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(Boston Magazine)   Making $15/hour at your minimum-wage job in Boston, and want to get a 1-bedroom apartment for less than 100% of your income? Easy, just find yourself a threesome   (bostonmagazine.com) divider line
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    More: Obvious, Roommate, Minimum wage, Wage, City, Bedroom, Home improvement, Apartment, Boston's unaffordable housing costs  
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3029 clicks; posted to Main » on 09 Feb 2023 at 3:30 AM (7 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



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SpecialSnowFlake
2023-02-09 4:11:14 AM  
static1.srcdn.comView Full Size
 
rideaurocks
2023-02-09 4:14:41 AM  
How have tenements not come back with a vengeance?
 
Ketchuponsteak
2023-02-09 4:16:43 AM  
Just treat your apartment like one of those pod hotels, and share it between 10+ people. Have 3 set times per 24 hours where you're allowed to come or go, no noise or movement at any other times.

It could totally work half the people where inconsiderate morons who don't understand or respect the concept, so actually it doesn't work.

Interestingly enough though, thats how they do it at the homeless shelter here. The "tenants" only show up set times, just to sleep. And they know to not make a nuisance of themselves because doing so will have consequences. Probably also because they are tired.
 
Red Shirt Blues
2023-02-09 4:19:06 AM  

rideaurocks: How have tenements not come back with a vengeance?


There's no money in building them.
 
Red Shirt Blues
2023-02-09 4:20:58 AM  
Interesting, I graduated in 1988 from Northeastern University in Boston. Even back then you could not afford a one bedroom apartment in Boston on minimum wage. I shared a 4 bedroom apartment on Mission Hill. And that place sucked in the 1980's. I gave up trying to live there and moved to a more affordable area. I would love to live in Palos Verdes California but I can't afford to. It's all relative.
 
151 [OhFark]
2023-02-09 4:23:10 AM  
Last night boss and I were outside and he pointed at this house that's for rent for $1800, 3 bed 2 bath. Right across the street from work. I'm like holy farking shiat. "I know right, so cheap"

WHAT
 
151 [OhFark]
2023-02-09 4:25:03 AM  

151: Last night boss and I were outside and he pointed at this house that's for rent for $1800, 3 bed 2 bath. Right across the street from work. I'm like holy farking shiat. "I know right, so cheap"

WHAT


Oops forgot to include this is in the downtown area of a nowhere town in southeast Michigan. Sure you're in the middle of everything, but go a mile in any direction and you're in the middle of nowhere. 1800. farking outrageous
 
Bootleg [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-02-09 4:36:52 AM  

Ketchuponsteak: Just treat your apartment like one of those pod hotels, and share it between 10+ people. Have 3 set times per 24 hours where you're allowed to come or go, no noise or movement at any other times.

It could totally work half the people where inconsiderate morons who don't understand or respect the concept, so actually it doesn't work.

Interestingly enough though, thats how they do it at the homeless shelter here. The "tenants" only show up set times, just to sleep. And they know to not make a nuisance of themselves because doing so will have consequences. Probably also because they are tired.


You also need to convince the surrounding apartments to buy in on that plan, and good luck with that.
 
waxbeans [TotalFark]
2023-02-09 5:08:20 AM  
You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP
 
electricjebus [recently expired TotalFark]
2023-02-09 5:08:54 AM  

151: 151: Last night boss and I were outside and he pointed at this house that's for rent for $1800, 3 bed 2 bath. Right across the street from work. I'm like holy farking shiat. "I know right, so cheap"

WHAT

Oops forgot to include this is in the downtown area of a nowhere town in southeast Michigan. Sure you're in the middle of everything, but go a mile in any direction and you're in the middle of nowhere. 1800. farking outrageous


Yeah, rent has gone from bad to absolutely crazy relative to wages.  At my last job I had a younger worker who was clearly down, I talked to her for a bit, her home life situation had gotten to the point to where she had to move out but couldn't afford any apartments.  I started helping her look and holy shiat, even in rural Missouri, in a rough town, everything was more than I'm paying on my mortgage in a good neighborhood in St. Louis!

This wasn't even an entry level worker, she'd already been promoted and the pay went up substantially during the pandemic and labor shortage.

