In what universe?
Not to dump on this single Gen Z-er, whose video went viral, because it seems that every generation finds the burdens of independent adult living a big splash of ice-cold water. But do you recall that it was difficult to find an entry-level job that paid enough to cover an apartment you didn't have to share with someone? Not only did I not manage to live alone for years after college, I never really did: I got by in a cheap shared commune-like house for many years, then moved out with my husband when we finally could swing a house mortgage together. That was in 1987, after I'd graduated from law school and had a solid paycheck, and he was going back to school to study engineering. We were 31 and 33 at that point.Thinking back, I can barely recall even distant acquaintances who could afford to live alone immediately after college, unless their bills were being paid by wealthy parents. I knew a handful of married couples who pulled it off quite young.I can't bring myself to be shocked that a single entry-level unskilled job won't support an independent household. I'm not even inclined to blame it on disastrous economic policies embraced by either party over the last 50 years. It's nothing but a juvenile pipedream for most people, and a strong hint that they need a better plan than to sign on at the nearest WalMart and sleepwalk through the working day.I've got a teenager working for me now, walking my excessive dog population once a day for about an hour total. At first, he was predictably clueless about the concept of wages for hire. He showed a strong tendency not to show up for a variety of lame reasons. I had a heart-to-heart with him, though, and he's settled down nicely. He lives nearby and can bicycle here. He understands that the options for paid work are harshly limited for kids living in the middle of nowhere with no driver's license. He gets on well with my dogs, shows up 7 days a week on time, says "Yes, Ma'am" while making eye contact, and is losing that dreamy "why am I here?" affect. I have some hope he'll land a real job at some point and have the personal skills to keep it.
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I lived on my own with no roommate for about six months out of my entire adult life. As soon as that lease ended I was glad to move in with someone and split rent.
There is complaint about cost of housing now, and it is justified in many ways, as less new housing than is necessary is built, and thus the price rises. Zoning, sly regulations against manufactured housing*, and infrastructure are drivers of that. But there have been other periods when it has been extremely difficult: immediately after WWII there was also a lack of housing, and the nation responded by inventing the suburb. Inthe late 70s to mid-80s there was also a disconnect between income and housing, and it was about as difficult as it is now. Around here, that pushed the creation of something like Deep Suburbs, where many of those buying cheaper land and driving secondary roads into the cities and beltways also did a lot of cutting their own firewood, developing side businesses of specialty crops, and increasingly, finding jobs that could be done at distance, like writing and music creation.
For point of comparison, Norway has similar housing issues.
*We could make the house itself more cheaply. The downsides are there, but I think may of us would sign on tp more prefabs if they were available. Young couples especially.
@AVI... we can, and do, build them cheaper now: we call them "trailers", and the people who live in them, "trailer trash".
My opinion, most of the "discussion" on housing is deliberately avoiding the point. Housing prices are downstream of multiple societal factors, which are effectively taboo to discuss. For example, if you were a long-time renter like me, you'd know immediately that you should not rent the cheapest thing available-- because your neighbors will be renting the only thing they can afford, and will be a massive headache to you (from drunken fights while you're trying to sleep, up to and including burglarizing your home when you're gone). From a county/state perspective, housing poor people means you have to deal with their sh--stuff: drinking/drug use, crime, welfare/Medicaid costs, undisciplined kids in schools, etc. etc. etc. From a multi-generational family of landlords (also me), you'll understand that landlords aren't legally permitted to "discriminate" against the "unfortunate", to the point now that we aren't legally allowed even to refuse ex-cons and sex offenders here. Sorry tenants! No, not all poor people are basket cases-- hell, I was "low income" for a depressingly long time myself, I can't look down on them. But as a landlord, about the ONLY thing I can do to keep out the problem tenants, is to use the credit score.
The general populace and the county government aren't fools. So what they can't do up front, they do from the back: many, MANY code restrictions that make the buildings MUCH more expensive, which means that landlords can't rent for what the poor people could pay, and houses are too expensive for anybody below a certain level. Then presto! The non-working poor are removed (who are the biggest problem), and the working poor shlep in from "their" areas daily and keep their messy, expensive personal lives somewhere else. If their personal sh--stuff becomes too inconvenient, they lose their jobs and disappear from the area. Homeowners have (usually) the single largest store of value in their lives, in their home, and are VERY incentivized to keep out the "trailer trash"... but the only way they can do that is support these restrictions to "preserve the nature of the neighborhood" and "limit traffic" and of course "safety".
--Janet
I've noticed that, aside from Habitat for Humanity projects, all the new construction here is for 3000 square feet or larger homes, NOT affordable by a young family unless they have a lot more resources than anyone in the Red clan ever did. "Smaller homes aren't worth it," a skilled tradesman who is a friend of the family told me. The builder doesn't make as much, so they don't build smaller homes.
Please don't get me started on retrofitting some of the new code requirements to an 80+ year old house. I will be tempted to use words our host prefers not be used in mixed, civilized company.
LittleRed1
You guys give me so much credit. I’m a biker who has been to war three times. You won’t bother me with your language. I’m just trying to keep it comfortable for everyone who might want to join in an intellectual conversation.
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