WEBVTT - My Five Nights at a $20 Billion Startup's Dorm-Like Apartment

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<v Speaker 1>Two years ago, August Urbish met up with a friend

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<v Speaker 1>at a bar. She told him, I can't tell you why,

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<v Speaker 1>but you should tell your roommates that you're moving out

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of the year. She uh confidentially told

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<v Speaker 1>me that I should be a part of this new

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<v Speaker 1>thing that we Work is doing, like a new living situation.

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<v Speaker 1>We Work. You probably recognize that name if you're in

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<v Speaker 1>the tech industry. It's one of the most highly valued

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<v Speaker 1>startups in the world, and at least his office space

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<v Speaker 1>by the desk two startups and bigger companies that need

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<v Speaker 1>a place to work. It's a phenomenon that's become known

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<v Speaker 1>as coworking. We Work, at the time was quietly recruiting

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<v Speaker 1>guys like August to try out their newest thing, a

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<v Speaker 1>co living space kind of like a dorm for adults.

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<v Speaker 1>It's called we Live. She assured me that I was

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<v Speaker 1>going to love it. August was thirty two at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>working at an art gallery in Chelsea, living in this

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<v Speaker 1>apartment and a really up and coming neighborhood of Brooklyn

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<v Speaker 1>called Crown Heights. He was finally feeling like he knew

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<v Speaker 1>the neighborhood and he loved his big apartment in its backyard.

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<v Speaker 1>He had a good thing going, which makes his next

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<v Speaker 1>decision perplexing. So side unseen, I signed up for it.

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<v Speaker 1>I moved in March of two thousand and sixteen, and

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<v Speaker 1>it was supposed to be a sort of a shorter

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<v Speaker 1>term thing. I think it was supposed to be about

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<v Speaker 1>six months. And at the time, I don't think anybody

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<v Speaker 1>knew what was going on inside or outside of the building.

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<v Speaker 1>Like all I knew when I was moving in here

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<v Speaker 1>was here's your room. If you have visitors, they have

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<v Speaker 1>to sign nd as. They can't talk about it, they

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<v Speaker 1>can't take pictures, like there's very very hush hush. I

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't talk about it outside of this thing because I

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<v Speaker 1>think they were still trying to figure out what they

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<v Speaker 1>had here. This secretive project was supposed to be a

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<v Speaker 1>major part of we works future. According to leaked documents

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<v Speaker 1>from we Work, executives had told investors that there would

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<v Speaker 1>be thirty four we Live locations by the end of

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<v Speaker 1>which would bring in two seventy billion dollars in annual revenue,

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<v Speaker 1>but in reality growth has come much more slowly. We

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<v Speaker 1>Live still only has two buildings, the one that August

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<v Speaker 1>lives in in Manhattan and another one in Washington, d C.

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<v Speaker 1>Hi am Aki Ito, and I'm Ellen Hewitt, and this

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<v Speaker 1>week on Decrypted, we're taking you deep into the strange

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<v Speaker 1>world of corporate co living. We Work has raised billions

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<v Speaker 1>of dollars on this dream of making everything part of

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<v Speaker 1>what they call the quote unquote we lifestyle. One of

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<v Speaker 1>their corporate slogans is even Better Together, and that vision

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<v Speaker 1>has been an enormous success when it comes to at

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<v Speaker 1>least building a community for work. This is a company

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<v Speaker 1>that's now valued at twenty billion dollars, but we Work

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<v Speaker 1>scambled to extend its success to the home. Life is

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<v Speaker 1>proving much harder. So I recently spent five nights at

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<v Speaker 1>a we Live apartment in New York to try to

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<v Speaker 1>figure out why and what this setback means for one

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<v Speaker 1>of Silicon Valley's biggest hot shots. Stay with us. We

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<v Speaker 1>Work was founded in by a CEO who used to

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<v Speaker 1>live in an Israeli kibootz, and like we said, it's

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<v Speaker 1>valued at twenty billion dollars. That makes it among the

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<v Speaker 1>world's ten most valuable startups. And this is, by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>the same company that just made news for buying the

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<v Speaker 1>Lord and Taylor Building in New York City. Yeah, which

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<v Speaker 1>was a massive eight fifty million dollar deal. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really amazing that a seven year old startup actually

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<v Speaker 1>has this kind of cash all for providing office space.

