These days, California ranks #2 as the state with the highest cost of living in the United States, second only to Hawaii. The average home price in the The Golden State is over $1 million. Your monthly energy bill will be over $200.  And still, it’s one of the most desirable places to live. Small wonder that people flock to California, because the state ranks worst for doing business thanks to taxes and regulations.

It’s no secret that California has a housing shortage. It’s not even that the housing costs are sky-high. It’s that there simply aren’t enough homes to go around. Gov. Gavin Newsom says he plans to build 3.5 million new homes over the next few years to fix this crisis, but it may take much more to bring housing to the homeless and under-employed.

In a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed, James Broughel and Emily Hamilton suggest that California is overregulated when it comes to housing.

The average state has about 137,000 restrictions in its housing code. California has over 395,000.

Although many of the regulations are necessary to protect the environment and to ensure safety, it can contribute to higher construction costs, which it turn are passed on to consumers.

The California Code of Regulations contains over 21 million words. (Forbes estimates that the US tax code was about 4 million words in 2013). At a reading speed of 300 words per minute, for 40 hours a week, it would take 29 weeks or more to read the thing. And that doesn’t take into account comprehension, which requires a legal degree.

California’s housing shortage is a man-made problem that will take years to undo. One builder in Orange County planned a new community in Santa Clarita that would provide almost 22,000 homes.

The project has been stalled since 1994.

As the project ages, each home being constructed faces new regulations, increasing the cost of the home, making it near impossible for average families to obtain the American Dream.

It’s been suggested that California’s housing shortage is a political choice.

Bureaucrats are choosing to restrict housing by placing regulatory burdens on builders instead of helping the population find affordable housing to be more stable. Families are leaving California to find a more affordable cost of living and housing which will continue to hurt the state.

As we know, homeownership is a cornerstone of American family life. Homes provide long-term financial stability as a major investment for homeowners. Furthermore, they also provide a strong environment in which to raise a family; so many of us have fond memories of running around our backyards, or cozying up in the family room.

So, it stands to reason that homeownership and marriage are tied together; many couples will buy a home soon before or soon after they get hitched.

With all that said, some of the following statistics may be alarming, as it points to a trend that may play into the delay of homeownership.

Lots of data gathered over the past few years shows Americans are marrying later and later, if at all, according to a report from The Guardian. Today, Half of American adults are married, compared to 75 percent in 1960. The disparities are mostly consistent with class divisions.

Per the Guardian article, “26 percent of poor adults are married, compared with 51 percent in 1990.” That same study found 39 percent of the modern working class of adults are married, but that number was 57 percent in the 90s.

Education is closely tied with financial status, so an education disparity is also present. Today, 50 percent of adults with a high school are married; that rate was over 60 percent 25 years ago.

As the Guardian puts it, “Young people are increasingly seeing marriage as a “capstone” rather than a “cornerstone” event, a crowning achievement once other goals have been reached, rather than a launchpad for adulthood.”

That achievement is financial stability, and many more Americans are feeling a financial crunch.

There’s data to back this up, too. For example, a poll found “nearly half of never-married adults with incomes under 30k say being financially insecure is a major reason” behind their lack of marital commitment to a partner.

Part of steady income is a steady job, and past Pew Research found 78 of never-married women wanted a future partner to have a steady job.

A decline in manufacturing jobs is contributing to this as well, per some economic research on the subject, which may help to explain how the steepest drops in marriage rates come from the lower and middle class.

It’s not unreasonable to speculate that major living costs factor into that decision as well. For example, with real estate prices going up around the country, especially in major cities with strong job markets, the capstone that is owning a home is pushed farther away from the average American.

If marriage and homeownership are so closely tied together, the delay of one may also contribute to a delay in the other.

Treat yo’self to a cutting edge, futuristic pool. Canadian company Modpools repurposes shipping containers into fully-functional swimming pools for residential properties.

Sounds trashy, but this isn’t the dumpster/tarp situation that may come to mind when you hear “re-purposed pool.”

These are post-apocalyptic chic, like when society starts reusing everything for luxurious purposes instead of just survival.

Creators of Modpools, Paul and Denise Rathnam, have worked in the modified shipping industry for over a decade. They wanted to create a pool for their three kids, and eventually released their first Modpool to the public this March.

Containers are purchased from Chinese suppliers after the cargo is shipped to North America, and modified in Modpool’s Canadian factory. Modpools ship anywhere in the world because, well, they’re literally shipping containers.

You can get an 8’x’20 or 8’x’40 pool installed and filled up in a matter of minutes unlike regular pools that can take weeks to be ready.

The pools come standard in a sleek black, and feature a huge clear window to reduce the potential claustrophobia element of hanging out in a shipping container.

Think traditional above ground pools look like trash but live in a state (hi, Texas) with notoriously hard ground?

You’re in luck.

According to the creators, “You can put it in ground, but it’s designed to be above so you can just pop it in.”

Plus, the pools look awesome with decks designed to wrap around the edges.

Oh and hey guess what? There’s a hot tub element too. Every pool features a removable divider to instantly convert half the pool into a hot tub.

If you’re looking for more reasons to love this thing, it’s totally app controlled, and can operate remotely.

Yep—this is a smart pool. Heating, jets, and color-changing LED lights are all programmable via app.

Ultraviolet sanitation keeps all the nasties out of the water and means you won’t end up with weird chlorine halo vision after a long swim session.

For more customization, customers can request specific colors for the outside of the pool, go windowless, or even make it into an endless swim spa.

Modpools also offers a wide variety of pool covers, from snap button to child safe electronically retractable ones, to prevent any mishaps.

It takes around six to eight weeks to create a Modpool, so start saving up your lemonade stand money now.