A Brief History of Co-Living Spaces | Hacker News Reader

A Brief History of Co-Living Spaces

citylab.com

44 pointsjseliger9 comments

Roam.co is relevant - a friend works there and the concept is simple:

'A single $ 1,600 lease that gives you month-to-month access to incredible co-living spaces and local communities around the world.'

The idea is to open co-living spaces all over the world and enable people to drift from place to place. As a digital nomad, it's attractive - just that $1600 would be far and away the most I've ever spent on a lease.

I think the main thing you are paying for in such setup would be flexibility to not have to sign leases each month, also not needing to signup for utilities and internet or not have to spend time searching for place on AirBnB (assuming you do want to "drift" like that).

Absolutely. Just that I've been renting rooms for years and the most I have yet paid while single - admittedly, I can be stingy - is 300 euros a month, in Berlin, all bills included. I've lived in 8 countries too, so this is not an isolated experience.

These co-living spaces, especially those aimed at tech workers, remind me of officers' messes in the British military and other militaries with the regimental system, where young officers live together generally until they get married. They foster a great sense of community but it can be extremely hard to switch off in them and they can also lead you to living a bit of a weird life in general.

These are still common in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Just the background of co-living spaces is different. When the Russian Revolution freed up large mansions and huge flats of the former chivalry and businessmen, these were given to the working class on the basis of co-living spaces as "communal flats". Putin was born and raised in one of those in Leningrad.

Co-op living is pretty common in certain areas. I lived in a co-op last year and it worked out pretty well. Like any living situation, it had it's pros and cons

Pros

- Low cost. Was about $500/month and that included rent, utilities, and food.

- Got a warm meal every night. Only had to cook/clean once a week.

- Community feel

Cons

- Some people were bad cooks. Others were just annoying.

- We all had our own bedrooms but the common spaces were communal. It was hard to invite friends over without feeling like I was encroaching on my housemates' space.

Overall it was a good experience. It's a great way to meet people if you are new to a city.

Few years back, did a startup based on "extreme" co-living and my experience was good, though scaling it was very hard to do. If anyone is interested in doing a co-living startup, please feel free to contact me via the comments to start.

So what's the difference between this and shared apartments?

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