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<v Speaker 1>And we Live is we works next big bed. We

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<v Speaker 1>Worked didn't officially announced we Live until April, six months

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<v Speaker 1>after August first got that mysterious pitch from his friend.

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<v Speaker 1>We Worked just launched We Live, taking its concept from

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<v Speaker 1>the office to the living room and dorm living for

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<v Speaker 1>grown ups. And you said, it's working. It's very well,

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<v Speaker 1>and I've been really curious about it. It's the side

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<v Speaker 1>part of the business that got a lot of press

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<v Speaker 1>when it first opened, but as far as I know,

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<v Speaker 1>no reporter has even spent a night there. And so

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<v Speaker 1>he sent you in. Well, we Live doesn't advertise this,

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<v Speaker 1>but for the past year it has quietly been letting

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<v Speaker 1>the public book some of the two hundred units that

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<v Speaker 1>We Live New York like a hotel night by night

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<v Speaker 1>for hotel prices. So that was my opportunity. In my case,

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<v Speaker 1>it was about two dollars a night before tax for

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<v Speaker 1>a studio plus room. I booked five nights and I

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<v Speaker 1>packed my bags. You know, Ellen, being a reporter, you're

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<v Speaker 1>not exactly we were extreme customer. No, But in most

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<v Speaker 1>other ways I am I'm seven, I'm a full fledged millennial,

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<v Speaker 1>and most of all, I already do co living. I

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<v Speaker 1>live in a big Victorian in San Francisco with nine roommates.

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<v Speaker 1>If anyone was gonna like we Live, it was going

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<v Speaker 1>to be someone like me. Okay, so take us there,

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<v Speaker 1>it's your first day We Live. What was it like

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<v Speaker 1>a huge community kitchen? The New York We Live is

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<v Speaker 1>this huge former office building on Wall Street. The building

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<v Speaker 1>was wrecked by Hurricane Sandy, so we Work came in

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<v Speaker 1>and said they wanted to lease it. The first six

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<v Speaker 1>floors are office and retail space, but they remodeled floors

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<v Speaker 1>seven through into all these parts of We Live, apartments

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<v Speaker 1>ranging from studios to four bedrooms, plus a laundry room

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<v Speaker 1>and exercise studio. This huge kitchen and these smaller kitchens

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<v Speaker 1>and lounges. Hey, guys, this winning winning. So I stepped

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<v Speaker 1>into the lobby, checked in at the front desk, and

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<v Speaker 1>was given a key card to my room on the

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen floor. The whole point of We Live is that

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<v Speaker 1>the apartments aren't just furnished. They're kind of predecorated. The

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<v Speaker 1>room had a bed, a TV, a couch, coffee table,

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<v Speaker 1>and pots and pants and dishes in the little kitchenette.

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<v Speaker 1>But it also had two patterned accent pillows on the couch,

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<v Speaker 1>a shower curtain with this bold graphic design, and a

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<v Speaker 1>framed illustrated cactus print on the wall. They even gave

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<v Speaker 1>me a blue ceramic cup in the bathroom to brush

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<v Speaker 1>my teeth with. Sounds very chic. Yeah, those were some

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<v Speaker 1>nice touches, but there were some other details that struck

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<v Speaker 1>me as kind of odd. The building is divided into neighborhoods,

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<v Speaker 1>which are these sets of three floors that are connected

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<v Speaker 1>by internal staircases rather than the main elevators. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>the neighborhoods were alcohol theme. My floor and the two

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<v Speaker 1>below it were tequila themed. For example, every time I

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<v Speaker 1>stepped out of my door and walked with the elevators,

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<v Speaker 1>I saw this framed poster that said tequila is my

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<v Speaker 1>spirit animal. So this sounds like a frat house. This

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<v Speaker 1>was my favorite part. On the eleventh floor. As soon

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<v Speaker 1>as you step out of the elevators, you see this

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<v Speaker 1>painted on the wall in huge letters. New York celebrates

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<v Speaker 1>together fourteen year dry era ends today December five, n three, which,

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<v Speaker 1>if you couldn't guess, is the day that prohibition is repealed.