Long story short, housing has gotten outrageous.
 
electricjebus [recently expired TotalFark]
2023-02-09 5:10:20 AM  

waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP


From having been on fark for quite a while I don't get the feeling that many people here need to be told to stop voting for Republicans...
 
waxbeans [TotalFark]
2023-02-09 5:15:14 AM  

electricjebus: waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP

From having been on fark for quite a while I don't get the feeling that many people here need to be told to stop voting for Republicans...


Well something needs to happen.  Because we're headed to a forth of us being homeless.  And if that makes crime worse.  I don't want to hear people cry about it.
 
electricjebus [recently expired TotalFark]
2023-02-09 5:20:01 AM  

waxbeans: electricjebus: waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP

From having been on fark for quite a while I don't get the feeling that many people here need to be told to stop voting for Republicans...

Well something needs to happen.  Because we're headed to a forth of us being homeless.  And if that makes crime worse.  I don't want to hear people cry about it.


I think we're pretty much down to the torches and pitch-forks option... who am I kidding, this is America, we have rifles.
 
sleze
2023-02-09 5:47:10 AM  
I don't know.  I had roommates multiple times in my life(1990s-2000s) when I made well above minimum wage and lived in th suburbs.  This may not be right but it is certainly not new.
 
alex10294
2023-02-09 5:50:39 AM  

waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP


You know, the people of Massachusetts should stop voting for Republicans all the time.  The 25 Republican representatives are always getting in the way of the 134 Democrats raising the minimum wage ever since Opposite Day in 1980 never ended.
 
electricjebus [recently expired TotalFark]
2023-02-09 5:53:35 AM  

alex10294: waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP

You know, the people of Massachusetts should stop voting for Republicans all the time.  The 25 Republican representatives are always getting in the way of the 134 Democrats raising the minimum wage ever since Opposite Day in 1980 never ended.


Lol, good point, didn't even think about that.
 
Nimbull
2023-02-09 6:26:55 AM  
At some point people are going to be so desperate they just won't give a fark anymore and it won't be a bunch of idiots going after Congress like on January 6th but tons of people going after the McMansions and the people in them with nothing to lose. Those that buy Congress will be on the menu at that point.
 
OldRod [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-02-09 6:33:01 AM  
Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Stud Gerbil
2023-02-09 6:33:39 AM  
Prius living gets a bad rep.   You got enough room, cooling and heat without using a lot of fuel thanks to the hybrid engine.   Gym membership is cheap and you can work out and shower any time you want.   Maybe get a small storage unit for your stuff.   PO Box, or borrow someone's home address for packages.   Truck drivers have been doing this for ages, living in their offices.

Or you could, you know, live in an affordable place.   But a lot of people would rather live in an exciting place and make do with their quarters.
 
freakdiablo [TotalFark]
2023-02-09 6:42:40 AM  

Stud Gerbil: Prius living gets a bad rep.   You got enough room, cooling and heat without using a lot of fuel thanks to the hybrid engine.   Gym membership is cheap and you can work out and shower any time you want.   Maybe get a small storage unit for your stuff.   PO Box, or borrow someone's home address for packages.   Truck drivers have been doing this for ages, living in their offices.

Or you could, you know, live in an affordable place.   But a lot of people would rather live in an exciting place and make do with their quarters.


Living out of my car or dealing with a 2 hour round trip daily commute isn't the positive argument you're making it out to be.
 
strife
2023-02-09 6:47:52 AM  
Oldie but goodie from The Onion: Apartment Broker Recommends Brooklyn Residents Spend No More Than 150% Of Income On Rent
 
AdmirableSnackbar [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-02-09 6:55:01 AM  

electricjebus: waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP

From having been on fark for quite a while I don't get the feeling that many people here need to be told to stop voting for Republicans...


And the problem in Boston has absolutely nothing to do with people voting for Republicans.
 
jiggitysmith
2023-02-09 6:55:15 AM  

Stud Gerbil: Prius living gets a bad rep.   You got enough room, cooling and heat without using a lot of fuel thanks to the hybrid engine.   Gym membership is cheap and you can work out and shower any time you want.   Maybe get a small storage unit for your stuff.   PO Box, or borrow someone's home address for packages.   Truck drivers have been doing this for ages, living in their offices.

