In the days of rapidly increased population, ie unregulated immigration in the 20s, 30s and 40s, there were boardinghouses, multi-family homes (flats) and women's or men's hostels where people rented efficiency apartments that had a small kitchenette, a washstand, and a Murphy bed, showers/bathroom were communal at the end of the hall. F…
In the days of rapidly increased population, ie unregulated immigration in the 20s, 30s and 40s, there were boardinghouses, multi-family homes (flats) and women's or men's hostels where people rented efficiency apartments that had a small kitchenette, a washstand, and a Murphy bed, showers/bathroom were communal at the end of the hall. Family's often rented small apartments--2-3 bedrooms in the flats.(I live in one of those flats as a student with roommates and then later my family moved into a ground floor of one of those apartment buildings; it had 3 bedrooms, one full bath, very little closet space, an eat-in kitchen, dining room, living room and front and back porches. It is up for sale again (the building) for about $155K. I was tempted... It has renters for the first two floors but I don't really want to be a landlord. I was thinking owning one of those would be handy for when my inlaws end up needing to move near us. In that neighborhood it was not uncommon for a couple generations of family to occupy those homes.
Boarding houses are a very legitimate and useful scale of housing to have, in many places. If owners maintain well and respect their residents, they can be the absolute ideal for people in a number of phases and situations of life. We need many more options at more different scales, if the goal is to get everyone settled.
Zoned out of existence. There are rules limiting number of unrelated people living in a building. Also, parking issues for areas that are not walkable/urban.
In the days of rapidly increased population, ie unregulated immigration in the 20s, 30s and 40s, there were boardinghouses, multi-family homes (flats) and women's or men's hostels where people rented efficiency apartments that had a small kitchenette, a washstand, and a Murphy bed, showers/bathroom were communal at the end of the hall. Family's often rented small apartments--2-3 bedrooms in the flats.(I live in one of those flats as a student with roommates and then later my family moved into a ground floor of one of those apartment buildings; it had 3 bedrooms, one full bath, very little closet space, an eat-in kitchen, dining room, living room and front and back porches. It is up for sale again (the building) for about $155K. I was tempted... It has renters for the first two floors but I don't really want to be a landlord. I was thinking owning one of those would be handy for when my inlaws end up needing to move near us. In that neighborhood it was not uncommon for a couple generations of family to occupy those homes.
Boarding houses are a very legitimate and useful scale of housing to have, in many places. If owners maintain well and respect their residents, they can be the absolute ideal for people in a number of phases and situations of life. We need many more options at more different scales, if the goal is to get everyone settled.
For the millennials in the chat, who remembers all the cool and diverse characters that lived in the boardinghouse of “Hey! Arnold”?
Where did the boardinghouses all go?
(Rhetorical)
Zoned out of existence. There are rules limiting number of unrelated people living in a building. Also, parking issues for areas that are not walkable/urban.