"Our House, is a very, very, very fine house"

I have had 18 roommates in 10 years. I According to the NY Times, I am one of many urban professionals living in ridiculously expensive cities without any prospect of being able to afford to live alone and have instead extended college living indefinetly.

I've lived with:

The Sociopath

The "Actress"

The Queen

The Stoner

The "I have never met a black person" girl

The Lesbian Lovers

The "Ambiguosly Gay" guy

An Obsessive Compulsive

The Dirty Whore (literally)

I even had a roommate who was more like my lover, but neither of us would ever admit it--even though it was obvious.

Dorm life does not get easier as you get older. I thought it might. Older roommates, in some ways, are more concientious, but they are also more set in their ways. I know as I get older, I just want to be left alone. I also want stuff done my way (then again, I have some boss lady tendencies) I don't want to entertain or be the house mom to people who need to be mommied. I don't want to have to track a fool down because instead of putting a new trash bag in the can, the fool puts the trash on the floor next to the can instead. I don't want to have to come in the house to a spontaneous get-together on a Tuesday night after I have been in school all day. I just want to be left alone.

My story is probably not that different from most folks who have had to live with roommates to live in city. I have had the chance to live alone and it was great. I stopped living alone in DC and moved in with a roommate thinking I could save cash for school. I regret not remaining on my own. Then, I moved back to Manhattan this past year, and lived with 2 Becky's in the village for like five minutes. Lets just say that wasn't a match. So, I then moved to a house in Jersey City 15 minutes from school. I thought it would be better because the lease holder and I had lived together before. We were younger and life was footloose and fancy free. "Which club tonight" was saying nothing but a word. Its actually harder to deal with now than it was then, even though we don't kick it like we used to when we were younger.

One day, I think people get to old for that shit.

I know I'm not a roommate for lifer. For many people like me, that means we will either need to make bigger bucks or move away from the city. Some city folk accept having roommates for 10-20 years, or living with their parents until they hopefully get married or shack. I have met so many people in NY who are 40 something with roommates, and are still dreaming of the day they will have their own spot!

After awhile the "excitement" of the City is just stress with a high price tag.

Maybe that is why there is a small upsurge in the number of young professionals looking at non-traditional cities to live in at a young age, like Louisville and Savannah. There is something to be said for being a big fish in a little pond. There is probably definetly something to be said for having larger pools of disposable income. I wouldn't know--I don't have any.

If so, it might be the saving grace for many places, especially here in the land of cleves. Many of these places have a number of hidden cultural gems and reasonable cost of living. The possibility of traveling more frequently or buying a nicer home is much greater. As the costs continue to rise exponentially on both coasts, perhaps the rest of the county will get some more love.