{"id":13313,"date":"2018-08-27T11:10:22","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T16:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/?p=13313"},"modified":"2018-08-27T11:10:22","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T16:10:22","slug":"welive-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/editorials\/welive-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on WeWork’s attempt at Millennial-friendly Utopian housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re familiar with WeWork \u2014 the co-working sensation that brought together remote workers from all over \u2014 you may know about WeLive, the WeWork company\u2019s foray into communal housing<\/a>. <\/p>\n

WeLive is pretty much what it sounds like: an apartment complex that, along with private dwellings, includes several communal areas and many of the amenities included in your average hotel. The complex itself has a heavy emphasis on community, making an outgoing persona and an interest in mingling during your off-hours a must.<\/p>\n

If that sounds a bit too much like a cross between We Happy Few<\/em> and the Stanford Prison Experiment<\/em> to you, you aren\u2019t alone<\/a>. WeLive\u2019s atmosphere is reportedly borderline cultish with what some perceive as artificial happiness and inflated enthusiasm for the brand, and the idea of living in \u201cperfect harmony\u201d with a bunch of adults in their 30s is enough to make the average person throw a little bit.<\/p>\n

But WeLive is rooted in a strong core premise \u2014 that people need interaction with others they can trust in a convenient location \u2014 and if the culture of being initially over-friendly isn\u2019t off-putting to a potential resident, it\u2019s easy to see why one might stick around. From pre-furnished apartments to complimentary drinks at the in-complex bar, WeLive comes fully stocked with all the ingredients for a good social romp.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s WeLive\u2019s actual intent that is so confusing to me.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

From what I can tell, WeLive is geared toward an oddly specific demographic: the 20 to 30, single, outgoing, partially highfalutin’ individual who doesn\u2019t enjoy doing their own shopping. Picture an excessively lavish college dorm full of people who, instead of skipping econ to smoke weed, have day jobs. The idea\u2019s fantastic in the short run, but where is the longevity? There\u2019s a reason that college includes only a few years of communal living.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s the confusing part: that WeLive, for all its idyllic presentation, is more of a short-term utopia for this generation\u2019s party folk rather than a sustainable alternative to traditional housing.<\/p>\n

This oasis-esque presentation is another curious component of WeLive\u2019s model thus far: both of their locations are in traditionally antisocial areas (New York City and Arlington), making the idea of a neighborly communal living complex seem like more of a utopia for the interaction-starved rather than a practical solution for young, wealthy entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

WeWork\u2019s potential solution to societal loneliness is still in its test phase, but it seems that the startup\u2019s roots are embedded in a fleeting phenomenon rather than a long-term problem. Coupled with WeWork\u2019s propensity for creating divisive regulations<\/a> and the startling cost of some of WeLive\u2019s units, this communal living endeavor feels like the latest in a string of gimmicky patches for one of life\u2019s incurable ailments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HOUSING) WeLive, a communal apartment endeavor, may be the latest attempt to cater to extroverts \u2014 but is it more than just a college campus with a bar?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337375,"featured_media":13317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[254],"tags":[1234,924,921],"class_list":["post-13313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","tag-real-estate-news","tag-welive","tag-wework"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/08\/welive-interior.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/337375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13316,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13313\/revisions\/13316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}