The Center for American Progress just published an article, The New Housing Normal for Low-Income Families, that cogently makes the case for why it’s not okay for families to “double up.” The article has also been posted here. Read it for the typical social policy response to sharing housing.
According to the author the problems with [...]
Posts Tagged ‘sharing housing’
Doubling up is Bad?
How Sharing Housing is Sustainable Living
A nicely written article in a Vancouver publication called “Save the Planet, Save the Earth” describing the benefits of sharing housing. What caught my eye was the information of the ecological benefits of sharing housing.
The author, Chris Cannon, cites statistics that lead to the statement that if everyone lived in shared housing the gains in [...]
Nana Upstairs, Grandpa down the Hall
The title comes from Sharon Aystk’s excellent posting on her experience of having her in-laws live with her and her thoughtful discussion of the benefits of multi-generational households. Go and read it. Also read the comments.
What’s amazing to me is the strong negativity of some of the comments. It shows me how difficult it is [...]
Living Alone is Unhealthy
Living alone might actually be unhealthy. “Loneliness Harms Health” on the Association for PsychCentral.com summarizes the longer book, “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” by Drs. Caccioppo and Patrick.
Their basic point is that loneliness has negative physical effects on the body. These effects become more pronounced as we get older. From the [...]
Assumptions of “normal”
What do you consider normal behavior in your home? Is leaving the television on in every room simply the way you are used to living? Or is the opposite the case, where there are no media on in common rooms? Is dinner time at 5:30 or at 8? Does it matter? In the morning, is [...]
Better than a Drug
I found this quote from a NY Times article (July 16, 2008) about HomeShare. In it Kirby Dunn, director of HomeShare Vermont is quoted as saying, “When you look at the data on people living alone, they tend to die younger and be sicker. We’ve done surveys, and people say they’re happier, sleeping [...]
Nightmare Housemates
A note of warning. Though this blog is dedicated to the idea that there is a good housemate for every person and that sharing housing is a great idea, there are people who are not good housemates. Those housemates I call “nightmare” housemates, because their behavior can make home far from the haven it should [...]
Housemate advice from “Down Under”
A rather short guide to sharing housing, from other side of the world, down under.
It’s a short version of what is in my book (waiting for publication). The problem with a short version is that it offers advice, but doesn’t say how. I’ve written down quite a lot of “how,” some of which can be [...]
Can Single Parents Share Housing?
Absolutely. In addition to the other benefits of reducing housing costs, there are other advantages for two single parents sharing their home. How well it works depends of course on the adults, the children, and the space being shared.
The first advantage is that the children can play together. This of course depends on the [...]
Seniors
“We have better instincts.” That’s what my new friend Mary said to me when I was telling her about the idea that more senior citizens could be sharing housing.
That’s a hopeful idea. Seniors have spent a lifetime of living. Even if they haven’t shared their housing, they have certainly met many people through work and [...]