Posted on 08/22/2017 7:23:20 AM PDT by Jagermonster
High housing costs have prompted some in the middle and upper classes to rethink what they value – and be willing to give up the rest.
SEATTLE; AND LOS ANGELES — When Shawna Nelson leaves her office in Seattle’s suburbs, she does what 28-year-olds often do: dines with friends, goes out dancing, or sees a show. Sometimes she hits her swanky gym.
But at the end of the night Ms. Nelson always returns to Dora, the dusty Ford Explorer she calls home. In the back, where a row of seats should be, lies a foam mattress covered with fuzzy animal-print blankets. Nelson keeps a headlamp handy for when she wants to read before bed. Then, once she’s sure she won’t get ticketed or towed, she turns in for the night.
“I still strive to have some sort of routine,” says Nelson, who started living in her car about a year ago. “Would I rather spend $1,200 on an apartment that I’m probably not going to be at very much, or would I rather spend $1,200 a month on traveling?”
For her, it was an easy choice.
She’s not alone. As housing costs soar, US communities have faced ballooning homelessness, declining homeownership, and tensions over gentrification. But the rising expense of homes, when combined with the demographic, cultural, and technological trends of the past decade, has also prompted a more positive phenomenon: smaller, leaner living. This conscious shift, mainly among portions of the middle and upper classes, springs from a desire to live more fully with less.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
I wonder what she uses when nature calls at 2am?
Sorry, but bathroom is essential. So is heat and running water.
This doesn’t work in MN in January.
Will you be required to purchase homeowners insurance with your auto insurance? LOL! Maybe they’ll bundle it for you and give you a discount. Poor whittle snowflakes can’t seem to grow up.
They think they will be twenty-something forever. Try living like this till you’re 40, and when they are 60, they will be a huge problem for the country. Perhaps this is when Mandatory Expiration Dates will be instituted by government.
She’s 28 years old and acting like a 10 year old who’s camping out in the back yard. Shouldn’t she be married by now with her second kid on the way? Oh, that’s right! Liberal Femi-Nazis have so beaten down the male population, that there’s no one to marry and procreate with anymore!
Sounds like a really good way to become a homicide victim...or worse yet, get ‘house’ hacked.
Your car or mine?
Personally, I think there is an enormous business opportunity out there for anyone who can come up with a "life on the road" concept that can meet the needs of people like this who see home ownership as a financial disaster.
If there are any real estate developers out there reading this, please FreeMail me. I have had some ideas about this for some time, and it might be worth a conversation.
In areas where housing is unaffordable, there are better possible solutions. One is a large shed or garage converted into an apartment, maybe with its use being obscured. Another is a job situation like the House of Representatives has where they can live in their place of work.
Housing is getting tough, even for many people have paid off their mortgages. I doubt there are many months when some utility, maintenance cost or tax doesn't increase. Many people aren't far from being priced out of their own houses. There aren't many places to go that are both affordable and provide a positive environment.
Agenda 21 in full swing.
So this piece begins with a pile of horse manure.
Maybe convert old drive-ins to plug in parking stops with security and electricity for a nominal fee. I ain’t sleeping in a car when it is going down to zero.
I am fixing up our 16X20, 320 sq. ft. cabin right now for possible future rental. It has a full kitchen, bathroom with shower, no tub. A small dinner table, double bed and recliner. Would be great for one person or couple with no kids.
So this piece begins with a pile of horse manure.
Might sound cool but squeezing people with no storage, and less and less but they’re trying to glamorize sans the problems. No storage, or the woman in the car, no toilet or shower, no cooking area nor areas for again food storage or prep. And what happens when these oh so happy singles decide it’s time for a family? Slumming like that is fine and some people like it but sometimes it costs more or the same finding say a laundromat, toilet facilities, a PO box for proof you actually live somewhere.
It’s the old adage, live cheaper be happy with less but this will turn in to slums and health hazards sooner or later.
The new normal under Socialism?
"Barndominiums" became popular in my part of flyover and the county quickly moved to make living in a pole barn illegal. Of course this occurred I finished 6oo sq. ft. in mine.
How an why is this happening?
Many sections of the US are now unaffordable for working class people. Why are housing costs exploding?
A generation whose instinct to breed having been rinsed out of them will not have the accompanying nesting urge.
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