What are the reasons why many (adult) americans have roommates (housemates)?
Posted by pirapataue@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 109 comments
I'm from Bangkok. Adult roommates don't exist, only in universities. If budget is tight, people just get small condos (<300 sqft) rather than sharing a larger space. The prices are also expensive for locals but nobody gets a housemate, so costs alone don't explain the difference.
I have some theories:
- Eating street food can be cheaper than cooking.
- Thai cuisine does not use an oven. Just a small pan and a portable electric stove is enough.
- Third-place culture is very developed in Bangkok and you can treat your apartment just as a place to shower and sleep. You can stay inside malls all day, work in starbucks, get food, go to the gym, socialize.
- Weather is hot year-round, no need for a large closet with thick clothes.
Cocacola_Desierto@reddit
A 1 bedroom in bangkok is $500 USD.
A 1 bedroom in san fran is $3000 USD.
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
Income is also wildly different in the SF and BKK.
But Bangkok people would not willingly live with a housemate even if they are poor.
I'm trying to understand why there's such a big difference.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
Because different countries have different cultures
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
Ok then it seems to be about culture rather just costs alone? Everyone always say it’s because of the cost.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
For most people, if they could afford it they wouldn’t have a roommate, but they can’t so they do.
Our culture isn’t telling people to have roommates, our culture just doesn’t treat it as some sort of failing or whatever.
Why don’t people in your country have roommates? What does your culture say about having them?
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
Here people just move to worse locations or choose an even smaller room, or move back to their parents. Roommates don’t really exist as a societal concept.
Equivalent-Speed-631@reddit
A lot of adults here live with their parents. One problem with this, is some parents can’t treat their adult children like adults and give them the freedom adults should have. On the other hand, you have some adult children that to be treated like adults but want to be taken care of like children.
I’d say one of the biggest, if not the biggest issue, that exists when adult children live with their parents is, sex and allowing boy/girl friends to stay over. Probably followed by adult children not paying anything towards living expenses but working and not saving money for the future.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
And here people choose better living conditions with an additional person
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
Yup. It’s a chicken-or-egg question. I was just curious whether there are regulatory reasons or is it more of a cultural/market reason, why there aren’t more tiny apartments. Are they not authorized to be built, or are they just not the norm, and people would rather share larger spaces to split the cost?
I was curious why the strategy is different in each country, it seems to boil down to the local culture and history of how each society adapts to higher housing costs.
Important_Canary6766@reddit
Americans typically don't want to live in a tiny apartment, it has nothing to do with regulations. We are all about lots of space, big kitchens, big appliances, washer and dryer in the home, lots of storage, access to amenities etc. I personally would HATE living with a roommate as I'm very private and am fine being alone, but a lot of people enjoy living with others and it affords them the opportunity to live in a home or apartment with more space AND to share living costs. Most of the time the roomie situation is when people are younger and are trying to save up for a home of their own or are waiting for a relationship when they'd then move in with that person. However, in some areas housing is just insanely expensive and the only way anyone can afford even a modest apartment is to share. We do not view it as shameful to have a roommate at all! It might surprise you to know that it's also very common for people to have a single family home and STILL rent out part of it to help pay their mortgage; it's typically a separate part of the home with a private entrance, like a basement or apartment over a garage.
Outlaw_Josie_Snails@reddit
Why is it hard for you to grasp that different countries have different societal views about "roommates"?
The United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have a roommate culture (flatmate (for apartments) or "housemate" (for houses).
Canada has roommates.
In Germany, they have "Wohngemeinschaft" (living community), a staple of German life. It’s not just for students; there are Berufstätigen-WGs (working professional shares) and even Senioren-WGs (elderly shares).
Spain has shared flates.
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
No it’s not hard, that’s my question. People get a bit hostile online lol.
xcalibar0@reddit
They literally answered why multiple times lmao
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
Yes some answers are great!
Cocacola_Desierto@reddit
They would if they had literally no option otherwise. It isn't willingly; they do it out of necessity, not because they want to.
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
Yes actually that’s what I’m curious about. Here there’s always an option to move to a worse location or an even smaller place. But it doesn’t seem practical in the US?
Cocacola_Desierto@reddit
There is an option. But it isn't "moving just outside of bangkok" it's "moving to a shithole you don't want to live in with a 30 hour drive from your family and friends to a place that doesn't have job prospects". Driving from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is the same as someone driving from California to California.
