The monthly rent of 8,000 yuan has become the city light of the American ant family.

The monthly rent of 8,000 yuan has become the city light of the American ant family.

5:04 AM

The monthly rent of 8,000 yuan has become the city light of the American ant family.


In San Francisco, the Tenderloin area is a wandering tramp and gang. It is necessary to play the vigilance of the live-action version of Resident Evil. But this does not prevent the Silicon Stars from finally coming here, standing in front of a four-story building in the center of the block.



Open a password lock iron door, enter the alley and then open a password lock, and then go to the "shared accommodation" PodShare on the wave of public opinion.

The United States' Co-living model has long since emerged under the pressure of house prices. However, seeing the monthly rent of up to 1,200 US dollars, the need to share the upper and lower bunks with a dozen people in the big open, the American youth with the Silicon Star people still lost the value judgment ability:

"Although according to San Francisco's standards, this is a fair price."

"But this is just a bed. How can a bed cost more than $1,000?"

PodShare founder Elvina Beck has just rented this four-story building and converted it into a “group renting house” for 17 people, all of which are shared accommodation modes of bunk beds.

She was born in the former Soviet Union in 1985 and moved to the United States in her early years. She is an actor, independent producer, and a successful entrepreneur who has drifted in Hollywood. She opened five PodShares in Los Angeles in seven years. But the first one to open in San Francisco this year boarded the major media overnight: after all, the monthly rent of a bed of $1,200 is also unbelievable in San Francisco.

In that week, attention and attacks were like storms coming to her.

On Twitter, people ridiculed her group: "Thank you for reinventing the dormitory." "This is the youth travel" "high-priced refugee shelter"...

The tenants defended her: "If it wasn't for PodShare, I couldn't afford the cost of working in the San Francisco technology industry." After all, the price of the San Francisco Youth Hostel is mostly $50 a night.

But Beck told Silicon Stars that sharing accommodation is her way of coping with the urban housing crisis – if the government can't force the landlord to sell at a lower price, then only more people can be rented to Share the cost of living in the city.

The PodShare in San Francisco is a four-story building that was built in 1900 and stretches out in San Francisco. Although Tenderloin is the cheapest rented area in downtown San Francisco, the building has been vacant for a year before Beck took over because of the tramp. Pushing forward for another six years, it was rented by a startup company as an office.

Beck isn't worried about Tenderloin's notoriety: "We have two iron gates, which are located in the city center and have food around them."

According to San Francisco regulations, only 5 people can live in this building. But Beck hopes to use this "group rent model house" to convince the government that eventually 17 people will be allowed to stay. After all, this is San Francisco, which is known as free and open.

PodShare brings together new ants in American cities: entrepreneurs in San Francisco, auditors in Hollywood, job seekers, interns, older young people with no housing for nearly 30 years, and freelancers who drift...

American new ant

I didn’t know the name, jumped on the bus, I came.

May be brave, or just crazy

"San Francisco is more expensive than in Tokyo."

Japanese engineer Shunsuke Yamada talked about the ambitions of the Silicon Star while knocking on the code: Japan has only one domestic market and I want to develop my own business, I need to be in San Francisco.

“This is the best place, so many startups, so many people who do technology.”

As an entrepreneur who is alone in the San Francisco tech world, Shunsuke is a team. He first made a restaurant query, booked a mobile app, and made a community trading platform, as well as a YouTube blogger and tech author. Shunsuke persisted in pumping the US immigration green card for years and even succeeded in “winning” last year.

As a foreigner with a monthly rental budget of only $1,000, Shunsuke and other tenants live in the bunks of PodShare.

The $1,000 rental budget is a challenge to the San Francisco Survival Extreme. Shunsuke recalls the days of looking for a room before staying at PodShare: "The last time I booked a $900 monthly stay at SOMA (San Francisco Venture Site), it was very bad, roommates were too noisy, they bothered me to work..."

But now, Shunsuke is sitting in the studio on the first floor, outside is a classic fireplace and living room. The second floor is arranged as a full-floor bunk bed, each with a TV, but without any curtains and privacy. The other three floors are not allowed to live, so three shared areas have been built, and there is a quiet rooftop.

For Shunsuke, $1,200 a month is still quite expensive, but it includes a small office and several public spaces. “I was able to concentrate on my work during the day, and the founders and other partners worked together here, and they motivated me to work harder. But like other places where I shared accommodation, the wireless network here was too bad...”

