Huge props to the organizers of this retreat! Awesome to see this turnout, and the 1:1 scheduling app they created has the potential to add value across a number of future events.
I asked the authors why they were concerned about the failure mode of with participants commuting to and from the venue each day. They helpfully sent the following:
I think a lot of the value of these retreats comes from people spending a lot of time together and becoming friends. I’d worry that if participants commuted, they might not engage fully in the retreat (in particular, not hanging out at night, which is great for friendships, bonding, and a sense of belonging in the community).
I wanted to share this here (with the authors’ permission) in case others had the same question.
+1 that a great co-living space can be a huge quality of life improvement! My day-to-day sense of happiness and belonging in SF increased enormously once I moved into a place with friends.
One other meaningful benefit of coordinating a housing group (at least in California) is that you can freeze your starting rent rate. E.g., a four-bedroom unit in the building I lived in was listing at $6,500/month in 2022 when friends and I moved in. A group moved in, then vacated last year. The landlord then successfully re-listed the same unit at $9k/month (a 38% increase). Meanwhile the rent in our unit has only increased by ~2% over the last four years because CA rent protections only allow a landlord to increase rent by a modest, state-set annual cost-of-living/inflation rate.
Had that 4-bedroom been able to Theseus’ ship the move-out transition—changing the names on the lease to other friends/EAs gradually without fully vacating—they would be able to save $28,440 ($7,110 per resident) per year in perpetuity.