Bangkok is what, 25% of the entire country?
NY, SF, and LA are 5% combined of the US. The income is wildly different here, too.
So yeah, it isn't practical.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
None of your theories have anything to do with America.
The answer is usually money and second is sometimes friends just want to live together.
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
Yes I don't know about the US so I'm explaining some reasons why it's possible here.
I'm asking because most of my friends living in the US always talk about roommates like it's very normal over there, and most explanations I've seen just say it's because of high housing prices, doesn't seem to cut it because people here also struggle with rent but would never willingly live with a roommate. Is it because of building codes? Are smaller units rare? Is it because of cultural expectation or is it just not practical to live small?
People often compare rent prices in the US and here, but income is also wildly different.
Equivalent-Speed-631@reddit
It’s the expense. A lot of younger adults can’t afford to live on their own. They are still living at home or move out and live with roommates.
I just searched and most of the small studio apartments (400-900 sqft) in my area are $1,000 - $1,400 a month.
There are these brand new apartments in our area, ranging 1-4 bedrooms. The 4 bedroom apartments each have their own bathroom (around 1,500 sqft). They have a fitness center, a pool and a bunch of other amenities. $3,900 a month for the 4 bedroom but that comes out to $975 per roommate per month. Cheaper and nicer than the small studio apartments.
beenoc@reddit
Something to keep in mind is that almost every college in the US has students share rooms if you live on campus (which is required for at least one year by many colleges.) This means that almost every American with a college degree has experience with roommates, so it's not as unusual or alien.
Mattp55@reddit
There are not as many tiny housing options in the US. So you literally HAVE to get a roommate. Which is why it’s so normalized & has been for a long time, because we never really had the widespread option of a micro apartment
shelwood46@reddit
And we also have a culture of adults moving out of their parents' house long before getting married.
TechnicalBattle950@reddit
It is mostly related to cost though. People making minimum wage or near it definitely need roommates in West Coast cities. My area min wage is $16.80/hr, which is $1,344 (before tax) every 2 weeks if you work 40 hrs/wk. Most will struggle to find anything average with one pay check. About $2k for an average studio; which accounting for taxes is almost all of the monthly income. There are some decent deals that exist through networking but you're going to pay $1k to 1.5k. Any less than that and you're renting a room or garage at someone's house. Though its possible a garage or basement could have some separation from the landlord or roommates.
Throw in the cost of a car, insurance, health care, food, etc. The money is gone. If they want to spend money on luxuries or hobbies then they have to make some sacrifices to mandatory things like car insurance, health insurance, vehicle registration, etc. These people resort to taking different paths to try to get out of this.
I know many parts of the south and Midwest can be a lot cheaper...but the salaries are lower too. I'll let someone else from those regions speak on that.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
The answer is money, that’s it. People can’t afford a space without someone else covering part of the rent. Small apartments exist but people still can’t afford them on their own.
Poor people in your country refusing to have a roommate does not magically mean money is not the reason people in our country do have roommates. We have different economies and cultures, whatever is the norm in one does not have a bearing on the norm in the other.
As for why it’s normal in our culture, none of us can really answer that as that’s just how it’s always been, but it probably stems from people moving large distances for jobs or education and renting hotel rooms or spare rooms in a house until they either went back home or they could afford a place on your own. Why don’t people have roommates in your country?
atomfullerene@reddit
Actually I strongly suspect they are entirely right about why the US housing market mostly avoids housing without kitchens.
JimmyJackJericho@reddit
I don't think you can legally have a house without a kitchen
MuppetManiac@reddit
Because they can’t afford even a small apartment.
In my town a two bedroom apartment cost the exact same as a one bedroom apartment. So to live alone you basically have to pay double.
Apartments that are less than 300 square feet simply don’t exist here.
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
My question is why dont small apartments exist? Building codes?
Equivalent-Speed-631@reddit
They do exist but they are still expensive. I just did a quick search for my area and the majority of small studio apartments are over $1,000 a month.
cleverburrito@reddit
They do. They’re just still expensive
94grampaw@reddit
Not really, at least not in real numbers, out side of a few cities, sub 600sqft apartments are very rare
Boopa0011@reddit
My small city (which was an inexpensive place 10 years ago) recently had a new apartment building get built, with small/tiny apartments.
They are ..... not cheap.
kmoonster@reddit
Small apartments do exist, but they are very limited in their locations within a town or city. And the number that exist are quite small compared to the available land area.
