Nov 2017
23

Co-living: The future of Urban Housing

By Zricks.com
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Co-living: The future of Urban Housing Update

The concept of “co-living” has been described in many ways: Dorms for adults. A solution for the urban housing crisis. A remedy for lonely Millennials seeking out true connections in this all-too digitally connected universe. A new live/work alternative for remote workers and global nomads.

Co-living is a simple evolution of flat and house-sharing that has merged with the explosion of co-working spaces. It’s a form of communal living redefined for a modern, mobile, work-from-anywhere world. A hippyish idea with a professional focus for the young and ambitious.

The co-living concept isn’t new, cultures that emphasise close-knit families have been doing it for years, while many low-income families can only afford housing costs with generations of family members sharing the home. Many college students both love and loathe the dorm experience, and with Millennials flocking to urban areas with high rents in droves, communal living complete with amenities might seem like an appealing way to curb the dearth of affordable urban housing.

Co-living is about community and developing connections among those who occupy that particular co-living space. Common elements include shared kitchens, living areas, and social programming.

Essentially, it’s group living, and it’s being expressed in a multitude of variations, from purely residential constructs to much more nomadic ones. Ranging from ultra-luxury to basic budget, today’s co-living spaces are, in many ways, blurring the lines between residential and transient, social and private, hotel and home share.

 

Here are the advantages of this new way of life:

  1. The most obvious benefits of living with others are social. Whether you’re living with a handful of roommates, it’s undeniably nice to have a friendly face to come home to at the end of a long day. Meals, films, exercising – they’re all a bit more fun with other people.
  2. If you’re lucky, you’ll become fast friends with your housemates – but don’t forget, you’ll also become connected to their friends, and friends of friends. With an ever-growing social network, you’ll never have trouble meeting new people or forging useful business connections.
  3. Not only it is more enjoyable, being part of a community or simply living in a more social way is proven to make you healthier and live longer.
  4. Living in a group can be a big money-saver, allowing you to split costs for things like food, utilities, household items and utensils.
  5. Shared living provides you with more space and amenities than you would be able to afford alone. This price of rent not only gets you a suite room, but also access to facilities like a spa, gym, games room, secret garden, themed kitchens and more.
  6. With more people living in a home, it is much less likely to get broken into, providing an additional level of safety.
  7. Shared livings means more people to lighten the burden of the necessities of life, e.g. cleaning, arranging meter readings, taking the bins out.

Co-living solves many of the problems that entrepreneurs, freelancers, and remote workers face, and provides added benefits of community, space to work, and affordability. While still in its early stages, the mobile workforce is sure to propel co-living spaces to greater prominence and leave us all eager to take advantage of them.

If you are already an entrepreneur you probably have noticed that you tend to work more hours than some of your friends outside of entrepreneurship. Therefore you might sometime have experienced the desire to be social, but realistically don’t have the right hours or energy to practically plan something with friends.

Living in a co-­living space solves this problem. You find yourself with a built-in social life. If you’re tired, go in your room and lock the door. If you’re feely talkative, go knock on someone else’s door or see if someone’s up for a party, movie, talk etc.. Undoubtedly, it will only take a few minutes before you find yourself in good company.

 

Downside to Co-living

Sharing of living costs like rent or mortgage, maintenance or repairs, and groceries and household goods can result in conflicts. Taking turns in cooking is a good idea, but the disadvantage is that the differing ways of cooking and taste differences may lead to issues. The density of the community can affect the privacy of individuals. In co-living, certain rules need to be followed. There may be restrictions or stipulated times for outings, guest visits, and other such things.

Thus, co-living is about sharing resources, income, and common interests. Those who prefer the sharing of responsibilities and want greater security may choose co-living. But there are others who prefer privacy and independence and hence may not like this living style.

 

Author: Gunjan Johar

Updated: 11/23/2017 1:29:35 PM
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