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 Seattles 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 shes sure she wont 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 Im 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.
Shes 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 ...
We have similar Histories. Bought my first house, a cute little 800 sq. ft. Cape Cod on a corner lot when I was 26. Unfortunately, it was in, ‘The People’s Republik of Madistan’ but I got out of there soon enough, LOL!
I cannot imagine what young people are going through these days. These prolonged childhoods are not benefiting anyone in the long run.
In my lifetime I started with a hand pump in the kitchen for water, a wood cook stove in the kitchen, a wood stove for heat in every room and a two seater outhouse. Not to mention working the fields with horses.
We went first to running water in the house,then complete indoor plumbing, that means a bathroom with bath tub sink and a toilet.
We next purchased a used tractor capable of pulling a single bottom 12’ plow. We retired the horses.
I went from working on the farm to a factory job then to construction and finally driving a truck long haul.
I currently enjoy my retirement in a house that has all the amenities I need. AC in summer, oil heat in winter, TWO bathrooms with toilet, sink and showers.
I have 40 gallon jugs filled with water so I can use the toilet if the electricity fails.
I keep three cases of water for drinking.
Bless your little heart.
You have the gall to tell me what I want/desire?
I think you are either educated beyond your intelligence or dumb as a box of rocks.
I leave it to you to determine which one applies.
Good day.
You may be onto something there, she IS living in her car, after all.
Don’t forget that the males who still want female attention can easily get a hookup or three for the cost of dinner if not for free. Their fathers/brothers/uncles are not allowed to legally prevent her from being the town bicycle, and shotgun weddings are right out...even getting child support if she keeps the kid instead of kills it is unlikely.
So right there goes the need to commitment in the first place either for guaranteed sex, because “you banged it, you bought it!” or her dad caught you two in the backseat. The first one alone eliminates the reason that more than a few men even bother to make themselves remotely attractive to women. If you can get laid looking like a street bum why bother with the effort?
Also heartily agree with the other Freepers who’ve noticed the little problem of what happens when she ages or gets injured/sick. You literally cannot survive on a 20-something lifestyle of 4 hours sleep, a can of beans for breakfast and shivering in a $30 jacket when it gets cold. Not any more than a jet can fly with the afterburner on all the time. Plain and simple you’re gonna need an actual shelter with a reliable food supply when you’re a frail old lady of 60 or you’re gonna die of exposure/malnutrition.
Oh yeah - not to mention that an unescorted, under 25, unarmed, attractive and obviously CLUELESS young white girl is hanging a sign on her neck saying “easy prey”. Night after night after night. I hope your life insurance is paid you Barbie doll.
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