Or you could, you know, live in an affordable place.   But a lot of people would rather live in an exciting place and make do with their quarters.


Look, not everyone can make do in a gerbil cage, even if it does include exercise equipment.
 
squidloe
2023-02-09 7:10:01 AM  

waxbeans: electricjebus: waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP

From having been on fark for quite a while I don't get the feeling that many people here need to be told to stop voting for Republicans...

Well something needs to happen.  Because we're headed to a forth of us being homeless.  And if that makes crime worse.  I don't want to hear people cry about it.


You're right, as usual, Waxy. Something definitely needs to be done about the stranglehold the Rethuglicans have on Massachusetts. It's been going on for far too long.
 
Nimbull
2023-02-09 7:15:40 AM  

OldRod: [Fark user image 455x373]


OldRod: [Fark user image 455x373]


i.imgflip.comView Full Size
 
TTFK
2023-02-09 7:21:05 AM  

waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP


News Flash:  MA, especially Boston, has been a DEMOCRAT-run fiefdom for over a century.
 
Unsung_Hero
2023-02-09 7:24:56 AM  

Stud Gerbil: Truck drivers have been doing this for ages, living in their offices.


I bet you could make a decent apartment out of a 44' trailer pulled by an electric semi.
 
Northern
2023-02-09 7:25:30 AM  

waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP


MA is a blue state, and former gov Charlie Baker worked on a program to build affordable housing near major MBTA commuter train stations.
One major problem is the cost of health care, and the downstream costs of public education.  Communities can't afford to allow large amounts of family housing to be built.  That would trigger insanely expensive new school construction and the hiring of teachers and staff.  This would in turn increase property taxes substantially.
But remember, single payer is communism and tyranny.
 
deadsanta
2023-02-09 7:25:58 AM  
Boston real estate is especially brutal, city keeps approving these luxury apartments on the advice of developers who insist that 10000 new high-end condos will really relieve pressure on the 100000 unhoused/impoverished residents.  The math says we need thousands of affordables, not hundreds of luxury, but the various local governments right up to the mayoral office can't get themselves off the REIT tit to make the necessary changes.

It doesn't help that every 3000 sq ft single-douche unit you build comes with an additional 3000 sq ft of gym, salon, lobby, lawn, courtyard, and solarium.  But no parking.
 
Unsung_Hero
2023-02-09 7:32:23 AM  

deadsanta: It doesn't help that every 3000 sq ft single-douche unit you build comes with an additional 3000 sq ft of gym, salon, lobby, lawn, courtyard, and solarium. But no parking.


Yeah... building standards in a society where you're effectively handicapped if you don't have a car should require a parking space per (adult) person.  It's bad enough when a condo is large enough to be intended for two people and only has one parking space, but when it's a two-bedroom and still only comes with one spot?  That should never have been given a build permit.
 
AdmirableSnackbar [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-02-09 7:32:36 AM  

deadsanta: Boston real estate is especially brutal, city keeps approving these luxury apartments on the advice of developers who insist that 10000 new high-end condos will really relieve pressure on the 100000 unhoused/impoverished residents.  The math says we need thousands of affordables, not hundreds of luxury, but the various local governments right up to the mayoral office can't get themselves off the REIT tit to make the necessary changes.

It doesn't help that every 3000 sq ft single-douche unit you build comes with an additional 3000 sq ft of gym, salon, lobby, lawn, courtyard, and solarium.  But no parking.


And what ends up happening is that other landlords raise their rent as well, because the market has shifted and they, as I've heard firsthand, "need to increase their own rent in order to keep up."

I like the new mayor Michelle Wu, voted for her on my way out of the city, I think she's perhaps the best mayor in the country and it'll take time for the city to reap the benefits of what she's doing. She's unapologetic about what she's trying to do and isn't backing down in the face of criticism from the old conservatives who just don't want change even if it's for the better. More Democrats should try to lead like Wu is doing. New York could certainly use it.
 
Heraclitus
2023-02-09 7:34:34 AM  
"Threes Company" and "Friends" were this generations indoctrination into the gig economy. You may never have a place of your own. You may never have a family. But look at all the fun you'll have! You can join together and help out your friends at home. But never at work. Never one word about unions.
 