He is now the CEO of a startup company at PodShare, giving him $3,000 a month to pay for his crazy rent in San Francisco. There are also short-term interns in San Francisco, local engineers. They hate long-distance commuting, and to save money, they are willing to rent a bunk.

Tenant Zoe Bullingham even wrote an open letter to PodShare. She believes that the urban space of San Francisco and Los Angeles is always limited. Since it is impossible to limit the influx of people, nor to build tall buildings that cover the sky, Americans need to give up the American dream of two people living in three-bedroom houses. And the young people have given up on such dreams, and even more thoroughly, even privacy has given up.

The high housing prices caused by the gap between the rich and the poor have become a sharp issue. On the island of Alameda on the other side of San Francisco, there are also areas called “ghost towns” by locals. A million-dollar house was uninhabited after being bought by investors, and it turned black in the dark at night.

Young Americans returning to the city are also exacerbating the housing crisis.

The dream of the previous generation of the American middle class was that there were two dogs in a small building in the suburban town. But when their children grew up in a small town, their dreams were in the city's tall buildings with no lights, in New York, in Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Counter-urbanization is already the story of the previous generation of Americans, and the city is the glorious dream of young people.

After the United States experienced anti-urbanization and urban hollowing out, the urban areas of large cities such as San Francisco became crowded, dirty, and cars were often smashed and the crime rate soared. The tramp is camping in the park and on the street, and the air is mixed with marijuana.

But there are also young people chasing the vision and vitality in the city. It brings together a large number of companies, cutting-edge culture, the endless creativity of start-ups, and nightlife. San Francisco has a technology entrepreneurial dream, Los Angeles has a Hollywood actor dream, and American small town youth have a city dream.

Then the problem is coming, the the millennial generation who have returned to the city but has no foothold, how to be a dignified and in the big cities of the United States?

If there is a law to protect the a street full of tramps, rent control and protection of old tenants, there is no low-cost room to protect young people's dreams?

No.

In the discussion triggered by PodShare, many people shared the moment they left San Francisco.

Kristi Stark wrote: Four years ago, I left San Francisco because I had not rented a living room for $1,000 or less. House prices have been bad for 10 years.

Poverty, dreams and shared accommodation

I knocked on every door

Although the answer is always "no"

Although it is about to run out of money, there is no long thing

Grayed microphone with shining neon

Is all I need

Despite stepping into the slums in San Francisco, PodShare began with the most shining Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

In 2011, after the US subprime mortgage crisis, Beck lived in the low-income area of Los Angeles. It was dull and depressing, and she could only afford it. "But I want to live in Hollywood," she said.

Beck, like her tenant, had no partner, no career, and nothing but youth and dreams.

The film "The City of Philharmonic" begins with a song and dance on the Los Angeles Freeway, and writes stories of countless Hollywood young people. They watched movies in a dull hometown, and the world on the screen was like a call of duty. They traveled empty to the city to chase every light.

That is also Beck's story and dreams. At first, she was an actor and auditioned every day in Los Angeles. It feels great when there is a play, and it feels a mess when there is no play. Almost every day, she is asking someone to hire her to play, to play the script, and to make herself look good. Gradually, she felt that life lost her dignity.

The reality has taken off the romance of the screen world. The captains of the United States tried to seize the tourists' photos and collect a living fee on the streets of Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Beck began to change her film and television content. She succeeded, earned some money, and also had her crew.

She still can't be satisfied. "I was sitting in the room and editing the video of the superstar, but I couldn't find a sense of accomplishment. I am telling the story of the musician. This is good. But I think everyone can tell this story. I need to do something else. ""

Beck still can't afford the cost of living in Hollywood unless shared with others. To live in Hollywood, Beck decided to start a business again.

She happened to see a warehouse on Hollywood Boulevard, a property that belongs to the residential area of the the business district and can be used for work and life. She went to the city government to consult the relevant policies, and the staff told her, "It It looks like you are fine."

So Beck called the father of New Jersey: "Dad, can you help me make some bunks? There are walls on three sides, which are more solid and will not fall?"

The father listened to her entrepreneurial ideas and told her: "I will help you, but you will never succeed." Father believes that no one will give up privacy and live in this open Chase shop. From Manhattan, New York to Silicon Valley, shared living spaces are now widespread, but people can at least have their rooms or have some privacy.

When Beck saw the effect of the decoration, he almost turned his back on it: "Dad, you are right, absolutely no one will come."

