Silicon Valley geeks paying nearly £1,000 a month for BUNK BEDS in shared ‘workspaces’
HOUSING is now so expensive in Silicon Valley that tech geeks are paying $1,200 (£965) for bunk beds. The exorbitant sum doesn’t even get you a bedroom – just a mattress to kip on in a “communal home” that doubles up as a work-space. In San Francisco, the average two-bedroom rental will cost you $4,400 […]
HOUSING is now so expensive in Silicon Valley that tech geeks are paying $1,200 (£965) for bunk beds.
The exorbitant sum doesn’t even get you a bedroom – just a mattress to kip on in a “communal home” that doubles up as a work-space.
In San Francisco, the average two-bedroom rental will cost you $4,400 (£3,500) a month.
That’s just too high for wannabe Zuckerbergs just starting out in Silicon Valley – an area home to tech giants like Apple, Facebook and Google.
PodShare is trying to solve this problem by putting up spaces in beds for rent, as spotted by CNN.
Simply pay a monthly fee of nearly £1,000 and you can bag any of the 220 rents available across seven locations in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Tenants aren’t expected to pay a deposit, and can drop out at any time.
The princely sum paid monthly earns you access to a bed, a locker, access to a WiFi and the opportunity to network with fellow “pod-estrians”.
Each pod has its own shelf and a television, and your rent includes access to cereal, ramen noodles, toothpaste and toilet paper.
It might sound like a sci-fi dystopia, but residents seem to love it.
Stephen Johnson, 27, runs an advertising company for Instagram influencers and says he can afford his own place in San Fran, but doesn’t want to pay for a tiny, overpriced apartment.
“I had a micro studio that was $1,750 per month,” said Stephen, who has lived and worked in a PodShare for five months.
“It was less than 200 square feet. This is actually a luxury and costs less than the place that I lived a couple blocks down the street.
“I think anyone that’s staying in arrangements like this is just early to a new form of housing.
“There’s so many different living arrangements and I think this will just be one of the available options to everyone in the future.”
Another resident named Rayyan Zahid, 23, is a software engineer who doesn’t care about the lack of privacy.
He said he enjoys being surrounded by the “right people”, and said it eliminated the two-hour commute time from more affordable suburbs.
Zahid is also an immigrant from Pakistan, which he said made it difficult to get a traditional apartment.
“I was trying to find a place to rent,” he said.
“But I needed to have a credit score. I needed to have my tax records. Just stuff like that. If you study here, you might have some of those things.
“But if you’re immigrating, you will most definitely not have those things.”
PodShare was set up by founder Elvina Beck, 34, who also lives in one of the properties.
She said she created the spaces to help people find affordable, easy-to-access housing.
Beck also said that while early tenants in 2012 were aged 24 to 30, the typical age is now late 20s and early 30s.
But no matter your age, you still have to abide by two ground rules: lights out at 10pm, and no guests allowed.
“You can’t invite any friends over. Sorry. Just make new ones here,” said Beck.
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Bunk-beds aren’t the only wacky Silicon Valley trend: read our guide to the geeky quest for immortality.
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And Silicon Valley tech titans are now raising their kids tech-free.
Do you think these Silicon Valley techies are being royally ripped off? Let us know in the comments!
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