A key difference: I don't think it was as common to be "co-living" with complete strangers (though maybe I'm wrong on that).
Sharing a room with someone you're pretty familiar with is a much different experience.
Sharing a room with someone you're pretty familiar with is a much different experience.
I meant more that I don't think that type of situation was common throughout history, more-so just for that time period for a certain group of people.
My impression is more that while families and groups of families might have cohabitated for long periods of time, it was a bit more rare for complete strangers to do so.