There was a trend in the mid-1900s to completely separate residential development from all other land uses. No one wants to live next to a factory, obviously, but the trend went fully the other direction to where most residential land is isolated away from any commercial, business, restaurant, etc. type use. And most of the time, no paths or sidewalks connect the two (or those do exist but are barely practical, and/or are dangerous).
And most of that land is single-family detached homes, meaning that if you are renting then there is a good chance that you live in a rental house (not an apartment) and will likely have either several roommates in the same house, or the house will be divided into just one or two units that share a common room and/or patio space.
The combined effect of these things means that most people can't simply go downstairs from their apartment and get a meal from a street vendor. They have to risk a mid-length walk, or they have to drive somewhere. Most of the time they then have to go inside to get a meal. That, or they use a delivery service. And even if you drive to where there is a street vendor, you have to park and walk over to the vendor's cart/truck.
It is not great, but it is normal and most people don't even realize there are other ways that the neighborhood could have been laid-out. Or rather, they are aware other solutions exist but there is no good way to envision those sorts of changes made to your particular neighborhood.
MuppetManiac@reddit
They’re not as profitable.
Talshan@reddit
They do exist in some places but they are rare. A 300sq foot place cost almost as much as a 500sq foot place. You are correct that codes have some effect in places.
stringstringing@reddit
Even small apartments are too expensive. Also it’s just more profitable to cater to higher class of people so housing for lower income people is rarely constructed. It’s a consequence of late stage capitalism.
iuabv@reddit
Building codes are a factor. You can have studios but there are rules about having a window, minimum space, fire exits, etc.
Separately, some communities limit the building of such units so in some places a single room in a 3-bed house is more plentiful than studio apartments. In my community, a single room is 1000-1500, while a studio apartment would be closer to 2500/month minimum.
shelwood46@reddit
I am currently laughing at this from my studio apt in PA that is 200 sq ft. There aren't common, and even single people usually want a one bedroom (having lived in a studio for 10 years, having your kitchen in your bedroom does suck sometimes), so they are rare but not non-existent. You almost never find them in apartment complexes or new-builds.
Harbinger_Kyleran@reddit
200 sq feet is my master bedroom, w/o the baths and closets. 😉
YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO@reddit
I could buy a house if I saved the money for the rent in my town for a year or 2, and I'm in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest.
Stefferdiddle@reddit
Except NYC. And a lot of those micro apartments are illegal.
Any-Tomorrow-194@reddit
another person to split rent with.
PaycheckWizard@reddit
This is a worldwide crisis, maybe lack of financial literacy in some cases. Depends on a state and prices there as well!
Gold_Telephone_7192@reddit
All of your points are missing the biggest point: cultural differences. Having a roommate is considered normal in America. Many people live with roommates even when they could afford to live alone, they’d rather live with friends. Most Americans go to college, and most people who go to college have roommates. So it’s something they’re used to and they often continue into their 20s or even early 30s.
AlrightyAlready@reddit
This is a side point, but I don't think most Americans go to college. Only about a quarter of adults have a bachelor's degree.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
About 62% of high school graduates immediately enroll in college. Going to college doesn’t necessarily mean you graduated, and you can also graduate with an associate degree.
AlrightyAlready@reddit
OK, I stand corrected. I am from a time when maybe half started college.
Certain-Ad8288@reddit
Going to butt in here and say that I think you bring up a salient point. Reddit skews towards college-educated adults. I work in a low-income, working-class neighborhood, and just about no one I meet through work ever went to college. The norm is to graduate high school at 18 and go work a minimum wage job for the next 40 years.
DevilPixelation@reddit
Money is tight, that’s all
claudiatiedemann@reddit
When I had a roommate it was because even the cheapest apartment I could find close to my job was going to cost me significantly more than what I'd pay having a roommate. I never saw any apartments that were under 300 sq ft. In some big cities you may find efficiencies (where the kitchen/bedroom/dining room is all one room) starting around 400 sq ft. but most of what was available were I lived was one-bedroom apartments starting around 600 sq ft.
thunder-bug-@reddit
We don’t have cheap small apartments like that
PsychoFaerie@reddit
A lot of it is zoning/building laws/codes. There's a minimum size requirement. Others reasons are cultural.
Found a similar question comparing the small apartments in Tokyo to small apartments in the US Reddit Post
RobotShlomo@reddit
What's the average rent converted into USD in Bangkok?