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<v Speaker 1>You get the idea. Okay, all right, So you arrive

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<v Speaker 1>at We Live. You see the hipster decorations, you see

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<v Speaker 1>the tequila posters. What's next? Well, I saw that there's

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<v Speaker 1>a happy hour at the bar on the tenth floor

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<v Speaker 1>every Monday through Thursday. It was a Thursday, so I

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<v Speaker 1>decided to go check it out. Maybe fifteen people were there,

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<v Speaker 1>and We Worked had provided pictures of Margarita's and herbed

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<v Speaker 1>French fries and chicken nuggets. And that's actually where I

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<v Speaker 1>met August, who we introduced at the start of the show.

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<v Speaker 1>He was behind the bar flipping cocktail shakers and serving

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<v Speaker 1>drinks and saying hi to everyone who came by. I

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<v Speaker 1>actually thought he worked for We Work. August is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the residents who's lived there the longest and by

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<v Speaker 1>now is kind of like the mayor of the New

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<v Speaker 1>York We Live. He's the guy that new residents are

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<v Speaker 1>told to ask if they have any questions about living there.

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<v Speaker 1>Part of that is because he's what they call an ambassador.

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<v Speaker 1>One of fifteen or so people living and we live

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<v Speaker 1>who get a rent discount in exchange for hosting events

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<v Speaker 1>and generally being friendly like an r A in college. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>but aside from the discount he gets, I got the

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<v Speaker 1>sense he was doing it because he genuinely loves it there.

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<v Speaker 1>When he moved in in March, he was originally planning

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<v Speaker 1>on living there for only six months, but he ended

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<v Speaker 1>up staying. It's it's it's much easier for me to

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<v Speaker 1>for for someone who is a little socially awkward like

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<v Speaker 1>myself to meet a new person here, and like it was,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it was kind of like the first real

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<v Speaker 1>sense of of like an overall community that I had

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<v Speaker 1>in you know, at that time, eight and a half

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<v Speaker 1>years or so living in New York. So it was

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<v Speaker 1>nice and that community changed his professional life too. About

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<v Speaker 1>six months ago, he was in the eighth floor laundry

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<v Speaker 1>room talking to a guy called Revie who also lives

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<v Speaker 1>there and is an entrepreneur himself. I'm like, man, I've

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<v Speaker 1>been really thinking about like doing this project, and he

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<v Speaker 1>stopped me in the middle of what of explaining the project,

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<v Speaker 1>He's like, no, do it, Why don't you do it? Like, well,

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<v Speaker 1>because I've never done it before. Like you think I've

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<v Speaker 1>ever done this before, Just do it. This building is

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<v Speaker 1>filled with people that do things that they've never done

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<v Speaker 1>before and their great successes. And he went on to

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<v Speaker 1>actually do it. He quit his job working at a

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<v Speaker 1>gallery and went on to create an app called laugh

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<v Speaker 1>Track that lets people share and read jokes like the

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<v Speaker 1>funniest parts of Twitter without Donald Trump's tweets. Two of

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<v Speaker 1>the people he recruited to help him with his app

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<v Speaker 1>are people he met at We Live. The two people

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<v Speaker 1>that I'm working with the most live in the building.

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<v Speaker 1>I met them here, Like the guy that's coding the

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<v Speaker 1>app lives six doors down. For me, we're basically like

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<v Speaker 1>making a baby. Now. It's great, okay, So clearly a

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<v Speaker 1>very positive experience for August. Who else did you meet? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>that guy Revive, who inspired August to become an entrepreneur.

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<v Speaker 1>He's a thirty two year old Israeli guy throws parties

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<v Speaker 1>in the two hot tubs on the seventh floor, Terrorists

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<v Speaker 1>splits a five thousand dollar one bedroom apartment with two

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<v Speaker 1>other guys. He just started hosting these salsa dancing classes

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<v Speaker 1>where we Live provides Margarita's and tacos. You know, I

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<v Speaker 1>just go there and I bring my music and I

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<v Speaker 1>just teach each people of their ropes, like how to

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<v Speaker 1>dance us out to move it. But you know, not

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<v Speaker 1>everyone was a partier. I also met a guy called

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<v Speaker 1>Andrew Cutter. So there are events going on and you're

