http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/20/co-living-companies-reinventing-roommates-open-door-common-frist part of article:
Right inside the main door at Euclid Manor, there is a pile of shoes. Their owners are scattered throughout the 6,200 sq ft house in Oakland, California. There is music coming out of the kitchen where Sarah Cabell and Kailey-Jean Clark, two of the home’s permanent residents, are preparing dinner for about 25 people, consisting of their roommates and friends.
At the first sight, Euclid Manor doesn’t look much different than any other home shared by friends. Yet, after looking closer, there are small details that stand out. On a door across from the entrance hangs a sign that reads: “Residents only”. The entrance itself has two small signs with instructions reminding everyone to lock up when they are coming and going. The reason: Euclid Manor is a communal living – or co-living – house.
The number 18 to 35 year olds living roommates had almost doubled in the last 30 years. Millennials talk to their parents about drugs, sex, housing and jobs.
The number of 18- to 35-year-olds living as roommates had almost doubled in the last 30 years. Millennials talk to their parents about drugs, sex, housing and jobs. Photograph: The Guardian
With wages stagnant and rents soaring, young people in New York, San Francisco and other hot (read expensive) cities are increasingly moving in with roommates. The number of 18- to 35-year-olds living with roommates has doubled since 1980. Young people have always needed housemates, especially when times are tough. But this time it’s different. A new generation of co-living companies are trying to make shared housing a billion-dollar business.
Euclid Manor is part of Open Door, a co-living company founded by Jay Standish, 31, and Ben Provan, 32. The pair run three co-living homes: the 5,600 sq ft Canopy, home to 12 housemates, the 6,200 sq ft Farmhouse, home to 16 people, and Euclid Manor, where they moved in back in July. Euclid Manor is currently home to eight permanent residents, which will eventually rise to 10.
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Basically these are like communalkas in old-time USSR.