Originally published at: Watch: San Francisco teacher lives in a nice yurt in her parent's backyard | Boing Boing
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I was going to make a Grace and Frankie reference but there seem to be no existing memes of Frankie talking about the time when her yurt exploded…
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You’re right! That seems an oversight…
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Here’s a teacher who decided to set up a two-story yurt+dome (yome) in her parent’s backyard to avoid the crazy rents.
If she’s not paying Bay Area market-rate rent to her parents for the use of their land she’s not avoiding anything. Social capital is still capital, often worth more than the financial type.
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She bought it used for $10,000.
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I give it “two yurts up”.
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A backyard must be worth millions in SF.
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So are the public sidewalks for that matter…
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God knows SF needs as much housing as we can get. I’m almost positive that this is illegal under city code, which is certainly not an accident. Not that that’s unusual - the city is full of illegal in-law units.
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So she’s got no running water nor proper electricity (presumably she’s just running some electrical cords from the house), which means she’s effectively just living in a room in her parents’ house, albeit with slightly more privacy (except when any of her guests need the toilet), and less comfortable (that thing isn’t insulated, for one), and of questionable legality. I guess it beats living in a guest room, but practically it’s the same.
Yeah, I assumed that as well. I wonder if SF is turning a blind eye to illegal backyard units the way parts of the South Bay have done… I suspect they’re less likely to be doing so.
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“The hardest part was leveling the foundation. We had to shovel dirt around…”
I hope it doesn’t rain much around there, and they have the ground sloped away from the footings in all directions. It would also be nice to know that the electricity is at least GFCI protected.
But given her descriptions of how it came together, I kind of doubt it.
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I hope it doesn’t rain much around there
It’s San Francisco, so no, it doesn’t 
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SF definitely needs more affordable housing options for essential workers that make a city run like teachers, bus drivers, grocery store clerks, etc., but I am curious to know if there are good examples out there of high-density cities that successfully built their way out of a housing crisis. (Maybe there are, I honestly have no idea.). The phenomenon of “induced demand” where more roads lead to more traffic is well known. Is there a similar phenomenon for trendy cities when it comes to housing? San Francisco and New York are already among the highest-density large cities in the country, and they’re also the most expensive markets to rent an apartment in, so greater density does not automatically lead to affordability.
It’s definitely in the city’s own best interest to make it possible for the lower-wage essential folks to be able to live there. But just building a ton more units that will probably be snapped up by higher wage tech workers may not accomplish that. There are other options out there ranging from rent control, housing vouchers, loan assistance, etc. to make the market work better for people.
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Better or worse in an earthquake? I’m undecided whether it could easily collapse or shift off the base or it would just flex a bit and ride through almost anything.
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Tough but fair
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… buying a used yurt on Craigslist to make a yome home sounds like a whole bunch of ewwww
This is the future Newsom gave all of us when he signed SB9 and SB10! /s
And I’m so glad. Racist-based R-1 single-family must die. They’ll probably be an initiative on the ballot soon to overturn these laws, and I sure hope it doesn’t pass.
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All you need to live frugally in San Francisco is a $10k semi-permanent tent, extension cords, Ikea furniture, and parents who own a $10mil home with a large back yard that they will let you use for free. Lol
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That’s about true from San Jose, up the peninsula, into the city, and up past the Golden Gate bridge a ways. East bay is like that to a degree too, but not as bad. But @Lot_49 is not being all that sarcastic when they said:
Never know what all the new ‘opportunities’ will look like.
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Not so much turning a blind eye, but acknowledging their existence. But I think this is in terms of turning them into rental units.
It was my understanding that a yurt, not being a permanent structure, was somewhat free of many building permit regulations, though I’m sure there are other municipal codes it might be violating.
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