San Francisco says tiny sleeping 'pods,' which cost $700 a month and became a big hit with tech workers, are not up to code

Shower pod at the Paris airport was the best layover I've ever had. You pay in 30 minute increments but so nice to get refreshed when you're traveling across the Atlantic.

San Franciscan here. What is “car?”

Just what is shown in the photo would get you $7000 a month... why rent out 2-3 houses when you can rent out 10 boxes I guess.

I mean you pay 700 dollars a month not to have to live next to people who can only afford 50.

Ok hot take, this is a perfectly valid move, 700 for location and a box to sleep in is a welcome option for many renters in the city. If there are shared spaces like kitchen baths etc this works.

If you want your own space, ok, this isn't for you, but this alleviates a ton of rental demand which could lower rents in aggregate if enough of these are built!

The alternative is your whole paycheck goes to rent and you retire a week before death, i'd be all for this if I were single.

Is someone making a profit? Most definitely, but I get a better option to run my career in the city, I'm down. Not only that, I hope this model picks up so more people can have the option.

My gripe here is the city, bitching about no windows when this is a pretty tangible solution to many renter's problems. Either fix it yourself or get out the way when others are addressing it.

Edit: lots of group think and virtue signalling here. If these aren't there you don't even have the choice, it's 5k rent or move away from the city. That's not bootlicking that's fact. Whining about landlords being greedy isn't a solution, and this is.

Late stage capitalism? They were doing shit like this in the 1800s. It IS capitalism.

This kid must be like 17-18 and has seen none of the world. This would be luxury to half the planet.

Yeah i love how every negative was couched within a sentence mentioning how popular and great these pieces of shit are

I imagine this is more like the Japanese coffin hotels. They are for salary men that work too late to take the trains home.

In this case, probably for people who don't want to do the 1-1.5hr each way to their "just affordable enough" commutter home every day. I doubt these are many people's long term permanent address.

$700/mo is excessive though.

yeah, to be clear: capsule hotels in japan are not meant to be long term stays, they're for busy business people that need a quick place to sleep for ONE night because they worked till late at night and missed the last train, or similar situations like that. Nobody actually lives in a capsule hotel

EDIT: to clarify, some people may live in a capsule hotel, but they're not designed for long-term living

Most dystopian books are now used as a manual for some politicians and rich a**holes.

But how is this supposed to happen in high-density cities like NYC or SF?

I don't have any answers, but as someone who lived in SF for 7 years back in the 90s and early oughts as a student, I know for a fact that "there are no simple solutions for the problems that we face."

Yeah, I just quoted a DRI song; guilty as charged!

I agree there's a problem with corporations and wealthy people treating fines as a mere cost of doing business, but in situations where there was neither malicious intent nor actual harm, it's problematic to create a legal minefield with harsh penalties. The goal of regulation should be to gain compliance rather than punish trivial noncompliance. Of course one might argue that something that does no harm ought not be forbidden at all.

And when your are done, you get to sleep in one for free.

As a person who worked at one of these cool tech companies that provided food for breakfast lunch and dinner and snacks 24/7, I found I was only using my apartment to sleep. Most of the offices of other amenities such as a gym, and all the tech workers would go out for happy hours. If I was single this would be a very valid option. Some people don't plan to spend time in their apartments.

The excuse by the residents as to why this is ok is certainly that.

How dumb do you have to be to complain about how much living in the city costs while paying almost a thousand a month to live in a closet.... You. You're the reason it's expensive and why housing isn't a priority. You have to stop buying this dumb shit to solve the issue and let's be honest if you're paying 700 to live in a closet and praise it's networking chances you aren't unable to move.

The header photo suggests at least 4 room mates tho?

Is this from Neuromancer per chance? I own the book and never read it.

I do not want to acknowledge how long I have owned it though, lol. It is crazy how things can end up backlogged.

What kind of hellhole is that city? I had an impression it was extremely expensive but also very wealthy. The more I hear the worse it seems.

LOL start reading about Dubai sometime.

You definitely should have done it for the resume and networking boost. San Francisco is expensive but you can definitely find deals the more you look for them. Plus the Bay Area is bigger than just San Francisco.

And regarding the other comment, $200K in SF is definitely better than $100K in Sacramento. More money is always better, unless it's like a 10% bump. First of all, San Francisco is just more beautiful than Sacramento. Food is better. There's more to do.

Second of all, Sacramento is getting more expensive because people are moving there from the Bay Area. It's still cheaper, but prices are growing and you don't live in a major city. People are paying $500K to live next to a cornfield.

And the people utilizing these spaces are not the ones bitching. How odd...

what about when the person in the next bunk jerks off, farts, falls asleep, snores?

this is a nightmare scenario with no redeeming features that I'm sure will quickly lead depression if not violence