I just noticed something (adult children living at home)...

[Nan in Mass]

There are 30 houses on my street. One is a summer house where 3 generations vacation together, and one is empty. Of the other 28, 10 have adult children living in them, some of them with wives and children of their own. Three families own seven of the houses; in other words, the grandparents own one house and their child and his family owns the neighboring house. Or sisters own neighboring houses and the aunt lives down the street a bit. I didn't count a neighboring pair as adult children living at home, either. So, you get something close to half the street living in extended family groups. My town happens to be a bit more like this than neighboring towns, we've noticed, but that's still a pretty high percentage. It is our stubourn independent hardworking New England town's solution to the high land prices.

-Nan

[LisaNY]

I think we are going to see more and more of this as housing costs rise to ridiculous levels. Here in NY, a one br apartment goes for around $1100 - $1600 per month. (We are located approx. 30 miles north of NYC)

 

Kids just can't afford to move out these days. We built an addition onto our house about 10 years ago, so my parents could move in with us. They sold their house. Fast forward 10 years - They could not afford to live here if they had to live in a condo or apt. They are in their 80's. They would have to move to a place down south if they wanted to live "independently".

 

At some point in time, that side of our house will be vacant, and could be a possible place for one or both of our dd's. A friend of mine is planning to add on to her house, so that her kids have a place to stay if they need it.

[Gwen in VA]

That seems so reasonable! What a cool solution!

 

We live in a retirement-intensive area, and our neighborhood is full of large houses populated by one or two retirees. My kids sometimes wonder why they want the space! (I guess they hear me grumble about housework!)