Donald_J_Duck65@reddit
It's because they're poor.
bizoticallyyours83@reddit
Because our cost of living is ridiculous.
CryptographerEasy772@reddit
Building Codes and politics drive overall cost of living a ton. I live out in the Pacific Northwest. Median salary is ballpark gross US\~$60k after archiving billionare salaries.
Take-home pay after taxes would be US\~$49K.
A typical apartment costs about US $18k annually.
Likely, you're paying the Utility bills, $3k a year
Cars cost a lot, and most jobs require ability to commute to the job. Gas/Insurance/maintenance on a newer vehicle easily hits $10k a year, assuming you're paying off a loan.
Did you expect to park that car for free at the apartments? Not a chance! $1200 a year
Phone service? $600 a year
Food? Healthy eating costs \~$3500 a year
It's also common to pay the internet bill. +$600 a year
Ah, The state wants to collect taxes on sales. Lets assume +10% on top of absolute baseline living with healthier eating. I count US \~40.6K in expenses, that's IF you live the life of a hermit crab.
Baseline cost of living with internet automagically becomes 82% of your take-home pay. Have we discussed hair cuts yet? Ahh, how about clothing? Gifts for friends? Did you expect to leave town for a vacation?
Why do Americans Roommate?
the second bedroom in an apartment increases the annual cost from 18K to \~24K, though 2 people are equally contributing. You could Actually have a hobby with this economic choice.
Hope that helps your understanding.
DoinIt989@reddit
Micro-apartments are very rare, and often illegal to even exist, in the US. So people who can't afford the cheapest apartments just end up splitting the existing 2-3 bedroom units.
baalroo@reddit
Economy of scale. A 1 bedroom spot generally costs more than half what a two bedroom costs. A two bedroom costs more than half what a 3 bedroom costs.
Basically, the more bedrooms a place has, the less cost there is per bedroom.
ReadingRainbowie@reddit
Buddy we're broke. What else do u want us to say?
IPreferDiamonds@reddit
Under 300 square feet?! Geez, my pool house is 600 square feet!
Comfortable-Bike9080@reddit
here things are expensive::((
Apart_Insect_8859@reddit
I think you are spot-on about the food and lack of third spaces being major reasons why tiny apartments are not appealing to Americans. There is honestly nowhere to go or just 'be' outside of your home, so you'd always be in your tiny, tiny apartment and it would be suffocating.
I do think a factor is that "basic" American living standards are extremely high. Just ridiculously so, in comparison to other countries, but they are considered the bare-minimum basics that people are unwilling to give up.
It is to the point where it wouldn't even occur to them to give certain things up, not without it being a major 'sacrifice.' For example, apartments without dishwashers often have to be discounted $100 or so a month, because people won't live somewhere without a dishwasher, which is considered a basic amenity. Apartments with no dishwashers and no on-site laundry have to be significantly discounted to get tenants. 2 and a half bathrooms in a house (regardless of the house size) tends to be considered the bare minimum number of 'required' bathrooms for a family, and people will refuse to buy a house with fewer.
So things like large fridges and a kitchen would be considered so ubiquitous, that not having them would be considered bizarre.
As a result, it is more acceptable to have a roommate so you can stay at that higher living standard than to give up things considered "essential". People would much rather have a room in a house with a kitchen, living room, yard, and parking, that they share with someone else to afford, than give those luxuries up for a small, but personal, space.
Another factor is culture and loneliness. Places where Americans go to engage in "Community" have eroded considerably for decades. For example, church attendance is rare, as is playing outside or getting to know your neighbors. A lot of hobby groups have moved online, and Americans move houses frequently. People are not getting social interaction outside of their homes, which makes them more willing to seek it inside their home in the form of a roommate. I imagine Bangkok is extremely crowded, so you NEED that alone time of your personal place, but Americans are alone a lot, so they need a group and interaction when they get home.
Bluemonogi@reddit
It’s interesting that in many cultures sharing a home with multiple generations of family is a thing no one would blink an eye at. Why do married people with kids in those countries continue to live with their parents, grandparents, siblings, etc? Communal living offers benefits of saving money, affording a better home in a better location, sharing resources, feeling safer or less lonely. People in countries where non-related roommates live together are doing what an extended family might do. I think people commonly have flatmates/housemates in places like England or many European countries too. It is not that unusual.
