If you thought you left your dorm-living days behind, along with your frat party-going, class-skipping, beer pong-playing college career, think again. The burgeoning rent prices in some of America’s largest cities are driving young(ish) professionals (and others, too) back to their even younger days and into dormitory-style housing. As per a New York Times report, communal living is coming back in vogue — or perhaps simply back into necessity — in San Francisco, where companies like Starcity are turning large buildings into dorm rooms.
Residents won’t have access to private bathrooms, nor will they have individual kitchens or living rooms. But they may have a little bit more left in their checking account as they look to escape the steadily rising rent prices in the Bay Area. Whereas the average rent for a one-bedroom in San Francisco is $3,300 a month, Starcity rooms will only set back residents $1,400 to $2,400 a month, and will come fully furnished, along with utilities and Wi-Fi.
Starcity already has a wait list of a staggering 8,000 people, who cannot all be housed in the company’s three existing properties that have a total of only 36 units. So these 8,000 hopefuls will be vying for spots in the nine new properties currently in development.
So what exactly can residents expect from their rooms? The bedroom itself will be somewhere between 130 and 220 square feet. If you’re willing to pay toward the higher end of rent, you can also get a private bathroom. But most folks will end up sharing a bathroom with two or three other bedrooms.
But aside from simply providing residents with a place to sleep, Starcity also has community (or building) managers who will deliver care packages if you’re sick, organize a birthday party, or even help you set up premium services like laundry (which will cost you $40 a month), housekeeping (which costs $130 a week), and pet care.
And as per the New York Times, it would appear that many folks who have moved into Starcity complexes don’t really plan on moving out. “You don’t have to think up plans anymore because they kind of do it for you,” one resident noted of Starcity’s arrangements. “And now, I live with my best friends.”