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<v Speaker 1>always invited to them, which is great for an introvert

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<v Speaker 1>because you don't want to feel left out, but you're

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<v Speaker 1>not actually going to go to anything. I met a

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<v Speaker 1>fifty four year old filmmaker who says he likes how

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<v Speaker 1>he doesn't need to own stuff to live there, and

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<v Speaker 1>an exercise class I went to that weekend. There were

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<v Speaker 1>some girls from Norway who were there for six months

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<v Speaker 1>on a gap year between high school and college. I

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<v Speaker 1>even spotted a couple of kids in the hallway. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>so over the course of your five days that we

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<v Speaker 1>live and you met a lot of people I did,

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<v Speaker 1>and it sounds like they genuinely really liked it there. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's fair to say. There is some strong

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<v Speaker 1>self selection that goes on. Yeah, I have an introvert,

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<v Speaker 1>so this does sound like my worst night there. So

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<v Speaker 1>for most of the people I talked to, especially those

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<v Speaker 1>who had lived there and stayed there for a long time.

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<v Speaker 1>They had really good experiences. But of course this isn't

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<v Speaker 1>a nonprofit, right, this has to work as a business

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<v Speaker 1>where we work. Just a few years ago, We Live

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<v Speaker 1>was the thing that the company was betting on for growth. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>we know this because a couple of years ago BuzzFeed

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<v Speaker 1>published leaked materials We Work used to pitch investors in October.

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<v Speaker 1>Back then, We Work predicted that by the end of

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<v Speaker 1>there would be thirty four we Live locations, which we're

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<v Speaker 1>going to account for two seventy million dollars in revenue.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, it's getting pretty close to the end of

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<v Speaker 1>today and there are still only two locations, not thirty four,

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<v Speaker 1>and there's a third building in Seattle that they're working

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<v Speaker 1>on which is going to be finished in So I

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<v Speaker 1>asked the head of We Live about this. His name

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<v Speaker 1>is Jim Woods. We as a company have the opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>here to really figure this out in a thoughtful way

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<v Speaker 1>and scale this meaningfully. And I think that well, the

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<v Speaker 1>approach that I've taken with their support, is to really

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<v Speaker 1>be thoughtful in the deals that we pursue, the markets

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<v Speaker 1>we pursue, and the way we are designing this product,

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<v Speaker 1>and what that means is we've we're really taking a

0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.360
<v Speaker 1>lot of time to think about the moves we're making

0:12:53.200 --> 0:13:00.000
<v Speaker 1>and how we expand this to markets domestically and abroad. Okay,

0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.559
<v Speaker 1>so that's interesting. Not exactly the move fast break things

0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:05.920
<v Speaker 1>kind of thing that you hear from our internet companies.

0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.760
<v Speaker 1>He said thoughtful and meaningful a few more times throughout

0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.800
<v Speaker 1>our conversation, but I didn't really get a clear answer.

0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:17.360
<v Speaker 1>So I wonder if one obvious potential reason for this

0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.480
<v Speaker 1>slow growth could be that maybe there isn't as much

0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.440
<v Speaker 1>of a market for this. The tequila signs make it

0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.760
<v Speaker 1>sound like it's for kids straight out of school, but

0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.520
<v Speaker 1>when a studio is more than three thousand dollars a month,

0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:34.319
<v Speaker 1>most recent college grads probably can't afford it, so it's

0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.400
<v Speaker 1>not totally clear who this is for. That's why I

0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:39.600
<v Speaker 1>was really intrigued when I found out you can rent

0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.680
<v Speaker 1>these rooms like a hotel. We live can charge way

0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:44.640
<v Speaker 1>more for a hotel room night by night than it

0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.319
<v Speaker 1>can for a month or longer resident, even with hotel tax.

