Seattle renting and real estate (public post)
So I know seven queer households offhand in the Seattle area supported by one or two folks making six figures in which everyone else in the house isn't making anywhere near that much.
It's because of the limited nature of housing due to the astronomical price of sales and rent around here.
Which puts the other folks in the household at the mercy of two forces - capitalism and the six figure heads of household. This is a fucked up power imbalance for whom there is currently no reprieve. Not only do you need to earn a living, you need to stay in the good graces of the household head too.
And this setup is done with the best of intentions. Folks want to help each other out but the situation has reached the point where it is the de facto setup. If you're not in tech, you need to find a head of household willing to take you in, unless you can find a two bedroom with space for five people.
These gentrified neighborhoods need near-minimum wage workers for the restaurants and grocery stores but fuck over anyone actually living there.
I don't know much about non-queer households in the area, but the polyamorous nature of our relationships also means that things can get really scary and tangled very fast.
This needs to stop. We need affordable housing. Fucking now.
Seattle renting and real estate (public post)
@Aradia And the economic power imbalance screws over all parties involved. The lack of any external safety net generates a fear of what happens when someone has to go looking for another place to live... and when something non-monetary goes wrong, folks are forced to continue cohabitating while everyone's sanity erodes, or forced to pull apart in a way nobody ever wanted or deserved.
I'm pissed that I've had relationships crumble because of money.
Seattle renting and real estate (public post)
@ElectricKeet @Aradia kind of going through this situation with my roommate now. We let them move in initially because her and her kids were in a shitty, abusive household. She doesn’t parent her kids at all though and just lets them do whatever. They’ve been making me miserable for the past six months+ and I’ve got no out. Even with a full time job, she doesn’t make enough to afford housing around here. It is shitty for everyone involved like you said and sanity is in very short supply.