I watch videos showing micro apartments in Japan. They are smaller than one room in my house but the rent is much higher than rent for a bigger apartment would be in my area of the US. I can’t imagine paying that much to live like that with a bathroom you can barely turn around in, no kitchen, no storage. Using your home as just a place to shower and sleep is a different lifestyle for sure.
Street food isn’t a thing everywhere in the US. It is usually cheaper and healthier to buy groceries and cook than buy food from a restaurant.
Maybe ask your friends why they choose to have roommates.
chaosilike@reddit
Dont asian countries believe in multi-generational households? You also live in one of the biggest cities of Thailand. If we go to the most condemse part of my city, there wouldnt be houses but the studio apartments you are talking about.
spintool1995@reddit
We used to have what we're called "lodging houses", or colloquially "flop houses," where you rent a room just big enough for a bed, a chair and maybe a desk. All rooms on the same floor shared the same bathroom. These were mainly occupied by single working class men, often people who traveled between jobs. You may have seen them in historical movies.
As the US got more prosperous even most working class men could afford something better, an apartment, often with roommates with its own bathroom and kitchen. So the flop houses were left with the mentally unstable, drug addicts, alcoholics and others that had difficulty holding stable work, often cycling between flop houses and homelessness.
So they became crime ridden eye sores attracting the "wrong" people and most cities made them illegal via zoning starting in the 40s and they got torn down with the occupants left to the streets.
nkempt@reddit
Simply put: <300 square ft living spaces don’t exist here outside NYC. Studio apartments somewhat bigger than this get built, but (among about a dozen other major restrictive building codes) most places have parking minimums requiring one parking space per studio, which functionally makes building these types of housing impossible for builders—to pay for the parking garage and profit over what they would get just putting their money into the stock market, they would need to charge exorbitant prices for the studios, which nobody would pay. This is why often times new apartment buildings will only get a small number of studios, if any.
So instead we get larger units with 2+ bedrooms, which of course cost more (and landlords have fewer units to compete with), so people move in together.
Krystalgoddess_@reddit
The big difference is apt qualifications. Even if you want to live alone, you literally can't if you don't meet the apt income requirements
pirapataue@reddit (OP)
I'm asking because most of my friends living in the US always talk about roommates like it's very normal over there. And most explanations I've seen just say it's because of high housing prices, doesn't seem to cut it because people here also struggle with rent but would never willingly live with a roommate. Is it because of building codes? Are smaller units rare? Is it because of cultural expectation or is it just not practical to live small?
Cocacola_Desierto@reddit
Most people don't want to live in a closet, and the places that offer closets to live in are still 10x more expensive than Bangkok's closets.
StudiousSeal@reddit
Well why would people never willingly live with a roommate there?
That answer is likely where you’ll find the actual explanation because it’s likely less of a factor in the US.
Where I live, rental homes with yards are common. It’s possible for two people to share a 3,000 square foot, 3 floor home, with parking, a yard, a hot tub, a large kitchen, bedrooms on seperate floors, etc. Here there is not stigma about having a housemate or distrust of strangers, so that kind of space, with a housemate, is preferable to a 500 square foot studio even though that studio likely has a kitchen. Plus going to malls or hanging out in Starbucks is an option, but considered less desirable than having a home office and entertaining space to have friends over (which that shared house may provide).
Here there are some people who have housemates out of necessity and some people who could afford a place without a housemate but can afford a much nicer place with one and prefer to have the nicer place.
FoolRegnant@reddit
Very small units are rare, yes. Additionally, the difference in cost between a small studio apartment is usually less than double what a two bedroom would cost, so people save money by getting roommates - for example, a studio might run $1000 a month, but a two bedroom $1800.
Also, it's common to rent a room in a house, which is often a way to save even more money.
I'm sure it's a cultural trend to a degree, it definitely sounds to me that your culture hates the idea of roommates, whereas I would say most Americans view it as a normal thing - you usually would prefer to live alone or with your partner/family, but if you can't afford it, a roommate is perfectly fine.
Also, while roommates can be total strangers, it's not uncommon for friends or family to rent together and share costs that way.
Pleased_Bees@reddit
So how much is a 300 square foot apartment in Bangkok?
How much money do you have to make per month to afford the rent, and how much more does it cost to afford food, gas, utilities, clothing, etc?
OpeningChipmunk1700@reddit
It is.
That does not cut it. I lived in a 330 sq. ft. studio in Manhattan. It was partially paid for by my law school and still cost me $2500 per month. My income was $0 per month.
