I have recently started traveling and working remote at "co-living" hotels. And I must say, this is the ideal way I wish to live my life in my 20s-30s.
Community makes life fun.
Someone needs to import co-living to the US. And I don't mean these "co-living" apartment complexes that exist in our major cities. I mean like, actual communities with character and life.
there's a few cool groups working on this, specifically for academics & ambitious young people as the beginning market. https://www.livetheresidency.com/
I'm gonna be a old man shouting at the clouds. But co-living spaces work because they are generally small projects and have very driven and charismatic people leading those projects.
The moment something like that grows or scales to a tipping where real estate funds take interest then it will naturally enshitify as most things in society that have been monetized by large scale investors.
I agree with everything you said but with the risk of gate keeping I worry that the only way co-living projects will work is by having a bunch of stubborn fun people starting it off and keeping it at a non-industrial scale.
The co-living spaces in most major US cities are basically just developers trying to glamorize apartments with roomates.
Though to scale it up and minimize the enshitification, perhaps some sort of framework or guide could be created that allows smaller groups to more easily navigate the legal and financial challenges on their own.
What seems to make this so much easier in other countries are the lack of regulations.
Hostels and some Bed and Breakfasts come close to the co-living experience in the US though. And they maintain their unique charm. It's definitely possible.
Community makes life fun.
Someone needs to import co-living to the US. And I don't mean these "co-living" apartment complexes that exist in our major cities. I mean like, actual communities with character and life.