New trend: Grownups with bunk bed roommates

If you live in San Francisco or know someone who does, you’re probably aware of how high the cost of living is and how tight most of the living quarters are. I suppose if you live there and are used to it, you may be totally fine with it, but for much of the rest of the country not living in super tight quarters for an ungodly amount of money, we marvel at this story.

Adult humans are now paying rent to other adult humans to share their bunk beds in the San Francisco area. They are paying to rent out one of two beds on a bunk bed, and the other bed will not be occupied by a friend, family member or romantic partner — it will be slept on by a complete stranger.

That may not be as uncommon as we think, but you know what’s crazy? The cost of bunk bed real estate. A quick search on Craigslist SF suggests that roomies are forking over anywhere between $700 and $1900 per bunk.

This interesting rooming adventure was brought to my attention by CityLab, where Kriston Capps did some serious research on the whole bunk bed sharing situation. He found that many of the ads were from real estate companies, hostels and dorm room situations that require residents to sign an honor code pledge (which sounds super legit). A lot of the ads were also just from regular people in their 20s and 30s looking for someone to share their space and pay rent.

Many of the people choosing to go this route seem to be college students, interns or entrepreneurs just getting started at making money, and others just seem to need a place to live. After all, it’s no secret that San Francisco has a city-wide need for more housing. According to Medium, a strong theory as to why there’s such a shortage in housing is because rent ($3,000 monthly average) and home prices are so high, the city is profiting and doesn’t need to create any more housing.

So, while this is definitely a different living situation than most of us are probably used to, it seems to be a good thing that people are finding other people who don’t mind sharing their spaces. We’re all about saving money and being practical. But also about safety — so be careful out there, you guys!

Related:

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(Image via Columbia Pictures)