2019 | Housing Alternatives for Students
Category: Sustainable Design
Industry: Sustainability
Location: International
Related to: Sustainability, Future of Design, Future of Housing, Shared Housing, Shared Economy
Researcher: Milena Correa / Parsons School of Design
About:
Across major cities in the United States, there is an unspoken housing crisis for students and working-class individuals. In areas such as these, many individuals must opt for shared living situations due to the fact that apartment costs are extremely high. Even with roommates, however, the prices are still too high. Students in these cities are often put into a predicament: either stay inexpensive, ill-kept, freedom-restricting dorms or find off-campus housing with multiple roommates and commute every day. As the price of college skyrockets, there are many instances when on-campus housing creeps towards becoming the same price as tuition. At the New School, for example, the cost of the average double dorm is $19,200, which is almost the cost of tuition for one semester.1 It is unjust that individuals who work at minimum wage are unable to afford basic housing. Even those in the middle class cannot afford a simple 2 bedroom apart in New York City, as it costs around $3800 a year; this would mean that you would have to make at least $162,000 a year to live comfortably2. Affordable housing is one of the biggest problems in the United States and has, unfortunately, has not been subject to a lot of attention from the mainstream press in recent years.
There are, however, some initiatives that aim to fix these problems. Some companies aim to create decently priced and large shareable living spaces. There has also been an influx in sustainable, off-grid style housing; this would include converting shipping crates into small studios, or modern “tiny houses”. While they are certainly not perfect solutions, they are ultimately an active step forward. There must be an affordable, comfortable, and sustainable solution in fixing the housing crisis that is affecting the members of the working class and university students.
Research
Before anything, the reason why housing has become so expensive and ineffective for the working class must be explored. The goal here is to analyze a few major cities that are the most impacted by the housing crisis. The main cities to focus on our New York City and San Francisco as, “highly unaffordable neighborhoods are most concentrated in the urban core of large metropolitan areas,” and more specifically in the western and northeastern parts of the United States. These are not the only cities affected, however, it is better to narrow the scope in order to find more specific solutions. Many times, the problem is at a regional level and is due to “local governments [breaking] their own housing markets,” with extensive land regulations.
There has also been an increase in demand for student housing accommodations. Due to this, more dormitories must be built, leading to increases in the overall prices for a room. This is also because of all the extra amenities that current students want to be incorporated into their dorms, leading massive and expensive renovation and construction projects. At the well-known Michigan State University, “university housing prices will increase by 3.5%,” which is the average price increase at many other universities as well. Off-campus housing tends to be cheaper, but in cities can be even more costly. Companies such as WeLive, PodShare, and Ollie are delving into the growing market of co-living. Co-living is a type of affordable housing in which you pay to live in a shared apartment with a variety of amenities, including “free internet, maid service, and new friends,”. These shares can be seen as temporary housing on a week-by-week basis, but some even allow to be rented out for months at a time. It essentially takes the busywork out of trying to find the right roommates or needing to calculate amenity and utility costs. Especially for students or young workers, it is helpful in new cities where one is not familiar with anyone, and it also brings along a sense of community building. PodShare has various spaces across Los Angeles with a unique open design, televisions for each person, and communal areas for its residents. According to their website, prices can start at $50-60 a night all the way to $1000-$1400 a month. This is very affordable in comparison to the average apartment rent in Los Angeles, which happens to be $2265.
At a bigger level, there are also initiatives to create actual houses for sale, known as “tiny houses”. These homes are much smaller and minimalistic in comparison to the average home, however they tend to effectively use space while also being ecologically friendly. Their small size enables many of them to be built in areas where they are needed the most. In collaboration with the U.N., Yale’s School of Architecture unveiled a project called “The Ecological Living Module”. It follows the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, “includes a kitchen, bathroom, dining area and sleeping space for four people, and it can be adapted for both domestic and commercial needs,”.
This style of home shows just what can be done with limited, sustainable resources as well as within the constraints of small spaces. There is also an interest in creating tiny homes out of recycled materials, such as shipping containers. At an average cost about $70,000 per home, and completely customizable, these homes offer strong competition in the housing market Although in cities like San Jose these are typically seen as efforts to combat homelessness problems, the methodology can also be applied towards other communities.
Applied Research/Solution
While certainly not perfect resolutions, co-living, for the time being, can provide a unique and fruitful living experience for students and young adults. It would be interesting to see studies that take place to analyze the short-term benefits of these living setups. The end goal, however, should always be to find a way to create living spaces for the individual, so that a person can have their own private space and not need to share it with others. What should be advocated are smaller spaces which in turn would be cheaper to maintain and rent out. It is certainly a sacrifice to the consumer to have a small living area, but many would prefer privacy over paying more for a few more square feet. It is recommended that a person not pay over 30% of their annual income on housing, but eventually, there must be a sort of progression into independent living.