Clash City Farker
2023-02-09 7:44:04 AM  

deadsanta: Boston real estate is especially brutal, city keeps approving these luxury apartments on the advice of developers who insist that 10000 new high-end condos will really relieve pressure on the 100000 unhoused/impoverished residents.  The math says we need thousands of affordables, not hundreds of luxury, but the various local governments right up to the mayoral office can't get themselves off the REIT tit to make the necessary changes.

It doesn't help that every 3000 sq ft single-douche unit you build comes with an additional 3000 sq ft of gym, salon, lobby, lawn, courtyard, and solarium.  But no parking.


Do you know that there is a finder's fee equal to one months rent on appartments in Boston?

Also, you dont need a car in Boston.
 
Fear the Clam
2023-02-09 7:46:43 AM  

deadsanta: It doesn't help that every 3000 sq ft single-douche unit you build comes with an additional 3000 sq ft of gym, salon, lobby, lawn, courtyard, and solarium.  But no parking.


Damn us for trying to make Boston less of a car-oriented city.

Boston is in a weird place with cars. NYC assumes that nobody has a car (or even knows how to drive) so everything is available on public transportation. Boston is a walkable city, with okay public transportation (until midnight), but is full of yahoos who live out in the 'burbs, so people say things are in Boston even though they're out in some office park two miles from the nearest commuter rail that runs once an hour.

/About to move to a place with a parking spot, which I intend to rent.
//Ooooh, look at me, passive income.
///I'm all FIRElike.
 
Someone Else's Alt [TotalFark]
2023-02-09 7:50:18 AM  
Hey what happens when development committees allow wealthy corporations buy up trailer parks, tenements, empty lots, parking lots, parks and build nothing but luxury condos and mcmansions?

What happens when counties and cities allow 30% of their housing stock to be used for hotels via mobile apps?

What happens when corporations buy up tens of thousands of homes site unseen just to sit on them for a year to flip for 15% profit?

What happens when regulators allow foreign corporate ownership of US housing?

What happens when banks are allowed to use home mortgages as investment vehicles?

etc etc etc

All of these issues have easy fixes, just takes people who care more about building communities than wealth.
 
NewportBarGuy [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-02-09 7:53:18 AM  
It's kind of insane how quickly Boston went from having a TON of affordable housing 20 years ago, to ZERO today.

The role of government is supposed to provide at least something for the people, but they are so invested in property taxes and "investment" they give zero f*cks about people being afford to live where they work.

So you've got people driving in from Fall River and places like that.
 
Broktun
2023-02-09 8:00:26 AM  
My 26 year old daughter was making $60k a year living in Bethesda, outside of DC.  She was living in subsidized housing @ $1,900 a month for a 1 bedroom.
Now she makes $68k, and is getting kicked from subsidized housing and her new apartment is going to be $2,800 a month.
Yeah, I know if she moved away from Montgomery County, she could spend $500 less, but then the commute would suck.

My mortgage plus escrow for the house she grew up in is $1,600, but it is in a less desirable part of Maryland.
 
Koodz
2023-02-09 8:14:57 AM  
If these were coal miners instead of urban minimum wage workers, Fark would tell them to move somewhere cheaper or learn to code.
 
Catsaregreen
2023-02-09 8:15:25 AM  

OldRod: [Fark user image 455x373]


Came here to mention this. Leaving satisfied.
 
Jairzinho
2023-02-09 8:17:34 AM  

TTFK: waxbeans: You do know that enough people let this happen that it doesn't matter?

This will not stop and will only get worse until we collectively make it stop.

Step one stop voting GOP

News Flash:  MA, especially Boston, has been a DEMOCRAT-run fiefdom for over a century.


And yet MA keep voting R for governorship most of the time the last few decades at least. See Mittens.
 
sinko swimo
2023-02-09 8:17:39 AM  
over 50 years ago a NJ school teacher told me that due to inflation the day would come when strangers would have to live together, cigarettes would be $10 a pack and six packs would cost $15. I didn't believe it then and know that it's here I still can't believe it.
 
bostonguy [TotalFark]
2023-02-09 8:21:26 AM  
Just once.
 
