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San Francisco says tiny sleeping 'pods,' which cost $700 a month and became a big hit with tech workers, are not up to code (www.businessinsider.com)
submitted 3 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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San Francisco says tiny sleeping 'pods,' which cost $700 a month and became a big hit with tech workers, are not up to code::The pods, which are 4-foot-high boxes constructed from wood and steel, made headlines after tech workers praised the spaces.

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[–] 90 points 3 years ago (21 children)

ugh, this is dysphorian THIS IS NOT FUCKING NORMAL. THIS IS LATE STAGE CAPITALISM

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  • [–] 72 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    Late stage capitalism? They were doing shit like this in the 1800s. It IS capitalism.

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  • [–] 43 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Like, seriously. It’s always been a thing.

    In the 1800s, you could rent a space on a rope overnight so that you could drape yourself over it and have a place to sleep that night that wasn’t on the freezing, urine-soaked ground.

    This has long been an issue.

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  • [+] 20 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (10 children)
    [removed by mod]
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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (9 children)

    Speaking of the relative cost of housing, you can buy an actual whole house in other parts of the USA for that much a month. That could be a 30-year mortgage payment on a 100k house.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (8 children)

    In San Francisco/Bay Area that doesn’t even cover a parking space per month.

    In the US, the average home price sold was $495k. Where can you find a $100k house that doesn’t need a tear down or complete renovation?

    source

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (7 children)

    In the rural parts of the USA they are all over the place. Here is a 5-bedroom house for $95k in Illinois: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/417-W-Illinois-St-Steeleville-IL-62288/119741473_zpid/

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    My first house was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath in rural Texas for 5k more than that. That was 14 years ago. I just looked it up and it's currently $130k. It was built in the 90s, is brick, and still looks pretty good.

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  • [+] -12 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    My guy that is a 1900 built House. That is an immediate teardown on purchase.

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  • [–] 15 points 3 years ago

    What? Just because a house is old, doesn’t mean it isn’t still habitable. If a house that old is still standing and in good condition chances are it’s built better than new builds. And by the pictures, previous owners have taken a lot of care in it and upgraded it. Sure, the cosmetics may need to change depending on your preferences, but there is nothing wrong with that house structurally.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    Ok obligatory fuck late stage capitalism. That said, hot take, this is a perfectly valid move, 700 for location and a box to sleep in is a welcome option for many renters in the city. If there are shared spaces like kitchen baths etc this works.

    If you want your own space, ok, this isn't for you, but this alleviates a ton of rental demand which could lower rents in aggregate if enough of these are built!

    The alternative is your whole paycheck goes to rent and you retire a week before death, i'd be all for this if I were single.

    Is someone making a profit? Most definitely, but I get a better option to run my career in the city, I'm down. Not only that, I hope this model picks up so more people can have the option.

    My gripe here is the city, bitching about no windows when this is a pretty tangible solution to many renter's problems. Either fix it yourself or get out the way when others are addressing it.

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  • [–] -2 points 3 years ago

    This is a dormitory with a shared living space, bathrooms and shower. If anything the “bunks” are quite generously sized.

    Take a look at your comment and ask if maybe you’re flipping out unnecessarily.

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