0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.640
<v Speaker 1>That's a way better profit margin. So that's got to

0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.200
<v Speaker 1>be pretty tempting, and I think a place like we

0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.719
<v Speaker 1>Live could be more appealing than a standard hotel to

0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.080
<v Speaker 1>certain kinds of people. I spoke to Tricia Eastman, a

0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.440
<v Speaker 1>traveler from l who was staying at we Live for

0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:04.480
<v Speaker 1>a few days. I wanted to be, you know, kind

0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:07.480
<v Speaker 1>of along with people that I felt were similar, and

0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:11.360
<v Speaker 1>so when I got there, Um, I just felt like

0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.880
<v Speaker 1>every person, like, including the front dust, they were like

0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.240
<v Speaker 1>super cool, just like people that I would like go

0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.400
<v Speaker 1>have a drink with. And so you know, it's not

0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.160
<v Speaker 1>always the case when you stay at a hotel. Okay,

0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.840
<v Speaker 1>So that sounds a little bit like the appeal of Airbnb.

0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.480
<v Speaker 1>It is, although some of the residents there seemed to

0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.680
<v Speaker 1>think that having more travelers would hurt its sense of community,

0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.320
<v Speaker 1>also a fair point. And Jim, the we Live executive,

0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.160
<v Speaker 1>told me they're also looking into a different kind of business,

0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:43.600
<v Speaker 1>corporate and housing. Big companies that use we Work for

0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.840
<v Speaker 1>office space are already using we Live to house some

0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.680
<v Speaker 1>of their employees, and he said they expect that to

0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:53.640
<v Speaker 1>be a quote meaningful part of their business. So here's

0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.600
<v Speaker 1>the question to someone like you living in your nine

0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.440
<v Speaker 1>person house, Ellen, who's doing that cool living thing on

0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.640
<v Speaker 1>your own, do you think the community you get that

0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.080
<v Speaker 1>we Live is worth its pricey rent, and is it

0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.640
<v Speaker 1>that different from living in another apartment building with some

0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:12.360
<v Speaker 1>of the nicer amenities, You know, based on what I

0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.960
<v Speaker 1>saw when I was there, I'd say, yeah, We Live

0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:17.240
<v Speaker 1>seems way more friendly than I think other New York

0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.520
<v Speaker 1>apartment buildings would be. But critics of We Work say

0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.800
<v Speaker 1>that it's twenty billion dollar valuation is way higher than

0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.720
<v Speaker 1>it should be for what is essentially a real estate company,

0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.880
<v Speaker 1>And they might have a point. Hot tub parties and

0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.720
<v Speaker 1>happy hours only take you so far. And of course

0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.960
<v Speaker 1>there's the difficulty of actually dealing with these huge, expensive

0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:42.440
<v Speaker 1>physical assets. Right. It's really different from just coding an app. Right.

0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.840
<v Speaker 1>When I talk to real estate experts, they all said,

0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:48.000
<v Speaker 1>it's really hard to find the right kind of existing building,

0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:50.640
<v Speaker 1>especially when you're looking to mold it into this very

0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.000
<v Speaker 1>specific thing. It's a lot easier to build a new one,

0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:56.680
<v Speaker 1>like we Work is doing in Seattle, but that takes

0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.480
<v Speaker 1>a long time to pay off. Yeah, I guess we'll

0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.080
<v Speaker 1>see how long it takes for we Work to actually

0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.480
<v Speaker 1>build out this residential part of its business. But it

0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:07.400
<v Speaker 1>does seem like for now it's not going to be

0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.600
<v Speaker 1>the kind of serious money maker that it thought it

0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.600
<v Speaker 1>would be right, and in the meantime, we work already

0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:16.320
<v Speaker 1>identified the next big thing. It's hoping big companies like

0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:19.320
<v Speaker 1>Amazon and IBM will pay to have we work run

0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:27.480
<v Speaker 1>their buildings, kind of like office design consulting. Okay, so

0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:32.680
<v Speaker 1>after spending five nights there yourself, would you think you know? Okay,

0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:36.520
<v Speaker 1>I'm mixed. I already know that I enjoy living around

0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.520
<v Speaker 1>other hence your current arrangement. Yeah, and I like coming

0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.320
<v Speaker 1>home to a place that has lots of people around,

0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.080
<v Speaker 1>So I get that part of the appeal. And I

0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:47.680
<v Speaker 1>talked to plenty of people who really valued its flexibility

0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:49.840
<v Speaker 1>because you can rent it month to month. I know

0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.040
<v Speaker 1>we've made a lot of dorm jokes and dorm comparisons. Yes,

0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.760
<v Speaker 1>we learned that tequila is your spirit animal, but residents

0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.400
<v Speaker 1>kept telling me it's not like that, and I kind

0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.200
<v Speaker 1>of get that too. It's more private. It's pretty quiet

0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.359
<v Speaker 1>for the most part, way quieter than the dorms I

0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.480
<v Speaker 1>remember on a Saturday night. Okay, So that's a positive.

