also in social:

	Ron Reschke: making strides against cancer
	Bouncing around the blogosphere
	The pros and cons of cohabitation
	Looking for love beyond the bars
	Orgs connect professionals, communities

about
advertise
subscribe
contact
site map

advertisement

Does growing up mean losing the roommates?
The pros and cons of sharing your space

by jason soriano

Anyone who’s ever lived with a roommate can relate, sharing personal living space with others both fosters close friendships and incites inevitable challenges. These hurdles can include the usual conflicts like whose turn it is to take out the trash, but can also involve more outrageous conflicts that live on as quintessential roommate stories. From the group of roommates who band together against a liquor-stealing party crasher to the smelly kleptomaniac who eats everyone’s food, these roommate tales are guaranteed to prompt laughter, gagging and even for some unlucky individuals, a sense of déja-vu.

Chris Davies, creator of www.whostolemymilk.com, a website dedicated to “interesting and amusing stories about shared housing,” gathers entertaining roommate stories from around the globe and posts them online for others to enjoy. But Davies isn’t just a collector of colorful roommate stories; he’s also lived them. Davies has survived sharing living space with roommates from Australia, the United States, Canada, Singapore and France.

“There have been good times and bad times, all of which makes for entertaining stories,” Davies says. When Davies returned to his native Australia to begin his first career, he faced a difficult choice: live alone in a single apartment complex near work or move into a house with roommates.

“I was lonely, especially because I was new to the city and knew nobody,” Davies says.  To make new friends and save cash, Davies moved into a house with other renters. But decisions are never as simple as they appear, and Davies, like those on his website, experienced some of the more interesting aspects of shared living—the motivation for his website.

Like Davies, many young professionals in Wisconsin enter new cities and careers without first considering their potential living arrangements, and many regret hasty decisions later. But fear not. While choosing whether to live alone or with a roommate is complicated, considerations of what can go right and wrong in both situations, combined with some good advice, will help make the “right” decision become clear.

Most young professionals decide to live with a roommate until they become established in their new career. The most commonly cited reason? Money. The cost of a single apartment in downtown Milwaukee or Madison can be downright outrageous. A recent survey by the Medical College of Wisconsin reported that a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Milwaukee costs about $940 a month. Add in factors like a low, entry-level salary and a tight budget and all of a sudden, sharing an apartment with someone doesn’t seem so bad.

Consider the potential piles of dirty laundry everywhere, stacks of dirty dishes, loud music anytime and all the time… Living alone can be worth the extra money. Every year, more Americans are seeing the advantages. Compared to the 1940s when just 2 percent of the population lived alone, a 2004 U.S. Census Bureau survey found that almost 26 percent of U.S. citizens currently live alone.

“I think everyone should live on their own at least once right after graduating,” says Harmony Stock, a 28-year-old graphic architect who lives in the Madison area. Self-described as a “loner,” Stock says sometimes she needs time away from the rest of the world. “It’s nice being able to just leave and go home alone if I’m not in the mood to hang out.

back to top | next page ->

home | professional | recreational | practical | social
about | advertise | subscribe | contact | site map
curb magazine 2005: balance for wisconsin's young professionals