes.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#113

Post by kqr2 » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 1:25 AM UTC

Harkins wrote: post #101

For anyone wondering how this is possible: by violating fire code. He says he, then he and his wife, then one or both of their children were sleeping in the closet. I'm not familiar with the language of the California Building Code, but in the 2014 verison, volume 1, chapter 10 gets into the limits. The closet is not a "sleeping unit": it doesn't meet the 120 sqft minimum, doesn't have a wide enough door, and doesn't…

Unfortunate reality of housing shortage in SF. Most of these things people turn a blind eye towards such as an 89 year old lady paying $700 to sleep in a closet.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/03/prop-f/

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#114

Post by hluska » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 1:25 AM UTC

astockwell wrote: post #108

hluska wrote: post #89

This is off topic, but in March 2016, I'll become a dad for the first time and I was wondering if some more experienced parents could answer a question for me. That article has a black board with a tally of diapers changed today. The count was up to thirty. Is that somewhat accurate/possible??? If so, holy shit, I'm investing in cloth....

What has worked wonders for me: when/if there's a baby shower, invite your buddies out for a "diaper party" (bowling, driving range, pub crawl, whatever) where the "price of admission" is everyone brings a box of diapers. This can save your bacon (the trove can last 6+ months), and also can provide male friends with a way to be involved/contribute, which in my experience, many appreciate.

That's a really great idea - thanks so much for sharing!

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#115

Post by hluska » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 1:27 AM UTC

ashark wrote: post #97

hluska wrote: post #89

This is off topic, but in March 2016, I'll become a dad for the first time and I was wondering if some more experienced parents could answer a question for me. That article has a black board with a tally of diapers changed today. The count was up to thirty. Is that somewhat accurate/possible??? If so, holy shit, I'm investing in cloth....

Nah, that's way high. Diaper pro tip: very young babies (first few months) require a "5-minute rule" on changing poo diapers. You see them doing it, or smell it, wait 5 minutes to change it. It's very likely it'll be a 2-stage operation, and if you change it too early you'll waste a diaper when wave 2 hits right after you're done (after if you're lucky ). They can live with it for a few minutes. Congrats, and good lu…

This is such a great answer - thanks for the advice. I'll definitely follow the 5 minute rule!! :)

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#116

Post by Camillo » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 1:52 AM UTC

What's a good way of storing clothes if you don't have a closet?

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#117

Post by jonesb6 » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 1:59 AM UTC

superuser2 wrote: post #104

alkonaut wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why aren't SF tech companies hiring more remote workers? They could pay people who work remotely a lot less, save a lot on office space etc. Tech companies are the ones that should be able to pull that off. Even if I lived in SF I'd be reluctant to commute an hour to work if I could just as well work from home.

Remote work is an excellent paradigm when you get an assignment, go work on it for a while in total independence/isolation, and then turn it in, i.e. when developer-hours are perfectly commoditized. Not every software project is like this at every part of its lifecycle. The same pitfalls that apply to outsourcing to low-cost-of-living countries should apply to hiring American remote workers: communication overhead, l…

I wouldn't forget that communication is deeply entwined with regional culture. I would argue that it is much easier to hire a remote worker from the same country then it is from a third world country (which are frequently known for remote work). Everything from time zones, work hours (say western European countries accustomed to ~5-7 actual work hours /day), laws, religion, etc.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#118

Post by bsder » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 2:10 AM UTC

eropple wrote: post #51

sotojuan wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who does not want to live there either, I can see why people move there. It's simply where the most opportunities are. The idea is to move there and live uncomfortably until you network your way to an awesome, high paying job. Alternatively, the tech companies there usually do more interesting stuff than in other area. Here in NYC most are related to advertising or media—stuff not easy to get exited about.…

Plenty of places outside of SF are doing interesting things. Boston has plenty, as does Austin.

Austin is more hype than substance. And it has gotten really expensive as well.

San Diego, for example, stomps all over Austin in terms of software jobs, and Austin's hardware scene is laughable.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#119

Post by Turing_Machine » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 2:21 AM UTC

goodJobWalrus wrote: post #86

goodJobWalrus wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't referring to rich people. They have a whole different set of requirements. Also, they typically don't have to clean their own mansion, of take care of the pesky chores around the house.

> Someone who is forced to live in a tiny apartment because they can't afford anything better isn't really making a free choice, even if they rationalize it by claiming that it is. Of course, but I wasn't referring to those people. I was talking about the people who prefer to live in apartments, like, for example, my parents who moved from a house (that was actually in a great location) to an apartment by choice (in…

You're talking about specific people (your parents). I'm talking about society as a whole. Are there people who prefer living in an apartment? Sure, but most people, regardless of "cultural conditioning", will choose a large country dwelling over a small city apartment if they have the resources to do so. This is true everywhere, in every society and culture, and across all of known history.

Re: Life in a Studio Apartment with My Wife and Two Sons

#120

Post by bgilroy26 » Sun, Nov 08, 2015, 2:25 AM UTC

astockwell wrote: post #108

hluska wrote: post #89

This is off topic, but in March 2016, I'll become a dad for the first time and I was wondering if some more experienced parents could answer a question for me. That article has a black board with a tally of diapers changed today. The count was up to thirty. Is that somewhat accurate/possible??? If so, holy shit, I'm investing in cloth....

What has worked wonders for me: when/if there's a baby shower, invite your buddies out for a "diaper party" (bowling, driving range, pub crawl, whatever) where the "price of admission" is everyone brings a box of diapers. This can save your bacon (the trove can last 6+ months), and also can provide male friends with a way to be involved/contribute, which in my experience, many appreciate.

Def doing this when one of my friends first has a kid!