But she was successful, and the booking rate quickly reached 90%. The tenant maybe because of the shame in the bag. When he graduated, he will carry a student loan of between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of yuan. He is unable to stay in the city for a long time by renting a house. PodShare can pay rent on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, without paying a deposit, without paying water grid fees, providing bed sets, and kitchens with ramen noodles, toothbrushes, toilet paper and other basic living utensils.

Beck observed that in the early years, tenants were often young people in their early twenties, and as time went by, many tenants were close to thirty.

Many young people simply want to stay in the city and enjoy everything here. But if they don't share space with others, they can't afford the city's life. WeLive offers daily and monthly rental services on Manhattan Island in New York, but the monthly fee is also over $3,000. The Youth Hostel will be driven after three weeks because they want to attract more international travelers and create a travel atmosphere.

But Beck's PodShare is different. In Los Angeles, Beck also sells a $ 15-day card. In addition to the tenant's bed, the purchaser can use everything in PodShare, such as a desk, kitchen, laundry, internet, and bathroom.

Beck found that those who bought the day card "dressed decently, squatting on the computer, you wouldn't think they could only live in their car." She guessed, "It may be that I don't want to live in the parents' house to obey the rules of the elders, or it may be stopped by my family."

Urban group renting the future

One day I will sing on the screen.

Another small-town child will also, watch in the audience.

This song will encourage him to go forward.

Urban group renting is calling for unprecedented legitimacy in the United States. Young people are striving for survival in the city, but old residents may not be willing to open their arms to share urban space.

Beck paid a fine of $800 this month. Beck recalls that when the San Francisco city government came to check, the staff was very angry. "I bet you must be full of beds everywhere."

Group rents are seen as a lack of dignity in both China and the United States. In particular, the United States has a culture of "Not in my backyard." Not only group rents, but even the construction of multi-story buildings, or the increase in building density, will be seen as affecting the quality of life of the aborigines and being resisted.

But the 3,500-square-meter, four-story building in downtown San Francisco is only allowed for five people. Beck thinks it's a pretty "Shumen".

It’s blameless that a a million-dollar empty house is vacant and the empty young people are displaced. This is a world of capital, and the philosophy is: "This is my property, you have no right to touch."

But Beck still wants to see the government and start a second PodShare in San Francisco. But she also admitted that if the city government does not allow 17 people in this building, then everyone's rent will be mentioned 3,000 dollars.

Another difficulty is that shared accommodation without privacy is not a choice that everyone can accept.

Beck is not an entrepreneur who caters to customers, it is more like building a community according to its own rules.

Beck always remembers that she came from the former Soviet Union. She also vaguely had the concept of "collectiveness" and designed a "community" according to her ideas. Everyone lives in the Datong shop, and everyone writes their name on the bed, without privacy. But in this open environment, everyone's behavior is under the eyes of roommates, but instead creates pressure to avoid unlawful behavior such as theft.

Beck wants everyone to be open to each other, open and bright, and encourage tenants to communicate with each other. She hates capsule hotels, such as Japan, which gave birth to the "social animal" culture, and thinks that it is a dystopia. Each of the capsule hotels has its cubicle, pulling up the curtains, and people quietly curled up in their bunks, separating themselves from everyone and the world.

A wanderer who used to live in a rescue station also stayed at PodShare. He found people asking each other here: How are you today? What have you done? It’s not how bad the world is, how sad life is.

Urban ants also need dignity and dreams. In the past seven years, Beck and employees have always lived in the PodShare shop, "This is my home." Young people give up space and privacy, but they can have like-minded roommates and everything in the city. On many nights, some people play guitar and sing, others scouted and beat the rhythm.

Beck hopes that PodShare will be able to expand into various international cities in the future. Her tenants can live in the most exciting cities in the world, such as San Francisco, New York, and Shanghai, and have a familiar and reliable place to stay. She believes that the concept of “the nomads in the digital age” has been formed. Young people are going to different cities to experience everything in the early 20s, 30s, and nothing, and go to the world to seek different possibilities.

But how long can people endure the limits of living with so many people?

Beck observed that tenants usually, leave after three months.

Shunsuke also set a time for himself to leave: "I came to San Francisco to build my startup, but I want to travel around the world while creating my own company. I will stay here until everything is on track. ""

Bullingham thinks so too. She can't accept long-term shared accommodation, but she wants to have this choice when she is in her early twenties. At that time, she was a poor student at the Film Academy. Because she had no money, she had to walk 6 miles a day to go to school.

Beck never sets the longest living time limit, nor does it expect people to share life here forever.

People are here, for the time being, they will move out of the day, they may find a longer-term residence in the city, and may have to leave.


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