[quote=EconProf]We are likely to see a lot more roomate situations due to a confluence of events:
1. Ongoing recession
2. Overproduction of McMansions during the boom
3. Rising rents even as apt. construction is way down
Builders are already scaling back new house sizes as they try to match the new austerity tastes of today’s homebuyers. Could the next response be houses with one first floor bedroom with its own entrance and large and private bathroom? This would enable the “roomate” and homeowner to have privacy and not even interact with each other, especially if the bedroom had a bar (wink, wink, kitchenette).[/quote]
I don’t know why this isn’t mandated as “affordable housing” in new developments. It’s more practical for most families to have their grown kids or elderly parents live near home than it is to have them far away in some apartment or nursing home. This way, instead of clustering apartments that meet the “affordable housing” requirements — often leading to congested areas with higher crime, etc. — the renters can be spread out where the landlords would be more inclined to maintain the properties better (because they live next door), and they can help friends or family members who need an affordable place to live. It would greatly reduce the creation of new “slums.”