Merltech
2023-02-09 8:24:03 AM  
So if they would raise the minimal wage to 45 dollars an hour, this wouldn't solve anything.
Because the slumlords would just raise the rent to 3x the amount it was before.
 
The Dog Ate My Homework
2023-02-09 8:27:16 AM  

Red Shirt Blues: Interesting, I graduated in 1988 from Northeastern University in Boston. Even back then you could not afford a one bedroom apartment in Boston on minimum wage. I shared a 4 bedroom apartment on Mission Hill. And that place sucked in the 1980's. I gave up trying to live there and moved to a more affordable area. I would love to live in Palos Verdes California but I can't afford to. It's all relative.


Yep. I lived in Boston from 1989 to 1990, and even three or four roommates crammed into a little place could barely pay the rent.
 
MythDragon
2023-02-09 8:31:20 AM  

Red Shirt Blues: rideaurocks: How have tenements not come back with a vengeance?

There's no money in building them.


But we do need more million dollar homes that sit empty for years.  Can we please keep building those?
 
MythDragon
2023-02-09 8:37:43 AM  
Guy I work with comes in at at 11 and works until 6, then has 30 minutes to get across town (so no time to get food along the way)  to work at Amazon from 6:30-3am gets home by 3:30, catches up  on the things he needs to do, in bed by 5am, and up at 10am to get back to work.

I don't know how he does it. I sure as hell couldn't.
 
FunkyBlue
2023-02-09 8:42:12 AM  
There was a discussion in a local Facebook group I'm in where the cost of rising rent was brought up. One woman who said she had 4 rental units told us that due to her rising costs, she had to raise rent 40% When confronted with the usual "WTH" comments, she defended herself by saying she's legally allowed to ask market value for her properties. Ok, fine. The market is obviously on a bubble and you want to ride it before it pops. 'Murica.

However... A few posts below, the same woman is talking about how blessed she was to have her rental units because they are paying for her family vacation to Italy in the fall. I guess "European family vacations" fall under "rental management costs" now.

I can't fathom how the pitchforks haven't come out yet.
 
jakedata [TotalFark]
2023-02-09 8:51:17 AM  
Massachusetts in general and Boston in particular are great places to live despite the numerous faults and shortcomings. Housing is priced accordingly, that is what the market will bear.

We can and should do better, but more affordable housing will do little to alleviate the crunch. It will all fill up and we will gain just as many or more marginalized people barely hanging on around the edges.

The real cure is to turn Boston back into a dystopian hellscape so people leave voluntarily. Make it more like Worcester and rents will go down.
 
Perlin Noise
2023-02-09 8:57:59 AM  
I know this is oversimplifying things, but if you only have a minimum wage job, just live somewhere else. I'm certain you can find a rural community where you would only need two jobs to pay the rent.
 
TheGreatGazoo
2023-02-09 8:59:24 AM  

rideaurocks: How have tenements not come back with a vengeance?


They kind of have with people packing people into houses.

Part of the issue with housing costs is that a lot of zoning ordinances have minimum square footage requirements for units.  There's nothing for long term renting allowed between a tent on the street and a 800 square foot apartment.

If they allowed 300 square foot crash pads that had room for a twin or double bed, a small kitchen, and a basic bathroom, they could be built economically and rented out affordably assuming the city didn't tax them to death (About 1/3rd of rent in NYC goes to pay property taxes).  I've stayed in something like that on vacation and I could live there if I didn't have as much stuff as I own.

That said, dealing with some of the people who'd live there is challenging.  I had an uncle who worked security at Pruitt Igoe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruitt%E2%80%93Igoe ) in St. Louis, which had a million problems from day one, with things like highly racist policies.  You couldn't walk near the buildings because some of the tenants loved throwing trash out the window, including such things as oven doors.  There are certainly lessons to be learned, particularly not forcing families to break up (they had rules where fathers weren't allowed to live with the family if they were on government assistance.  They had to sneak in even to visit.).

Similar housing works elsewhere in places like Paris and Hong Kong.  In Paris they have small apartments where the bathroom is down the hallway, similar to how older college dorms are in the US.
 
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