Do you understanding the idea of cost of living differences?
SolasVeritas@reddit
Yes, smaller units are very rare here. When there is smaller units, it’s in super unaffordable places where even those are too expensive for most people.
In my area, just to rent costs $2-3k a month, not for anything special. Housing is really only affordable for a couple of working professionals, for a family of adults that work (eg in laws and adult married children), or friends / roommates of convenience who split up rent.
On the plus side, our housing is relatively spacious compared to high density housing elsewhere in the world.
On the minus side, although we have many shared living situations, we have few 3rd spaces and isolation and loneliness are increasing.
cooking2recovery@reddit
Small units are rare and not as inexpensive as they should be. In my city, the tiniest studio with a shared kitchen is at least $900. A one bedroom is at least $1100, two bedroom at least $1300. Saving $250 a month with a roommate and usually better amenities is a big deal. And because so many people go to university and live with roommates there, it’s not as big of a deal to do as adults.
BoysenberryUnhappy29@reddit
Micro-sized apartments simply aren't widely available here, and most people don't mind having roommates. You get bigger common areas than you would with a studio.
CaptainHunt@reddit
The cost of living in the US is much higher. I’ve heard that the CoL in Thailand is a tiny fraction of any of the larger US cities. Add to that the often predatory rent prices, which sometimes can exceed the mortgage rate of a reasonably sized house, and you often can’t get anywhere without at least one roommate.
Street food is nowhere near as prevalent here either, mostly because it has a bad (and these days probably largely undeserved) reputation for health and safety. What street food we do have is either extremely cheap and unhealthy or practically restaurant quality and expensive. Not something that you can eat on a daily basis.
royhurford@reddit
Affordability. The average apartment rent in my area is about $1300/month, which is around 40% of the average monthly income.
We simply cannot afford to live on our own. If I look on Zillow right now, there is one small apartment listed for $925, and everything else is in the $1300-1600 range.
ThePickleConnoisseur@reddit
People generally need space. Those tiny apartments (300 ft) are not really seen as habitable by most people’s standards. My current college housing (just my room itself not including bathroom) is probably 120 sq ft, and it’s barely enough. To fit a kitchen, bathroom, (ideally washer and dryer in unit) plus a little extra room to have space for anything is gonna feel cramped.
Neat_Cat1234@reddit
We don’t have many options for <300 sq foot apartments and two bedrooms are one of the most common configurations in apartment buildings. Living in a 400-600 sq foot apartment is still a lot more expensive than renting one room of a two bedroom unit. For example, you can be paying $2k/month for a studio or one bedroom. A two bedroom in the same building might be $2.5k total and you can split that in half for only $1.25k for your portion.
Strange-Sympathy-685@reddit
Im 59 and my roommate is 55 ,so your wrong.In North Carolina there are lots of adults that have other adult roommates who are older than college age ,by a damn site .
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aval419@reddit
I'm 36 years old and and just moved to my own apartment for the first time. No partner or roommate. I had a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 car garage, in unit laundry, and a patio in a great suburb. I moved to the city, now I have a 1 bedroom apartment with coin operated shared laundry, and a parking spot and my rent is more expensive by over $200, and I have less. Don't get me wrong, i love where I live and my apartment, and I'm so happy to be roommate free. But that's why people have roommates here. It's a lot cheaper.
jettech737@reddit
Split rent or sometimes they just dont want to live alone so they might split a house or apartment with their god friends.
Yeegis@reddit
Because the cheapest most pathetic little shack money can rent is still around $2000 a month
greyHumanoidRobot@reddit
Over-regulation. Some local governments were reluctant to approve construction of small apartment/condominium units. It's NIMBYism. It does make cooking at home inconvenient. Street food choices are relatively limited compared to your city. That's over-regulation again.
BouncingSphinx@reddit
Places that small don't really exist, and rent for single person living is rather high. It's cheaper and easier for many to just find a larger space with a roommate than to try and find a smaller space without.
OpeningChipmunk1700@reddit
People would rather have a larger shared space.
Cooking is generally more healthy, so that does not explain the difference.
This seems to be related to the amount of space. People may prefer larger spaces. I like a large kitchen because I want to do something more than have the bare minimum or "enough."
Third-place culture is very developed in some American cities as well. But not everyone wants that lifestyle.
Closet space is generally not why Americans have roommates.
