---
title: "Young People Are Choosing to Live in “Pods” Instead of Apartments"
description: "Young people in Los Angeles (and other cities around the country) are choosing to rent small pods instead of an apartment."
date: "2019-04-24"
modified: "2019-04-24"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/young-people-choosing-live-pods"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "communal living"
  - "future living"
  - "sharing economy"
  - "the digest"
---

# Young People Are Choosing to Live in “Pods” Instead of Apartments

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/millennials-with-jobs-are-choosing-to-live-in-pods.png>)
*\<em\>Image: PodShare\</em\>*

## Pod Life

Young people have long chosen to rent coworking spaces and take rideshares instead of buying cars.

Now, some are pushing the sharing economy to its logical conclusion: [*NPR* reports](<https://www.npr.org/2019/04/23/715107132/the-affluent-homeless-a-sleeping-pod-a-hired-desk-and-a-handful-of-clothes>) that young people in Los Angeles — and other cities around the country — are choosing to rent small pods instead of an apartment.

## Expensive Future

Through a service called PodShare, young people are giving up the comfort of a private home for a bunk bed with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Naturally, the biggest factor in that decision are sky-high rents in larger cities, while massive student debt in the U.S. is compounding the problem of an unaffordable lifestyle.

## Pod is Dead

But as *NPR* points out, there could be another reason why young people are choosing such a minimalist lifestyle.

Co-living "fits very hand in glove with the sense that we are now moving into an experience economy rather than a possessions economy," Florida State University professor Jill Pable told *NPR*. "This is tied to, for example, the tiny house movement," she said, "and a great emphasis on travel these days."

**READ MORE:** [Can't Find An Affordable Home? Try Living In A Pod](<https://www.npr.org/2018/10/21/654426576/cant-find-an-affordable-home-try-living-in-a-pod>) \[*NPR*\]

**More on the sharing economy:** *[The Future Of Sharing Means You'll Never Have To Buy Anything Ever Again](<https://futurism.com/future-sharing-economy-fat-lama>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)