Squeezing everyone into college-dorm-style housing would certainly reduce living costs, but people who want that can already do it. Most don’t.
You’re right that dorm-style housing is an existing option, and most people don’t want to in them for obvious reasons. However:
There isn’t going to be a one-size-fits all solution to high housing costs, but that’s okay. Housing isn’t an all or nothing problem, progress can be made on the margin. If you come up with something that gets on the front page of Hacker News and receives 500 comments saying it’s the worst idea ever, but just 50 people find it works for their unique circumstances and save $200/month over the next 3 years because of it, you’ll have made the problem $360,000 smaller.
While I would never want to live in a PodShare, hundreds of Californians seem to think paying $1200/month to sleep in an open-plan room with 20 strangers is better than their current alternatives. The fact that this is true should indicate some *very* low hanging fruit here.
Your solution is… a bunk bed with cabinets built in?
You could call it a loft bed for adults, but that doesn’t tell you why anyone would want one.
It’s not so much a loft bed as a system designed from first principles around the specific constraints of a freelancer aged 20-30 renting a small room (or half of a large one) inside a grouphouse. Considerations such as:
Privacy
Having somewhere for your clothes and suitcase
Having a secure place to store valuables and sensitive documents
Having somewhere to dry your towel
Having a romantic partner be able to stay the night
Being able to have sex without waking up the whole house
Low ceilings
Being able to have sex without one of you hitting their head on the ceiling
Not having to crouch when walking under the bed if you’re 6ft2
Having a work-space that helps you to be productive
Having no control over the location of sockets or lights
Not being able to change the landlord’s curtains
Not being able to put any holes in the wall
Being able to bring the system with you when you move and having it fit in your new room
Being able to build the system yourself
Without knowing the exact dimensions of the room beforehand
With cheap and commonly available materials
With only handyman-level skills and a few basic power tools
Being able to cut the wood and do most of the assembly outside/in a garage
Being able to get the components through a bedroom doorway
Being able to assemble them like an IKEA flatpack and have everything fit together correctly
Having it look neat and precise enough that people don’t assume you made it yourself
You’re right that dorm-style housing is an existing option, and most people don’t want to in them for obvious reasons. However:
There isn’t going to be a one-size-fits all solution to high housing costs, but that’s okay. Housing isn’t an all or nothing problem, progress can be made on the margin. If you come up with something that gets on the front page of Hacker News and receives 500 comments saying it’s the worst idea ever, but just 50 people find it works for their unique circumstances and save $200/month over the next 3 years because of it, you’ll have made the problem $360,000 smaller.
While I would never want to live in a PodShare, hundreds of Californians seem to think paying $1200/month to sleep in an open-plan room with 20 strangers is better than their current alternatives. The fact that this is true should indicate some *very* low hanging fruit here.
You could call it a loft bed for adults, but that doesn’t tell you why anyone would want one.
It’s not so much a loft bed as a system designed from first principles around the specific constraints of a freelancer aged 20-30 renting a small room (or half of a large one) inside a grouphouse. Considerations such as:
Privacy
Having somewhere for your clothes and suitcase
Having a secure place to store valuables and sensitive documents
Having somewhere to dry your towel
Having a romantic partner be able to stay the night
Being able to have sex without waking up the whole house
Low ceilings
Being able to have sex without one of you hitting their head on the ceiling
Not having to crouch when walking under the bed if you’re 6ft2
Having a work-space that helps you to be productive
Having no control over the location of sockets or lights
Not being able to change the landlord’s curtains
Not being able to put any holes in the wall
Being able to bring the system with you when you move and having it fit in your new room
Being able to build the system yourself
Without knowing the exact dimensions of the room beforehand
With cheap and commonly available materials
With only handyman-level skills and a few basic power tools
Being able to cut the wood and do most of the assembly outside/in a garage
Being able to get the components through a bedroom doorway
Being able to assemble them like an IKEA flatpack and have everything fit together correctly
Having it look neat and precise enough that people don’t assume you made it yourself