I would add as other reasons that Americans enjoy socializing with others, including at home. I also would never voluntarily live in a < 300 sq. ft. space. It would not fit my TV, let alone anything else.
Many-Rub-6151@reddit
Why does Bangkok have so many massage parlors?
loweexclamationpoint@reddit
No apartments that small. But isn't the lifestyle you're describing - Starbucks, fast food - unhealthy?
wokaflame@reddit
Small apartments are harder to come by and with a higher disposable income, Americans just have a lot of stuff. I had a 400sqft studio when I started and it was considered very small by almost everyone I knew.
As someone coming from Asia, I thought I had the largest bathroom I’ve ever had.
Americans also like doing stuff at home and hosting friends for hanging out. Due to the way everything is spaced out, you can’t just hop from one coffee shop to another without getting in your car. So they like doing stuff at home
Things are different in Northeast / NY.
manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit
We don't have many homes that small. It wouldn't be efficient. A normal 2 bedroom apartment is more versatile because it can be used by 2 roommates, or a family.
reyadeyat@reddit
In most places that I've lived, there is a dramatic difference between how cheap it can be to split an apartment with roommates vs. how cheap it can be to live alone, even if you choose the smallest and cheapest studio (one room to function as the kitchen/bedroom/living room and a bathroom) apartment available. For example, I could probably cut the amount of rent that I pay in my current city by 50% if I lived with 1-2 roommates.
I have no idea how large the difference in cost is in Bangkok, but maybe it is smaller?
BoysenberryUnhappy29@reddit
Apartments that small aren't generally a thing in America. The ones that are available are incredibly expensive for what they are, which necessitates roommates for many working class folks.
iuabv@reddit
Americans move out earlier in general. By the time they’ve been in the workforce for a few years, most Americans theoretically have a choice between a single apartment or shared living. People who share are motivated by cheaper rent but also often the company is a factor. Like I make enough to get my own apartment for sure but I like coming home to a friend. Not everyone lives with someone they actually like ofc, but many do.
Either-Youth9618@reddit
Studios (one room apartment under 300 sq. ft.) aren't that common in the US. Plus, the price difference between a one bedroom apartment and a two bedroom apartment isn't that much so it's more economical to get a two bedroom apartment and find a roommate.
kmoonster@reddit
In the mid-1900s a lot of cities changed local law about building homes, and now something like 80% of residential areas in any city may be single-family homes rather than apartments or condominiums. Most apartments and condos that do get built will have 2-3 bedrooms, which is a lot for just 1 person.
This has resulted in a much smaller number of homes that are nice for just 1 to 2 people, and home prices in most areas are outlandishly expensive for even smaller homes.
This is not the only reason, but it is a massive factor in answering your question.
affectionate_joint@reddit
It’s not just that it’s cheaper to have roommates but at least where I am, you have to make 3x the rent to even be approved for apartment and I literally only personally know 1 single person that can do that.
visitor987@reddit
If you live in a high cost of living area NYC LA Boston etc the rent is too high to live alone. Plus many young people move away from parents for jobs.
I_am_photo@reddit
It's more expensive to live solo. Rent, electric and water would take so much of my pay the only way to lessen the cost was a roommate.
Interesting-Run-6866@reddit
I have a one bedroom apartment that costs $4k that I could not afford if I wasn't living with a partner. The cheapest studio I could maybe find in my neighborhood (which would be a much lower quality would be $3000. For equal quality, more like $3500, which I also wouldn't be able to afford. So, roommates would be my only option.
RevolutionaryWind249@reddit
I know for myself, it's nice having a roommate around. Yes, it can be frustrating when you have different levels of cleanliness or orderliness. But a lot of people here have houses and it's kind of lonely to be alone in a building. I lived alone in my first house for 10 years. I'm on my second house now and I've had a roommate most of the time. I prefer having roommate.
Hey-Bud-Lets-Party@reddit
It sounds like Bangkok has a lot of affordable tiny apartments to rent. That’s not common in the U.S.
gardenofthought@reddit
We are poor.
iuabv@reddit
Poorer than the average Thai person? Be so fucking for real.
Blutrumpeter@reddit
We leave the house pretty quickly. A lot of other Western countries live with their parents until they can financially afford to move out. There's an emphasis on independence here so you'll see a lot of young adults move out and get roommates pretty early on
D0n_kebals@reddit
Cheaper
OhThrowed@reddit
$$$