Yes and it would have been funny if any rent was involved.

Edit, oh wait you mean they are SAving 5k a month, whoosh missed that

Other savings built into collective infrastructure:

• super cheap fast internet. They pay about $5/ month and when I am visiting I get 1ms ping to speedtest servers, amazing.
• tools, the workshop is set up for tool sharing as well
• laundry room, no coins
• car sharing is easy
• bulk buying groups naturally form
• event facilities, guest rooms just need booking (big deal in Vancouver eh)
• profit control: fewer middlemen to feed for maintenance and management
• dozens of tiny efficiencies that add up
• village settings are naturally designed for mutual aid, good cohousing is a microvillage

You are familiar with the concept of #cohousing, right? I don’t think anyone is renting there, all owners. Land values have been fucked in Vancouver since capitalism arrived, and in fact when the group bought the three house lots they needed, they had to deal with one of them being shadow-flipped during the purchase.

Still, pooling resources did make it very possible for the group. The hard-to-swallow expensive part was actually building to passivhaus standards and dealing with bureaucracy, if I understand correctly.

Me too, most of us would be happier and richer living like that.

Vancouver BC

Verified: group cooking is the way.

I have friends and family who live in a cohousing building. About 50 people in 30 units. Each apartment is complete but the kitchens are slightly smaller than typical.

Cohousing is mutual ownership of the building. About 20% of the building is common areas, like widened hallways with couches and bookshelves, or a games nook, music room, workshop, laundry, etc. It’s basically a tall village, and they are like roommates with privacy.

The giant kitchen and dining room is used six nights a week. One person is chef with a small crew, and dinner is for around 30 people. It costs $5 CDN per meal, though if you raid the leftovers later it’s pay what you want, usually $2. The cooking volunteer roster is optional and organized by a Slack channel. Food is usually awesome and everyone wins.

If you want you hardly ever have to cook dinner for yourself.