0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:11.720
<v Speaker 1>What was the negative? There was just something really weird

0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:15.520
<v Speaker 1>about making we live your home. The little lounges outside

0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:18.760
<v Speaker 1>the elevators, for example, They had these beautiful leather chairs

0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.840
<v Speaker 1>and furry pillows and sleek design, but I never saw

0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.600
<v Speaker 1>anyone sitting in them. And they were filled with books,

0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:26.800
<v Speaker 1>but when you picked up the book, it almost always

0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:29.879
<v Speaker 1>had this red, little one dollar sales sticker from the

0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.359
<v Speaker 1>Strand bookstore. And sometimes they were totally random, like self

0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:37.000
<v Speaker 1>help books about uterine fibrosis. And there was this very

0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.480
<v Speaker 1>subtle but at least to me, kind of pervasive sense

0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:44.240
<v Speaker 1>of we work everywhere. The black coffee bugs in my

0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:47.760
<v Speaker 1>apartment said live Better Together, which is a company slogan,

0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.440
<v Speaker 1>and the cleaners in the building all wear black T

0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:53.359
<v Speaker 1>shirts that say do what you Love, which is another

0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.440
<v Speaker 1>company slogan. Yeah, I think I get that, like they

0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.640
<v Speaker 1>were trying to make it homey, but it still feels impersonal,

0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:03.960
<v Speaker 1>kind of sterile, kind of corporate. Yeah. Take Andrew for example.

0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:06.639
<v Speaker 1>He's the guy who talked about being an introvert earlier.

0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:09.800
<v Speaker 1>He lived that we Live for fourteen months, but he

0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.520
<v Speaker 1>told me he never really decorated or made it his own.

0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.720
<v Speaker 1>I was never really clear on how much I could

0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:19.240
<v Speaker 1>actually like put, you know, nails in the wall or whatever. Anyway,

0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:21.600
<v Speaker 1>I had a bunch of artwork that I just never

0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.720
<v Speaker 1>put up, you know. Uh. They give you comforters, they

0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.680
<v Speaker 1>give you sheets, they give you pillows, they they give

0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:32.440
<v Speaker 1>you everything you need to live there. It's interesting how

0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.280
<v Speaker 1>little you're probably going to change the place, you know,

0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:40.440
<v Speaker 1>because everything is already provided. Andrew just moved out of

0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.000
<v Speaker 1>We Live a few weeks ago. He had been paying

0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:45.520
<v Speaker 1>two thousand fifty dollars a month, but at his new

0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.400
<v Speaker 1>place in Brooklyn that he's also sharing with three roommates,

0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:52.080
<v Speaker 1>he's paying nine. He said he'll miss the free coffee

0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:53.879
<v Speaker 1>in the lobby and the walks used to take at

0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:56.840
<v Speaker 1>night by the East River, but he also said his

0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.320
<v Speaker 1>new place already feels a lot more like home, even

0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:11.760
<v Speaker 1>after only a weeks. And that's it for this week's

0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:15.199
<v Speaker 1>episode of Decrypted. Thanks for listening. Do you have a

0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.359
<v Speaker 1>story about co living, Send us an email at Decrypted

0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.080
<v Speaker 1>at bloomberg dot net, or you can reach out to

0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:24.120
<v Speaker 1>us on Twitter. I'm at Ellen Hewitt and I'm at

0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:27.840
<v Speaker 1>aki Eta seven. If you haven't already, please subscribe to

0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.520
<v Speaker 1>our show wherever you get your podcast, and while you're there,

0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:33.439
<v Speaker 1>I hope you'll take a minute to leave us a

0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.120
<v Speaker 1>rating and a review. This does so much to get

0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.400
<v Speaker 1>us in front of more listeners. This episode was produced

0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:51.400
<v Speaker 1>by Liz Smith and Magnus Hendrickson. We'll see you next week.