As an overarching goal, there needs to be a housing reform with a focus on low-middle class communities. The tiny home model seems to be the perfect fit to slowly incorporate the low-middle class back into the housing market. They also work towards the conservation of the environment which is not just an added benefit, but a necessity in the 21st century as major environmental issues continue to shadow humanity. Instead of constructing townhouses and apartment buildings, the tiny homes could become the perfect balance of privacy, practicality, and ease of access. There are many spaces within cities that are not in use, such as abandoned warehouses and plots of land, that can be accommodated to create a tiny home living community. The communities would serve as sustainable models as to what the rest of the nation should try to incorporate into their lives; community living, renewable energies, and materials, as well as a concern for all social classes.
Conclusion
The widespread issue of housing affordability boils down to be an issue at a regional level. This has led to it becoming a bubbling problem that is not taken seriously as it is not affecting every single community in the United States. Now that repercussions are being faced, people and local governments are scrambling to quickly fix the problem. There are, fortunately, quite a few resolutions that companies and even the general public have taken on themselves in trying to combat unaffordable housing. Co-living is an old practice that has been modernized; it is increasingly popular amongst millennials and students who need a temporary, inviting housing space. Whether a person is transitioning into a city through a start-up job or simply can’t afford the city prices, Co-living companies try and cater to the new generation of young workers. The all-in-one price package which includes utilities and entertainment fees is very attractive as well.
Independent living would then be the next goal to strive for; it luckily comes in the form of tiny homes and communities. With organizations like the United Nations and prestigious universities such as Yale getting involved in the creation of these structures, there is a lot of promise in what can come out of these environmentally friendly homes. There is a huge online presence of tiny home builders who share their experiences and serve as mentors for those interested in creating their own. Tiny homes are the future of a sustainable housing solution.
Eventually, the practices seen within the tiny homes will be adopted at a widespread level. Rather than waiting for regional governments to come up with their own solutions and fix the housing crisis they created themselves, both private and public corporations have taken it amongst themselves to create innovative fixes to house America’s working-class citizens.
Works Cited
Elkins, Kathleen. “Here’s How Much of Your Income You Should Be Spending on Housing.” CNBC. June 06, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/how- much-of-your-income-you-should-be-spending-on-housing.html.
Gary, Jesse. “San Jose Proposes 80 ‘tiny Homes’ Be Built to Address Housing Crisis.” KTVU. December 10, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. http://www.ktvu.com/news/san-jose- proposes-80-tiny-homes-be-built-to-address-housing-crisis.
Hobbes, Michael. “America’s Housing Crisis Is A Ticking Time Bomb.” The Huffington Post. June 19, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/housing-crisis- inequality-harvard-report_us_5b27c1f1e4b056b2263c621e.
“Los Angeles, CA Rental Market Trends.” Apartments for Rent – RENTCafé. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/los-angeles/.
Murray, Cecile, and Jenny Schuetz. “Housing in the US Is Too Expensive, Too Cheap, and Just Right. It Depends on Where You Live.” Brookings.edu. June 21, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.brookings.edu/research/housing-in-the-u-s-is-too-expensive-too-cheap-and- just-right-it-depends-on-where-you-live/.
“PodShare.” Coliving Across a Shared Network. Accessed December 11, 2018. http://podshare.co/. Radka, Charlie. “UN Environment and Yale Present a Sustainable Tiny Home in NYC.” Inhabitat
Green Design Innovation Architecture Green Building. July 13, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://inhabitat.com/un-environment-and-yale-present-a-sustainable-tiny-home-in-nyc/.
Robinson, Melia. “Millennials Are Paying Thousands of Dollars a Month for Maid Service and Instant Friends in Modern ‘hacker Houses’.” Business Insider. March 08, 2017. Accessed December 10, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-co-living-2017-2.
Rockett, Darcel. “Tiny Homes and Shipping Containers: Living Large in Unique Housing.” Chicago Tribune. December 11, 2018. Accessed December 12, 2018. https://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/ct-re-alternative-home-styles-20181129- story.html.
Schuetz, Jenny. “Is the Rent “too Damn High”? Or Are Incomes Too Low?” Brookings.edu. January 02, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the- avenue/2017/12/19/is-the-rent-too-damn-high-or-are-incomes-too-low/.
The New School. “Registrar.” Parsons | Art and Design School in NYC | The New School. 2018.
Accessed December 13, 2018. https://www.newschool.edu/registrar/tuition-and-fees/.
Ung, Jenny. “Students Struggling with Rising On-campus Housing Rates.” USA Today. June 10, 2015. Accessed December 10, 2018. https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2015/06/10/students-struggling-with-rising-on-campus- housing-rates/37403483/.
Walker, Ameena. “Here’s How Much You Need to Earn to Rent a ‘modest’ Two-bedroom in NYC.” Curbed NY. July 30, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2018. https://ny.curbed.com/2018/7/30/17630428/nyc-rent-prices-two-bedroom-apartments-annual- income-needed.
