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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

When I was a twentysomething, I had roommates. This saved money on rent and bulk purchases (which let me spend more time having fun and save money) and provided a starter-kit social circle in a new city. It also honed conflict-resolution skills and ability to be civil. And when I got a partner, it made moving in together smoother.

Something I’ve noticed recently is many college graduates living alone. That’s fine. But it’s a weird default for early in one’s career. If I had one general piece of advice for anyone starting their career, it would be to seek out a living situation with roommates.

Side question: are more college students staying in solo dorms?

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There's a huge gamble with roommates that you might be stuck with someone terrible in a year (or longer) lease. Most people who can afford to live alone would prefer to have their own place. This is just a sign that people are getting richer (since this same trend is happening in all first-world countries).

> a huge gamble with roommates that you might be stuck with someone terrible in a year (or longer) lease

Life involves taking risks and measuring people. Getting stuck with a shitty roommate is pretty low stakes on that spectrum.

> just a sign that people are getting richer (since this same trend is happening in all first-world countries)

Valid hypothesis. I’d posit Covid and the increasingly prevalence of single-child households are the more-proximate cause.

You definitely havent had bad roommates if you say that.

> You definitely havent had bad roommates if you say that

I lived in New York in an illegally-subdivided loft. Yes, I’ve had bad roommates. Yes, it felt overwhelming at first. And yes, I got over it, constraining the problem where possible and addressing it directly where necessary, a suite of skills that were probably instrumental in my start-up later working.

Not accusing you of this directly, but this sounds like trying to get people to just accept lower living standards.

If living alone is "higher living standards" why are we even talking about this article?

Expect a lot more of this.

If the number of young people who can buy homes is going down and the number of young people that can afford to start families is also going down then how are people getting richer?

This is a sign of social isolation, not wealth.

People aren't getting richer in all first-world countries. In the UK the average salary is only up a few percentage points in real terms over 20 years

oh man, you just gave me a flashback to my roommates a decade ago changing my WiFi router password since they thought I was working too much. That was not my finest moment as far as practicing conflict resolution goes :)

But that’s also the point. Low risk situation to practice things that later in life become much higher risk. Better to figure out how to cohabitate with a few random roommates than a SO down the road.

Living alone is awesome, but I also had roommates while in university, and despite our differences, that was awesome too, it would have sucked to be alone.

I guess living alone can be a sound decision, but it depends on context.

Exactly. “I love those **holes” is my fond sentiment. I rarely talk to them anymore but we all still consider each other best friends for life

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