NewsWire: 1/7/21
- Treehouse, a new co-living building in Hollywood, wants to merge commune-style sharing with upscale apartment living. Aimed at Millennials, it packages community like an amenity, offering weekly resident dinners and lots of shared spaces. (Los Angeles Times)
- NH: Co-living options aimed at Millennials have taken off in recent years. Startups like WeLive, Bungalow, Common, and Podshare rent private bedrooms in dorm-like buildings. Some boast high-end amenities and perks, while others are more like hostels. What they have in common is a resident base of largely young residents eager to make friends. (See “Does Co-Living Threaten the U.S. Housing Market?” and “Communal Co-Living Catching On As An Affordable Housing Alternative.”)
- Now here comes Treehouse, which takes co-living to the next level. Headquartered in Los Angeles, its residents are required to sign a commitment to shared community values (being kind, curious, responsible, candid, and present) as part of their lease. All applicants are interviewed and evaluated for “fit” as if they’re applying for a job. After they move in, they’re encouraged to share their skills and teach classes for fellow residents. Conflicts between residents over abiding by these rules clearly cannot be resolved consulting lawyers. Instead, they are resolved through peer pressure--in regular meetings called Tree Talks.
- A Boomer would say that there’s already a word for this: an intentional community. But there’s an obvious distinction: The intentional communities of the Consciousness Revolution weren’t located in big cities, and they didn’t cost $2,000 a month. The Treehouse co-founders, in the words of this article, are shooting for “the togetherness of intentional communities like co-ops, communes, or Burning Man without the anticapitalist politics and freegan cuisine.”
- One could argue that this combination is an oxymoron. The very foundation of traditional communes and co-ops was anticapitalist politics. Their shaggy character and low-rent digs was what made them appealing. Take those away, and you arguably just have a pricey apartment building that charges extra for opportunities to make friends.
- But the Treehouse founders don’t want to smash the system. The goal is to reduce loneliness: a mission with more energy behind it than ever after months of social isolation and lockdowns. (See “All the Lonely People” and “Businesses Aimed at Helping Millennials Make Friends.”) The building opened its doors in fall 2019, and prior to the pandemic had rented only a third of its rooms. In the months since, however, it’s almost filled up. Now Treehouse is home to 40-odd residents, only one of whom is older than age 50.
- From here, the founders want to expand the Treehouse network to more buildings in the LA area. IMO, they are sure to find takers--just ones with a different set of beliefs from the commune residents of decades past. Both the creation of Treehouse and its residents reflect a peculiar 21st century mix of values that is very Millennial. They believe in establishing close and functional peer communities, yet also in establishing them within the norms of social convention and the rules of the market economy.
